"Manhattan Project" is a 1985 song by Canadian progressive rock band Rush named for the WWII project that created the first atomic bomb. Lyricist Neil Peart read ten books about the Manhattan Project before writing the lyrics so that he had a proper understanding of what the project was really about. This song first appeared in the 1985 album Power Windows, Rush's eleventh studio album. "Manhattan Project" is the third track on Power Windows at 5:07 long.

The Manhattan Project was the codename for a project conducted during World War II to develop the first atomic bomb. The project was led by the United States, and included participation from the United Kingdom and Canada. Formally designated as the Manhattan Engineer District (MED), it refers specifically to the period of the project from 19421946 under the control of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, under the administration of General Leslie R. Groves. The scientific research was directed by American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer.[1]
The project's roots lay in scientists' fears since the 1930s that Nazi Germany was also investigating nuclear weapons of its own. Born out of a small research program in 1939, the Manhattan Project eventually employed more than 130,000 people and cost nearly US$2 billion ($22 billion in current value). It resulted in the creation of multiple production and research sites that operated in secret.

Project research took place at over thirty sites across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The three primary research and production sites of the project were the plutonium-production facility at what is now the Hanford Site, the uranium-enrichment facilities at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the weapons research and design laboratory now known as Los Alamos National Laboratory. The MED maintained control over U.S. weapons production until the formation of the Atomic Energy Commission in January 1947.

Power Windows is the 11th studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1985 (see 1985 in music). The album was recorded at The Manor in England, Air Studios in Montserrat and at Sarm East in London.
Power Windows introduced more keyboard synthesizers into the band's sound. Generally, short, echoey guitar "bursts" tend to outnumber solos as well as riffs. The Big Money and Mystic Rhythms were both made into music videos featured in MTV's rotation at the time.
Power Windows' lyrics are focused primarily on various manifestations of power. For example, the song "Manhattan Project" explores the origins and consequences of the U.S. military's development of the atomic bomb, and "Territories" comments on nationalism around the world. Like "Subdivisions," from the album Signals, "Middletown Dreams" explores suburban monotony and the average person's attempts to escape it temporarily.

In February 1985, work started at Elora Sound for three weeks, in the barn with a 24-track studio. Vocalist and bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson were working on songs that fit lyrics drummer Neil Peart wrote at a small desk there, with Peart writing lyrics that fit Lee and Lifeson's music. During his time there, Peart researched the Manhattan Project to prepare to write lyrics for the song of the same name. He also wrote rough outlines for "The Big Money," "Mystic Rhythms" and "Marathon." Lee and Lifeson sorted through jams and Lifesons riff tapes to write music for these songs, with each song taking up to a week. They then began on "Middletown Dreams," "Marathon" once again, and then "Grand Designs."

Peart went through tapes to the five new songs in a Miami hotel room in March, getting ready for the warmup tour gig in Lakeland, Florida. At this point, the band met up with engineer James "Jimbo" Barton, recommended by producer Peter Collins. Later at Elora, the songs whose lyrics Peart was formerly struggling with, "Territories" and "Manhattan Project," began to come together. Peart was also working on lyrics to a ballad called "Emotion Detector," which seemed to work perfectly with the music they were jamming on at the time. The music to "Territories" was also arranged, and a tape of seven songs was created. They had trouble with writing the music to "Manhattan Project," but Collins contributed ideas to this and other songs. [Info courtesy: wikipedia.org] (less info)