{{Infobox song | name = The Analog Kid | cover = | alt = | type = song | artist = [[Rush (band)|Rush]] | album = [[Signals (Rush album)|Signals]] | released = September 9, 1982 | recorded = 1982 | studio = | genre = [[Progressive rock]] | length = 4:47 | label = [[Anthem Records|Anthem]] | writer = *[[Geddy Lee]] *[[Alex Lifeson]] *[[Neil Peart]] | producer = Rush, [[Terry Brown (record producer)|Terry Brown]] | prev_title = [[Subdivisions (song)|Subdivisions]] | prev_year = 1982 | next_title = [[The Weapon (song)|The Weapon]] | next_year = 1982 }} "'''The Analog Kid'''" is a song by the Canadian [[progressive rock]] band [[Rush (band)|Rush]] from their 1982 album ''[[Signals (Rush album)|Signals]]''. It reached number 19 on the [[Mainstream Rock (chart)|Mainstream Rock chart]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rush|title=Rush ANALOG KID Chart History|website=Billboard}}</ref>
"The Analog Kid" is a moderately fast song and was originally written in the key of A major.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0061133|title=The Analog Kid|first1=Lee|last1=Geddy|first2=Lifeson|last2=Alex|last3=Rush|first4=Peart|last4=Neil|date=17 December 2007|website=Musicnotes.com}}</ref> It’s played in common time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://findsongtempo.com/artists/rush/songs/the-analog-kid|title=The Analog Kid by Rush – BPM – Key – Find Song Tempo|website=Findsongtempo.com|accessdate=5 January 2019}}</ref>
==Recording== The song originates from when the band stayed at [[Virgin Gorda]] in the [[British Virgin Islands]] in January 1982, travelling on a yacht that was named Orianda.<ref name="2112.net">{{cite web|url=http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/signals.html#tourbook|title="Signals" linernotes and more from Power Windows: A Tribute To Rush|website=2112.net|accessdate=5 January 2019}}</ref>
Drummer and lyricist [[Neil Peart]] wrote the lyrics for the song at first as a companion piece to "[[Digital Man]]", a song that Rush had started working on in late 1981, and presented it to bassist [[Geddy Lee]]. Peart and Lee talked about what could be done with the lyrics in a musical sense. They eventually decided on the opposite on what the words may suggest, with Peart describing the track as "a very up-tempo rocker, with some kind of a dynamic contrast for the choruses".<ref name="2112.net"/>
Peart said the song was his first attempt at non-fiction: "For the longest time I stepped into characters until I had my own confidence and technique to be able to step outside them as a writer."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rushvault.com/2011/02/06/the-analog-kid/|title=The Analog Kid|date=6 February 2011|website=Rushvault.com}}</ref>
==In popular culture== "The Analog Kid", along with "Digital Man" (another song from the album) served as the inspiration for the writer Troy Hickman to create the comic book heroes of the same names in the 2004 comic ''[[Common Grounds]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sequentialtart.com/archive/apr04/thickman.shtml |title=Troy Hickman �� Holey Crullers! (vol VII/iss 4/April 2004) |publisher=Sequential Tart |date= |accessdate=2012-09-17}}</ref>
==Reception== Greg Prato of [[AllMusic]], in a review for the album, said that the song was an example that Rush did not forget to "rock out" after adding synthesizers to their sound.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/signals-mw0000191705|title=Signals – Rush – Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref>
In 2016, ''[[Prog (magazine)|Prog]]'' wrote that it was the 7th best Rush song from the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-top-10-best-rush-songs-of-the-80s|title=The Top 10 Best Rush Songs Of The 80s|first=Jerry Ewing 2016-10-28T18:00:00 301Z|last=Prog|website=Prog Magazine}}</ref>
''[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]]'' readers voted "The Analog Kid" the band's 24th best song.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-50-greatest-rush-songs-ever|title=The 50 Greatest Rush Songs Ever|first=Classic Rock 2015-06-11T09:36:00 161Z Classic|last=Rock|website=Classic Rock Magazine}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Rush}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Analog Kid}} [[Category:1982 songs]] [[Category:1983 singles]] [[Category:Rush (band) songs]] [[Category:Song recordings produced by Terry Brown (record producer)]] [[Category:Songs written by Geddy Lee]] [[Category:Songs written by Alex Lifeson]] [[Category:Songs written by Neil Peart]]