Rush's 1981 Instrumental Hit "YYZ!"

I happened to catch this particular animated video of Rush’s “YYZ” as I was searching for just the right one to post. This video is amazing! It was created by a guy named Bobby Standridge.

Using himself as a model, Bobby spent a year and a half animating Neal Peart drumming to "YYZ." He posted it on the Web in the summer of 2005. The video became something of an Internet sensation. News of the animation actually reached Peart himself and even asked to post the video on his own Web site.

The title. “YYZ” is the IATA airport identification code for the Toronto Pearson International Airport, of Rush's native area of Toronto. It’s common practice for air navigation aids to broadcast their identifier code in Morse code using VHF omni-directional range (VOR). A plane using VOR equipment would then always know it's tracking the right station. The song's introduction, played in a time signature of 5/4, repeatedly renders the letters "Y-Y-Z" in Morse Code using various musical arrangements.

Drummer and lyricist Neil Peart has said, in reference to the airport code, "It's always a happy day when YYZ appears on our luggage tags!”