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Alex Lifeson on Buffalo Springfield's For What It's Worth in new Rolling Stone interview

Sat, Nov 12, 2016@9:44PM | comments

Rolling Stone posted an article yesterday on Buffalo Springfield's classic protest song For What It's Worth. The song has been covered by many acts over the years, including Rush, who covered it on the band's 2004 Feedback EP. The article includes several interview snippets with artists talking about the song and their memories of it. Here's what Alex Lifeson had to say:

... Rush's Alex Lifeson recalls first hearing the song while driving in the family car in the Toronto suburbs. "I'm not sure if it was the first time I heard it, but I clearly remember driving with my dad and wearing blue granny glasses, which I thought were so cool," Lifeson says. "It was a sunny day, and I put the radio on and 'For What It's Worth' came on. I still recall feeling so moved by that song. It sounded so cool to me, that combination of the acoustic and electric guitars and the lyrics. Canada was a haven for objectors to the war, so we had a different view on what was happening in Vietnam."

During its early days, Rush used to jam on the song - "a 10-minute arrangement with a seven-minute guitar solo and a bass solo and then back into the chorus," Lifeson chuckles - and later recorded it on their 2004 covers set, Feedback. "I suggested it and it was an important song for all of us," he says. "Even when I hear that song now, I get goosebumps. I always think of the ride with my dad. It's one of those really special, magical songs. It may be my favorite song of all time." ...

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