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“I was in a place where I was about to put music down: try something else, be normal, make some money, buy a house, whatever else I was supposed to do. That song made me think about choosing that other life.” - Anita Athavale
Subdivisions
  • Year Inducted: 2010
  • Written In: 1982
Songwriters
Neil Peart Lyricist
Geddy Lee Composer
Alex Lifeson Composer
Artists
RUSH
Jacob Moon
Anita Athavale
Dominic Cifarelli
Jeff Feldman
Randy Jackson
Subdivisions is a single from Rush’s ninth studio album, “Signals” (1982). The song is a fan favourite and has been regularly included on the band’s set lists. Upon its release, it reached number 8 on the U.S. charts, and number 53 on the U.K. charts.

The song marks the band’s increased use of synthesizers in their music. The lyrics speak of the loneliness, isolation, and stifling conventions of life in the suburbs, as well as the pressure felt by youths to “sell their dreams” and conform.

The band filmed the downtown scenes of the Subdivisions music video in Toronto and filmed the suburban scenes in Scarborough, Ontario. The school hall of L’Amoreaux Collegiate Institute in northwest Scarborough was included, as well as a clip of east Toronto’s Don Valley Parkway and a bustling Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway station.

Young Canadian singer/songwriter Anita Athavale recorded a beautiful rendition of Subdivisions on her 2007 debut album, “In the Noise.” Her thoughts on the song’s inspiring message convey a sentiment shared by most Rush fans: “Making the album, I was in a place where I was about to put music down: try something else, be normal, make some money, buy a house, whatever else I was supposed to do. That song made me think about choosing that other life.”

