# Show Don't Tell > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Show_Don't_Tell > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Show_Don't_Tell.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show_Don't_Tell > Source revision: 1317026632 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) For the writing technique, see [Show, don't tell](/source/Show%2C_don't_tell). 1989 single by Rush "Show Don't Tell" Single by Rush from the album Presto B-side "Red Tide" Released November 1989 Recorded 1989 Genre Progressive rock hard rock funk rock[1] proto-math rock Length 5:01 4:17 (single edit) Label Atlantic Composers Alex Lifeson Geddy Lee Lyricist Neil Peart Producers Rupert Hine Rush Rush singles chronology "Closer to the Heart (live)" (1989) "Show Don't Tell" (1989) "The Pass" (1990) "**Show Don't Tell**" is the first [single](/source/CD_single) on Canadian rock band [Rush](/source/Rush_(band))'s 1989 album *[Presto](/source/Presto_(album))*. The song peaked at number one on the U.S. Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart,[2] the second of five songs by Rush to top the chart. ## Music and song structure "Show Don't Tell" illustrates Rush's move away from synthesizer in favour of a more guitar-oriented approach; the band favoured a more [funk](/source/Funk)/groove style of play and away from the 1980s style of music typical on *[Power Windows](/source/Power_Windows_(album))* and *[Hold Your Fire](/source/Hold_Your_Fire)*, the two preceding albums. In Rush's music of the late 1970s and early 1980s, their progressive rock is indicated by asymmetric time signatures and lyrics fitting into a concept album, and in "Show Don't Tell", their progressive rock is shown by using a very complex riff played in unison by the members of the band.[3] The band chose to use more funk by using extended chord tones, a dramatic pause eighteen seconds into the song and other methods as well.[4] The funkier song structure proved to be difficult for [Neil Peart](/source/Neil_Peart) when he played the drums for the song. He explained in *Canadian Musician*: "Show Don't Tell" begins with a syncopated guitar riff that appears two or three times throughout the song. That was about the hardest thing for me to find the right pattern for. I wanted to maintain a groove and yet follow the bizarre syncopations that the guitar riff was leading into. It was demanding technically, but at the same time, because of that, we were determined that it should have a rhythmic groove under it. It's not enough for us to produce a part that's technically demanding; it has to have an overwhelming significance musically. So it had to groove into the rest of the song and it had to have a pulse to it that was apart from what we were playing.[5] *[Mojo](/source/Mojo_(magazine))*'s James McNair categorized "Show Don't Tell" as a proto-[math rock](/source/Math_rock) song, an exception to the album's focus on basic song structure.[6] ## Lyrics As is the case with a vast majority of Rush songs, Peart wrote the lyrics for this song. In an interview, he explained that "Show Don't Tell" is an example of his trend from the album *[Grace Under Pressure](/source/Grace_Under_Pressure_(Rush_album))* onward from writing concepts and abstractions to a more concrete, first-person viewpoint, or as he noted when interviewed a perspective with a "stance and a good attitude".[7] Peart alternates between narration and a first person perspective as he writes about confronting a person who has fooled the protagonist of the song too often. Peart's philosophy throughout the song is epitomized with the very no-nonsense lyric *"You can twist perception. Reality won't budge!"* The first verse explains the frustration of depending on others and finding out that is the wrong approach (e.g. "Everyone knows everything, and no one's ever wrong, until later. Who can you believe?"). The chorus shows the protagonist's resolution to being fooled: stop listening to the schemer's persuasion, pay attention only if the schemer shows evidence, rather than being convinced by conniving words. The second verse uses vivid imagery of a courtroom trial as the solution to the protagonist's; however, in this case, the deceived protagonist is the "judge and the jury". After the second verse and chorus, an instrumental section features a bass solo by [Geddy Lee](/source/Geddy_Lee) and a shorter guitar solo by [Alex Lifeson](/source/Alex_Lifeson). The chorus in the last section uses more courtroom imagery and then alternates lines from the chorus between the two verses and the chorus using courtroom imagery. ## Track listing Music by Lifeson, Peart, and Lee. Lyrics by Peart. **Canadian Release**: 1. Show Don't Tell (Edit) - 4:17 1. Red Tide - 4:29 1. Force Ten (live) - 4:50 **US Promo**: 1. Show Don't Tell - 5:01 ## See also - [List of Rush songs](/source/List_of_Rush_songs) - [List of number-one mainstream rock hits (United States)](/source/List_of_number-one_mainstream_rock_hits_(United_States)#1990) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["RUSH - PRESTO - CD - Tower Records Dublin Ireland"](https://www.towerrecords.ie/product/RUSH_PRESTO/64909). