My DT Fandom begins with Rush, long story short:
I was always a Rush fan dating back to when I was a teenager in the 70s, but they were never my favorite band. That all changed in 2002, when I lost my brother in law to cancer. One of the things he and I bonded over was Rush; his favorite band. A little while after his passing, my sister in law received a sympathy card from a distant 2nd cousin with the lyrics to Bravado printed inside. Now there was no way this person could have known that Rush was my B-i-L's favorite band, it was purely coincidental and serendipitous. I have to admit, I was not familiar with the song since I stopped getting into new Rush after Signals. After that I delved deep into all things Rush; music, lyrics, books, internet message boards, anything I could find.
A few other coincidences from then: The first thing I purchased so I could hear this song was the live CD "Different Stages".
I opened the CD booklet and the first thing I read was:
"Suddenly ... You were gone ... from all the lives you left your mark upon. In loving memory of Jackie and Selena".
Like I said, I had gotten away form Rush since the early 80s and wasn't aware of Neil's tragedies, so had no idea who Jackie and Selena were. But seeing those words after the tragedy my family had just been through was crazy. I think it was then that I started internet searches, and reading stories about what happened. They just came out with a new album, Vapor Trails, and a lot of those lyrics from Neil are about dealing with loss, as well as his book, Ghost Rider, which came out a couple months later.
I went to the VT tour show in NJ on Nov 6, 2002, and of course they were playing Bravado on that tour; myself, my wife, and her sister (the one that just lost her husband) were all balling like babies during that.
Short story long (Ha!), it is because of that one sympathy card, 16 years ago, that I am the Rush nut I am today, and how I discovered DT, by seeing them mentioned on various Rush boards.
"And if the music stops
There’s only the sound of the rain
All the hope and glory
All the sacrifice in vain
If love remains
Though everything is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost"