"Circumstances" is the second track on progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 band Rush

Rush (band)

Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...

's 1978 album Hemispheres. Lyrically, it is an autobiographical account, written by Peart

Neil Peart

Neil Ellwood Peart , OC, is a Canadian musician and author. He is the drummer for the rock band Rush.Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, Ontario . During adolescence, he floated from regional band to regional band in pursuit of a career as a full-time drummer...

, about the time he spent living in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and his eventual disillusionment with his then-current occupations.

Musically, it's a hard-hitting rock song, complete with power-chords and riffs, similar to much of their early 70s albums

Rush discography

Rush is a Canadian rock band originally formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, currently composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...

. It also features a keyboard break, near the middle of the song, similar to the one in "The Trees

The Trees (Rush song)

"The Trees" is a song by progressive rock band Rush from their 1978 album Hemispheres. The song is also featured on many of Rush's compilation albums and has been a perennial fan favorite of the band's live shows...

," supplied by Geddy Lee's Oberheim 8-voice Polyphonic Synthesizer, backed by Taurus pedals, Neil Peart's orchestral bells and a simple, soft chord progression by Alex Lifeson

Alex Lifeson

Aleksandar Živojinović, OC, better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, is a second generation Serbian-Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. In the summer of 1968, Lifeson founded the band that would become Rush with friend, drummer John Rutsey...

, before breaking back into the song's hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 feel. It was only played a handful of times in concert, on the Tour of the Hemispheres from late 1978 to early 1979, before the 2007 Snakes & Arrows Tour

Snakes & Arrows Tour

Rush began the Snakes & Arrows Tour to promote the album, Snakes & Arrows on June 13, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia. The 2007 tour came to a close on October 29, 2007 at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland...

when it was played every night in the first set of the band's 3 hour live show.