"Lakeside Park" is a single from Rush's third album ''

Caress of Steel ''Caress of Steel'' is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on September 24, 1975, by Mercury Records. It marked a development in the group's sound, moving from the blues-based hard rock style of their debut towards progr ...

''. The music was written by

Geddy Lee Geddy Lee (born Gary Lee Weinrib; July 29, 1953) is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush. Lee joined the band in September 1968, at the re ...

and

Alex Lifeson Aleksandar Živojinović, (born 27 August 1953), known professionally as Alex Lifeson (), is a Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Rush. In 1968, Lifeson co-founded the band that wo ...

, and the lyrics were written by

Neil Peart Neil Ellwood Peart OC (; September 12, 1952 – January 7, 2020) was a Canadian-American musician, best known as the drummer and primary lyricist of the rock band Rush. Peart earned numerous awards for his musical performances, including an ...

Background

The "Lakeside Park" mentioned in this song is on the shore of

Port Dalhousie Port Dalhousie is a community in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Known for its waterfront appeal, it is home to the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta and is historically significant as the terminus for the first three (19th century) routes of the ...

, a suburb of St. Catharines,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, on the south shore of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Peart lived very close to Lakeside Park, and spent summers as a youth working and playing there. The lyrics mention the "24th of May", which is

Victoria Day Victoria Day (french: Fête de la Reine, lit=Celebration of the Queen) is a federal Canadian public holiday celebrated on the last Monday preceding May 25. Initially in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday, it has since been celebrated as the offi ...

, commemorating

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

's birthday. The actual Lakeside Park in Port Dalhousie overlooks the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

wreck sites of and . The smaller of the two piers in Port Dalhousie has been used as a staging area for most of the Hamilton–Scourge survey expeditions to the wreck sites, since the early 1980s. Neil Peart gave some insight regarding the song: Geddy Lee gave a somewhat unfavorable mention of this song in a 1993 interview: In June 2020, the city of St. Catharines announced that a pavilion in Lakeside Park would be named after Neil Peart.

Live performances

The song was played in part, for the first time since the mid-1970s, on the 2015 R40 tour. In a 2016 interview with Guitar World, Lee reaffirmed his distaste for the song, but agreed to include it in the setlist when Lifeson expressed interest.

Personnel

- vocals, bass *

- guitars *

- drums

References

{{authority control 1975 songs Rush (band) songs Songs about Canada Songs about nostalgia St. Catharines Songs written by Neil Peart Songs written by Geddy Lee Songs written by Alex Lifeson Song recordings produced by Terry Brown (record producer)

Background

Live performances

Personnel

See also

References