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{{Short description|1987 single by Rush}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Time Stand Still
| cover = Rush TIme Stand Still Single Cover.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = [[Rush (band)|Rush]] featuring [[Aimee Mann]]
| album = [[Hold Your Fire]]
| B-side = {{ubl|"High Water" (US)|"[[Force Ten (song)|Force Ten]]" (UK)}}
| released = October 19, 1987
| format =
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = {{hlist|[[Electronic rock]]|[[new wave music|new wave]]}}
| length = 5:09
| label = [[Anthem Records|Anthem]] (Canada)<br/>[[Mercury Records|Mercury]] (US)
| writer = {{hlist|[[Neil Peart]]|[[Geddy Lee]]|[[Alex Lifeson]]}}
| producer = {{hlist|Rush|[[Peter Collins (record producer)|Peter Collins]]}}
| chronology = [[Rush discography|Rush]]
| prev_title = [[Mystic Rhythms]]
| prev_year = 1986
| next_title = Prime Mover
| next_year = 1988
| misc =
{{External music video
| {{YouTube|dMSFqXGZ5TQ|"Time Stand Still"}}
}}
}}

"'''Time Stand Still'''" is a song by Canadian [[progressive rock]] band [[Rush (band)|Rush]], released in 1987 as the lead single from their twelfth studio album ''[[Hold Your Fire]]''.<ref name="daily"/> The song features American singer-songwriter [[Aimee Mann]]. It peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart on November 6, 1987, and was a minor hit single in the United Kingdom, peaking at No. 42 on the [[UK Singles Chart]]. A music video for the song was directed by [[Zbigniew Rybczyński]].

==Development and composition==
"Time Stand Still" was the first track [[Neil Peart]] wrote for ''[[Hold Your Fire]]''.<ref name = "Fireworks">{{cite web |url=http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/holdyourfire.html#tourbook |title=Fireworks: The Making of "Hold Your Fire" |last=Peart |first=Neil |work=Power Windows |access-date=June 16, 2017}}</ref> According to Peart, he wrote the lyrics for "Time Stand Still" based on his time with [[Rush (band)|Rush]]:
{{blockquote|"All through the '70s our lives were flying by; we spent so much time on the road that it became like a dark tunnel. You start to think about the people you're neglecting, friends and family. So the song is about stopping to enjoy that; with a warning against too much looking back. Instead of getting nostalgic about the past, it's more a plea for the present."<ref name = "Boston Globe">Milano, Breit (November 19, 1987). [http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19871119bostonglobe.htm The Down-To-Earth RUSH]. [[Boston Globe]]. Accessed from June 20, 2013.</ref>}}

"Time Stand Still" is in the key of [[E major]]. The tempo is moderately fast. The song starts in {{music|time|7|4}} before going to [[common time]] by the first verse.<ref name = "sheetmusic">[http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/Time-Stand-Still/19319680# Time Stand Still Digital Sheet Music by Rush]. [[Sheet Music Plus]]. Accessed from June 21, 2013.</ref> [['Til Tuesday]] frontwoman [[Aimee Mann]] briefly sings in each chorus of the song, marking Rush's first collaboration with another vocalist;<ref name="lat1" /> Rush guitarist [[Alex Lifeson]] adding that the band thought a female singer "would suit the song".{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} Initially, the band had hoped to recruit [[Cyndi Lauper]] to sing the part, then later approached [[the Pretenders]]' [[Chrissie Hynde]] because, according to Lifeson, "we thought she'd be perfect. But Chrissie was unavailable at the time." Rush later recruited Mann<ref name="Lifeson Times">Putterford, Mark (October 17, 1987). [http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19871017kerrang.htm Lifeson Times]. [[Kerrang!]]. Accessed from June 21, 2013.</ref> and paid her $2,000 to sing on the track,<ref name="A.V. Club">Klein, Joshua (November 15, 2000). [https://web.archive.org/web/20100930172435/http://www.avclub.com/articles/aimee-mann%2C13687/ Interview - Aimee Mann]. [[The A.V. Club]]. Accessed from June 21, 2013.</ref> with Lifeson saying that "her voice blends with Geddy [Lee]'s perfectly and I think it creates the right atmosphere for the song. It's just something new for Rush."<ref name="Lifeson Times" />

==Critical reception==
[[Chris Welch]] of ''[[Kerrang!]]'' praised it as "glowing brilliance which deserves serious chart attention for its haunting guitar, frantic drums and intense vocals."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Welch |first=Chris |title=Singlez |magazine=[[Kerrang!]] |date=31 October 1987 |issue=160 |page=13 |issn=0262-6624}}</ref> In 2013, ''[[PopMatters]]'' writer Adrian Begrand listed "Time Stand Still" at #8 on his "10 Songs That Will Make You Love Rush", calling it "Rush's best pop moment."<ref name = "popmatters">Begrand, Andrian (April 17, 2013). [https://www.popmatters.com/170519-10-songs-that-will-make-you-love-rush-2495763357.html 10 Songs That Will Make You Love Rush]. [[PopMatters]]. Accessed from June 7, 2021.</ref>