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Subdivisions (Rush) - performed by Jacob Moon
"Subdivisions" performed by Canadian singer-songwriter Jacob Moon at the 2010 CSHF Induction Ceremony.
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    Inducted Songs
    Title Year Inducted Year Written
    (Make Me Do) Anything You Want20191972
    A Guy is a Guy20061952
    À Québec au clair de lune20061959
    Aimes-tu la vie comme moi?20081975
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    Ain’t No Cure For Love20061986
    Ain’t We Got Fun?20071926
    Ain’t Nobody Here But us Chickens20081946
    American Woman20051969
    Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In20031967
    Artistes20081976
    As The Years Go By20151970
    Baie Sainte-Marie20211976
    Big Yellow Taxi20071975
    Bird on the Wire20061969
    Black Fly Song20031949
    Black Velvet20211989
    Bleu et blanc20181976
    Bluebird On Your Windowsill20101947
    Boo Hoo (You’ve Got Me Crying For You)20061937
    Born to Be Wild20031968
    Both Sides Now20071967
    Câline de blues20151971
    Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft20191976
    Canadiana Suite20081963
    Candy20081944
    Chante-la ta chanson20161978
    Clap Your Hands20051959
    Closer to the Heart20101977
    Come Josephine In My Flying Machine20101910
    Comme j’ai toujours envie d’aimer20071970
    Comme un million de gens20081966
    Cool Water20051936
    Dans nos vieilles maisons20071960
    Demain l’hiver20101967
    Des croissants de soleil20071980
    Des mitaines pas de pouces20101931
    Deux enfants du même âge20101958
    Diana20081957
    Dimanche après-midi20211976
    Drinking in L.A.20231997
    Echo Beach20231980
    En veillant su’l perron20051957
    Everybody Knows20061988
    Far Away Places20051948
    Fare Thee Well Love20201990
    Farewell to Nova Scotia2006Prior or during WW1
    Femme de rêve20081973
    Four Strong Winds20031961
    Frédéric20051963
    Fu Man Chu20101971
    Gens du pays20061975
    Hallelujah20061984
    Hand Me Down World20171970
    Heart Like a Wheel20081970
    Hello, Hooray20161968
    Help Me20071973
    Highschool Confidential20201980
    Home For A Rest20181989
    Hot Child in the City20191978
    How About You?20071941
    Hymn to Freedom20081962
    I Go Blind20211986
    I Heard the Bluebirds Sing20151952
    I Just Wanna Stop20171978
    I Saw Her Again20171966
    I Would Be The One20191968
    I’m Movin’ On20031950
    I’s The B’Y200519th Century
    I’ll Never Smile Again20031939
    I’ve Got Everything I Need (Almost)20191973
    If You Could Read My Mind20031969
    Il suffit de peu de choses20081960
    Informer20231993
    It Doesn’t Matter Anymore20081958
    It’s Raining Men20211979
    J’ai la tête en gigue20161976
    J’entends Frapper20101973
    Je ne suis qu’une chanson20071980
    Je reviens chez nous20071968
    Je Suis Cool20111973
    K-K-K-Katy20161917
    L’infidèle20081974
    L’âme à la tendresse20191973
    L’adieu du soldat20051941
    La bittt à Tibi20081975
    La Manic20061966
    La maudite machine20211972
    La Parenté20061957
    La vie d’factrie20201962
    Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream20051949
    Last Song20151972
    Le ciel se marie avec la mer20051957
    Le Frigidaire20071970
    Le Labrador20081972
    Le monde a bien changé20221977
    Le petit roi20071970
    Le réveil de la nature20061953
    Le tour de l’Île20061976
    Les ailes d’un ange20101967
    Les nuits de Montréal20061949
    Lest You Forget20061922
    Let Your Backbone Slide20191989
    Limelight20101981
    Lindberg20101968
    Love Child20081968
    Marie-Hélène20151976
    Mille après mille20161969
    Moi, mes souliers20061951
    Mommy Daddy20151971
    Mon pays20061964
    Morning Dew20181961
    My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style20231991
    My Heart Cries For You20111949
    My Old Canadian Home20071940
    My Sister and I20081941
    My Swiss Moonlight Lullaby20071933
    My Way20081969
    No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature20051970
    No Time20051969
    Notre Place20231989
    O Canada20051880
    Oh What A Feeling20111971
    Opportunity20191967
    Ordinaire20101969
    Paper Rosie20181975
    Paquetville20071979
    Pas Besoin De Frapper Pour Entrer20111977
    Peg O’ My Heart20031913
    Pendant que20061963
    Peter’s Dream20191994
    Play Me a Rock and Roll Song20151968
    Pop Goes The World20201987
    Powder Your Face with Sunshine20061948
    Prétends que tu es heureux20081957
    Put Your Dreams Away (For Another Day)20151942
    Put Your Hand in the Hand20061970
    Put Your Head on my Shoulder20081959
    Quand les hommes vivront d’amour20051956
    Québécois20181969
    Rise Up20191983
    S’Nice20061923
    She’s a Lady20081971
    Si j’avais un char20171978
    Si j’étais un homme20171980
    Si les bateaux20061963
    Signs20081971
    Sing High, Sing Low20161970
    Sleepy Time Gal20071926
    Snowbird20031968
    Some of These Days20051910
    Something to Talk About20201985
    Song For the Mira20181973
    Spinning Wheel20071969
    Squid Jiggin’ Ground20111928
    Subdivisions20101982
    Sugar Sugar20061969
    Suzanne20061967
    Sweet City Woman20061971
    Sweethearts on Parade20061929
    Swinging Shepherd Blues20161957
    T’es mon amour, t’es ma maîtresse20071969
    The Darktown Strutters’ Ball20051917
    The Facts of Life, Diff’rent Strokes, Wheel of Fortune20201970/1980
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    The Hockey Theme20101968
    The Huron Carol2005circa 1640
    The Red River Valley20031870
    The Safety Dance20201982
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    There’s a Love Knot in my Lariat20071937
    These Eyes20051966
    This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ To Glide20201979
    This Wheel’s On Fire20171967
    To Sir With Love20151967
    Tom Sawyer20101981
    Ton Visage20071960
    Tumbling Tumbleweeds20051934
    Un canadien errant20071842
    Un coin du ciel20181952
    Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin20071969
    Une promesse20081957
    Universal Soldier20051964
    Vivre dans la nuit20211984
    Vivre en amour20151976
    We’ll Sing in the Sunshine20151963
    What a Friend We Have in Jesus20031855
    What About Love20211982
    When I Die20111969
    When My Baby Smiles at Me20151919
    When You and I Were Young, Maggie20051866
    Wildflower20111972
    Woodstock20071970
    You Turn Me On, I’m A Radio20071972
    You Were On My Mind20071962
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