YYZ (Rush) Easter Egg - YYZ

This is completely awesome and true! Just a little extra info...it is not American Morse Code. In American Morse Code, the rhythm would go ".. .. .. .. ... ." but as we all know, they used International Morse Code, where the rhythm is "-.-- -.-- --.." which is very obviously the song. This was an excellent example of Rush's innovation and skill.

The story As I heard it was that the three members of rush were playing with a hand built radio one day and picked up the "YYZ" Morse code signal being broadcast from the Toronto Airport. They thought the rhythm was cool, so they decided to write a song called "YYZ" And now you know.... The rest of the story. I'm Paul Harvey... Good Day.

Just a little information. The Morse code is used to identify the VOR at the Toronto Airport. VOR's are beacons that are all over the world. They are at some airports and pilots fly to them while en route to their destinations. The pilots have to identify the signals with the Morse code. In this case YYZ. Members of Rush actually have their pilot's license and that is how they became aware of YYZ.

Actually, the airport code in International Morse is embedded in virtually all nav-aid transmissions. So in addition to the VOR, it is generated as a series high repetition-rate pulse groups from both the DME and the Glide-slope, and as a picture-perfect AM tone on the NDB. To hear a blues riff composed entirely of different Morse messages, try this link: http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2005/01/15/1/ny6qblues.MID 73, DE AL2I