"Force Ten" was written in three 3 hours on December 14, 1986, the last day of pre-production for Hold Your Fire. With nine songs already written, producer Peter Collins felt it was important to have one more song for the album. Pye Dubois, who previously worked with Rush on their song "Tom Sawyer", had sent Neil Peart some lyrics for the song, and Peart would add more verses to it. Lyrically, the song describes the "storms of life," making a reference to a very high level of the Beaufort scale ("force ten" being near the scale's maximum of 12) as an analogy, according to the book Rush and Philosophy: Heart and Mind United.

Musically, "Force Ten" is composed in a A minor key, with changes into a major scale also occurring in the song. The song is set in common time at a fast rock tempo. Peart has said that Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were "trying to explore some musical areas that we hadn't covered yet," when writing the music for the song. The opening is very atmospheric before the bass guitar starts playing. Lee performed bass chords in the song, inspired to do so by his friend Jeff Berlin.

Lyrics:

Tough times demand, tough talk demand
Tough hearts demand tough songs
Tough times demand, tough talk demand
Tough hearts demand, tough songs demand

We can rise and fall like empires
Flow in and out like the tide
Be vain and smart, humble and dumb
We can hit and miss like pride, just like pride

We can circle around like hurricanes
Dance and dream like lovers
Attack the day like birds of prey
A scavengers under cover, under cover

Look in to the eye of the storm
Look out for the force without form
Look around, sight and sound
Look in, look out, look around

Tough times demand, tough talk demand
Tough hearts demand, tough songs demand

We can move with savage grace
To rhythms of the night
Cool and remote like dancing girls
In my heat of the beat and the lights, and the lights

We can wear the rose of romance
An air of joie de vivre
To tender hearts upon our sleeves
Skin as thick as thieves, thick as thieves

Look in to the eye of the storm
Look out for the force without form
Look around at the sight and sound
Look in, look out, look around

Tough times demand, tough talk demand
Tough hearts demand, tough songs demand

Look in to the eye of the storm
Look out for the force without form
Look around at the sight and sound

Look in with the storm in the eye
Look out for the sea and the sky
Look around at the sight and sound
Look in, look out, look around

Tough times demand, tough hearts
Tough times demand, tough talk

Geddy Lee ~ Bass Guitar, Synthesizers
Alex Lifesone ~ Guitar, Foot Triggered Synthesizers
Neil Peart ~ Drums, Percussion

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