“Red Barchetta” by Rush

"Red Barchetta" comes from Rush's 1981 album Moving Pictures, and it plays like a road movie squeezed into one track. Neil Peart wrote the words after reading "A Nice Morning Drive", a Richard Foster short story from the November 1973 Road & Track about a future where safety laws have turned cars into hulking armored boxes whose drivers think nothing of ramming the little old roadsters. Peart tried to reach Foster during the sessions, but the magazine had no current address for him, so the lyric sheet carried a short "inspired by" note instead; the two finally connected in 2007.

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson wrote the music, and it moves: Lifeson's guitar chiming then snarling, Lee's bass and Minimoog pushing hard, Peart driving the whole thing at speed. Terry Brown produced it with the band.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.