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [https://www.billboard.com/artist/rush/chart-history/mainstream-rock-tracks](https://www.billboard.com/artist/rush/chart-history/mainstream-rock-tracks) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Bowman, Durrell. "Permanent Change: Rush, Musicians' Rock, and the Progressive Post-Counterculture," PhD dissertation in musicology, pp. 233, 236, UCLA, 2003](https://web.archive.org/web/20080307183257/http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/musicology/grads/bowman/PDFS/DBowman_dissertation.pdf) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Bowman, Durrell. "Permanent Change: Rush, Musicians' Rock, and the Progressive Post-Counterculture," PhD dissertation in musicology, p. 237, UCLA, 2003](http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/musicology/grads/bowman/PDFS/DBowman_dissertation.pdf) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Krewen, Nick. "Rush: Presto change-o" Canadian Musician 12.2 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** McNair, James (January 19, 2025). ["Every Rush Album Ranked!"](https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/the-mojo-list/rushs-greatest-albums-ranked/). *[Mojo](/source/Mojo_(magazine))*. Retrieved October 15, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Krewen, Nick. "Rush: Presto change-o" Canadian Musician 12.2 v t e Rush Alex Lifeson Geddy Lee Jeff Jones John Rutsey Neil Peart Studio albums Rush (1974) Fly by Night (1975) Caress of Steel (1975) 2112 (1976) A Farewell to Kings (1977) Hemispheres (1978) Permanent Waves (1980) Moving Pictures (1981) Signals (1982) Grace Under Pressure (1984) Power Windows (1985) Hold Your Fire (1987) Presto (1989) Roll the Bones (1991) Counterparts (1993) Test for Echo (1996) Vapor Trails (2002) Snakes & Arrows (2007) Clockwork Angels (2012) Live albums All the World's a Stage (1976) Exit... Stage Left (1981) A Show of Hands (1989) Different Stages (1998) Rush in Rio (2003) R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour (2005) Snakes & Arrows Live (2008) Grace Under Pressure Tour (2009) Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland (2011) Clockwork Angels Tour (2013) R40 Live (2015) Live videos Exit... Stage Left (1982) Grace Under Pressure Tour (1986) A Show of Hands (1989) Rush in Rio (2003) R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour (2005) Rush Replay X 3 (2006) Snakes & Arrows Live (2008) Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland (2011) Clockwork Angels Tour (2013) R40 Live (2015) Compilations Rush Through Time (1979) Chronicles (1990) Retrospective I (1997) Retrospective II (1997) The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974–1987 (2003) Gold (2006) Retrospective III: 1989–2008 (2009) Working Men (2009) Video compilations Through the Camera Eye (1985) Chronicles (1990) Box sets The Studio Albums 1989–2007 (2013) Extended plays Feedback (2004) Cygnus X-1 (2017) Singles "In the Mood" "Fly by Night" "Lakeside Park" "The Twilight Zone" "Making Memories" "Closer to the Heart" "Circumstances" "The Trees" "The Spirit of Radio" "Entre Nous" "Limelight" "Tom Sawyer" "Vital Signs" "New World Man" "Subdivisions" "Countdown" "Red Sector A" "Afterimage" "The Big Money" "Mystic Rhythms" "Time Stand Still" "Show Don't Tell" "The Pass" "Dreamline" "Roll the Bones" "Ghost of a Chance" "Stick It Out" "Nobody's Hero" "Test for Echo" "Half the World" "Driven" "One Little Victory" "Secret Touch" "Summertime Blues" "Far Cry" "Caravan" "Headlong Flight" Other songs "Working Man" "Before" and "After" I. "Into the Darkness" "Didacts and Narpets" "2112" "A Passage to Bangkok" "Tears" "Xanadu" "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres" (II. "Apollo Bringer of Wisdom" and III. "Dionysus Bringer of Love" IV. "Armageddon The Battle of Heart and Mind" VI. "The Sphere A Kind of Dream") "Freewill" "Red Barchetta" "YYZ" "Witch Hunt" "The Analog Kid" "Between the Wheels" "Marathon" "Manhattan Project" "Force Ten" "Mission" "Lock and Key" "Second Nature" "Heresy" "Animate" "Cold Fire" "The Larger Bowl (A Pantoum)" Tours Hemispheres Tour (1978–1979) Moving Pictures Tour (1980–1981) Exit... Stage Left Tour (1981) Power Windows Tour (1985–1986) Hold Your Fire Tour (1987–1988) Presto Tour (1990) Roll the Bones Tour (1991–1992) Counterparts Tour (1994) Test for Echo Tour (1996–1997) Snakes & Arrows Tour (2007–2008) Time Machine Tour (2010–2011) Clockwork Angels Tour (2012–2013) R40 Live Tour (2015) Fifty Something Tour (2026–2027) Related articles Discography Songs Awards Instrumentals Victor My Favourite Headache A Work in Progress Anatomy of a Drum Solo Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road Hugh Syme Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage Working Man – A Tribute to Rush Category Authority control databases MusicBrainz work MusicBrainz release group --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Show Don't Tell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show_Don't_Tell) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show_Don't_Tell?action=history)). 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