Editing Hemispheres (Rush album) (section)

===Side two===
"[[Circumstances (song)|Circumstances]]" is the first of two shorter tracks on ''Hemispheres''. With the band having accustomed its audience to longer, more elaborate formats, this song is qualified by Lee as an experiment,<ref name=rs20181022 /> an attempt to break away from the prog formula that would steer the band into new directions in later albums.

"[[The Trees (Rush song)|The Trees]]" tells the story of an upheaval in a forest of [[oak]] and [[maple]] trees, where the maples think the oaks grow too large and take all the sunlight. The maples form a union in an effort to have the oaks cut down to a smaller size, but in the end all the trees are kept equal by cutting tools made by humans.<ref name=sounds1978 /> Lee said the Welsh countryside set the overall tone for the song: "You're watching English television, walking in the Welsh countryside; there are sheep talking to you in the early morning when you're trying to sleep&nbsp;... lyrics came first, and we wanted to construct a dynamic little tale as a soundtrack to those lyrics".<ref name=rs20181022 /> Peart took inspiration from a cartoon he saw of trees "carrying on like fools", and wrote a lyric based around the idea of trees acting like people. He later described the song as a [[parable]] about [[Collectivism]], an idea addressed by novelist [[Ayn Rand]].

The nine-minute "[[Rush instrumentals#La Villa Strangiato|La Villa Strangiato]]" (subtitled "An Exercise in Self-Indulgence") is the first instrumental that Rush recorded, and has 12 distinct sections. The piece is what Lifeson described as a "musical re-creation" of the various nightmares he had, particularly while he was on tour.<ref name=sounds1978 /><ref name=circus1978fricke>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19781205circus.htm|title=Rush's Music of the Spheres|first=David|last=Fricke|magazine=Circus|date=December 5, 1978|access-date=7 October 2017|archive-date=9 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809060554/http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19781205circus.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> It was the sole piece that developed from the two-week rehearsal period the group had prior to entering the studio.<ref name=sounds1978 /> The band encountered great difficulty in recording it as they wanted it put down as a single live performance, rather than a more produced and edited piece. Lee said it took as many as 40 takes to produce one that they were satisfied with,<ref name=circusdec1978>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19781205circus.htm|title=Rush's Music of the Spheres|first=David|last=Fricke|magazine=Circus|date=5 December 1978|access-date=7 October 2017|archive-date=9 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809060554/http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19781205circus.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> and he and Peart pointed out that they spent more time recording "La Villa Strangiato" than their second album, ''[[Fly by Night (album)|Fly by Night]]''.{{sfn|Wagner|2010|p=26}}<ref name=rs20181022>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rush-geddy-lee-interview-prog-rock-hemispheres-738828/|title=Geddy Lee on Rush's Prog-Rock Opus 'Hemispheres'|access-date=22 October 2018|date=|archive-date=25 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025071306/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rush-geddy-lee-interview-prog-rock-hemispheres-738828/ |url-status=live |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref> Peart recalled the group spent four days and nights playing it repeatedly, playing even when tired and with sore hands: "We were determined to get the whole thing perfect, but in the end I just couldn't do it, and we ended up putting it together from a few different takes."<ref name=peartmoderndrummer>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19821200moderndrummer.htm|title=Notes on the Making of Moving Pictures by Neil Peart|date=December 1982|magazine=Modern Drummer|first=Neil|last=Peart|access-date=23 September 2017|archive-date=24 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924045516/http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19821200moderndrummer.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The segments "Monsters!" and "Monsters! (Reprise)" are taken from "[[Powerhouse (instrumental)|Powerhouse]]", a 1937 jazz instrumental by [[Raymond Scott]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.whosampled.com/sample/39397/Rush-La-Villa-Strangiato-Raymond-Scott-Powerhouse/ |title=Rush's la Villa Strangiato sample of Raymond Scott's Powerhouse &#124; WhoSampled |website=[[WhoSampled]] |access-date=2015-02-15 |archive-date=2015-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216003604/http://www.whosampled.com/sample/39397/Rush-La-Villa-Strangiato-Raymond-Scott-Powerhouse/ |url-status=live }}</ref>