Songfacts®:

• This came out of a conversation between Neil Peart and Geddy Lee about people they knew and how they went through life without properly addressing problems that were affecting them.
• Neil Peart (1988): "Quite a lot of my ideas come from having conversations with other people. I take their observations and viewpoints and personalize them. Unfortunately a lot of people think these songs are personal statements. I don't want that to happen because it would seem I'm unburdening myself and that would be tiresome."
• Geddy Lee (Bass Player, Nov/Dec 1988): "That song went through a lot of changes, and by the end of it, we had established this bass riff near the top of it. At the end we got into this groove when we were in the demo stage that we knew would be fun. So when Neil locked into that groove and went with it, he felt so good that we just let him go. And I just jammed to what he already put down."
• Alex Lifeson (Guitar magazine, August 1988): "It's more the musicality of the song than the lyrical content. For the solo I think it's the mood that's created by the music. I suppose in a way that makes it attached to the lyrics. But it's more the music that provides the trigger for what the solo does. If it's a dark, melancholy sound to that particular song, then the solo will reflect that. An example is "Open Secrets." It has that lonely mood to it from a musical point of view. I think the solo in that song reflects that wailing loneliness. Something like "Turn the Page" is much more manic and crazy. - "Probably "Mission" and "Open Secrets." "Mission" came out a lot better than I thought it would. It had gone through quite a few changes since its inception and it ended up being a much better song than it started out." >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Mike - Mountlake Terrace, Washington, for all above