==Music video==
[[File:Zbigniew Rybczyński.jpg|thumb|Zbigniew Rybczyński directed the video.]]
The song's music video was directed by Polish filmmaker [[Zbigniew Rybczyński]]. According to the editor of the video, Glenn Lazzaro:

{{blockquote|Zbig had shot footage of country landscapes for Rush. The idea was to shoot short pieces of Rush performing the song against green screen, then composite them together. When we started working, Zbig decided he loved the stage and wanted to composite Rush over that instead. I suggested that we shoot them live in the stage, but Zbig wanted everyone to "float" around it. He also insisted that everything had to happen "live." Each new layer would be placed on top of the preceding layer without making protection copies or “laying off” a copy, as we used to say. The green screen footage was shot with the same giant studio camera Aimee Mann is using in the video. Zbig would give some vague direction to Rush; I would set up the effects, play the audio track and press record, causing multiple one-inch tape machines to roll up on the third floor.<ref name = "99tigers.com">Lazarro, Glen (August 11, 2011). [http://www.99tigers.com/2011/08/11/rush-%E2%80%9Ctime-stand-still%E2%80%9D-mr-mister-%E2%80%9Csomething-real%E2%80%9D/ Rush Job: Rush & Mr. Mister]. 99tigers.com. Accessed from June 1, 2013.</ref>}}

Aimee Mann appears with the band in the video, which was filmed over the course of an entire day.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/geddy-lee-dives-into-rushs-video-timeline-20131007/time-stands-still-1987-0912543 |title=Geddy Lee Dives Into Rush's Video Timeline |last=Greene |first=Andy |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=October 7, 2013 |access-date=January 24, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/see-rush-team-with-aimee-mann-for-time-stand-still-video-w467453 |title=Flashback: Rush Team With Aimee Mann for Surreal 'Time Stand Still' Video |last=Greene |first=Andy |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=February 16, 2017 |access-date=June 16, 2017}}</ref>

==Charts==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
! Chart (1987) !! Peak<br/>position
|-
{{single chart|UK|42|artist=Rush|song=Time Stand Still|date=19871025|refname=UKcharts|access-date=June 19, 2013}}
|-
|US [[Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks]] (''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'')<ref name = "HotMainstreamRock">[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=rush|chart=Mainstream Rock Tracks}} Rush - Chart History: Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks]. ''[[Billboard.com|Billboard]]''. [[Prometheus Global Media]]. Accessed from June 19, 2013.</ref>
|align="center"| 3
|-
|Canada Top Singles Chart ([[RPM (magazine)|RPM]])<ref name = "RPM">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.0908&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=c6btf3r8hs459qqt5ln3o3dcv5|title=Top Singles - Volume 47, No. 9, December 05 1987|magazine=[[RPM (magazine)|RPM]]|access-date=March 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110091237/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.0908&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=c6btf3r8hs459qqt5ln3o3dcv5|archive-date=January 10, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|align="center"| 52
|}

==See also==
*''[[R40 Live Tour#Films|Rush: Time Stand Still]]'', a documentary film about the band's 2015 [[R40 Live Tour]]
*[[List of songs recorded by Rush]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="daily">{{cite news |work=Los Angeles Daily News |title=Rush Gets In The Way Of Its Music |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LA&p_theme=la&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EF51764D0016469&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |date=February 6, 1988 |access-date=February 27, 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="lat1">{{cite news |first=Duncan |last=Strauss |work=Los Angeles Times |title=Rush Delivery: They Could Have Mailed It In |page=6 |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/58820371.html?dids=58820371:58820371&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+06%2C+1988&author=DUNCAN+STRAUSS&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Pop+Reviews+Rush+Delivery%3A+They+Could+Have+Mailed+It+In&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604143619/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/58820371.html?dids=58820371:58820371&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+06,+1988&author=DUNCAN+STRAUSS&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Pop+Reviews+Rush+Delivery:+They+Could+Have+Mailed+It+In&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |date=February 6, 1988 |access-date=February 27, 2010}}</ref>

}}

{{Rush}}
{{Aimee Mann}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1987 songs]]
[[Category:1987 singles]]
[[Category:Rush (band) songs]]
[[Category:Aimee Mann songs]]
[[Category:Music videos directed by Zbigniew Rybczyński]]
[[Category:Songs written by Neil Peart]]
[[Category:Songs written by Geddy Lee]]
[[Category:Songs written by Alex Lifeson]]
[[Category:Mercury Records singles]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Peter Collins (record producer)]]
[[Category:Anthem Records singles]]

Time Stand Still (song) - Revision history

imported>Solidest: date correction in single chart