Album: Test For Echo (1996)

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• Here we go, vertigo
  Video vertigo
  Test for echo
  
  Here we go, in slo-mo
  Video vertigo
  Test for echo
  Test for echo
  
  Some kind of trouble on the sensory screen
  Camera curves over caved-in cop cars
  Bleacher-creatures, would-be desperadoes
  Clutch at plausible deniability
  
  Don't touch that dial
  We're in denial
  Until the showcase trial on TV
  
  Here we go, vertigo
  Video, vertigo
  Test for echo
  
  Some kind of pictures on the sense o'clock news
  Miles of yellow tape, silhouetted chalk lines
  Tough-talking hood boys in pro-team logo knock-offs
  Conform to uniforms of some corporate entity
  
  Don't change that station
  It's Gangsta Nation
  Now crime's in syndication on TV
  
  Oh yeah, what a show
  Vertigo
  Video vertigo
  Test for echo
  
  Touch and go in slo-mo
  Video vertigo
  Test for echo
  Test for echo
  
  Here we go
  Vertigo
  Video
  Vertigo
  
  Some kind of drama live on satellite
  Hidden camera coverage from the crime scene to the courtroom
  Nail-biting hood boys in borrowed ties and jackets
  Clutching at the straws of respectability
  
  Can't do the time?
  Don't do the crime
  And wind up in the perp walk on TV
  
  Oh, yeah
  Here we go, vertigo
  Video vertigo
  Test for echo
  
  What a show
  Vertigo
  Video vertigo
  Test for echo
  
  Here we go in slo-mo
  Video vertigo
  Test for echo
  Test for echo Writer/s: Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, Neil Peart, Pye Dubois
  Publisher: Anthem Entertainment
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 11

• Christian from Central Usaas peart said, the phrase 'test for echo' comes from the search for intelligent life, the search for intelligence itself. obviously, the song is about the ongoing search, and the lament that we're surrounded by unintelligencia in the form of misguided showbiz.
• Brian from San DiegoI felt like the lyrics were thought-provoking, as usual, but the music was not something I was able to get lost in. Anyway this song was obviously a "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" comment on reality TV. Maybe we have been desensitized to it, I guess you can get used to anything.
• Richard from Hopkinton, Ma@Mike, alliteration is "the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words". The classic example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."
  
  An great example does indeed occur in Test for Echo: "Camera curves over caved-in cop cars".
• David from Deer Park, Txthese lyrics are about western cultures obsession with violence and how the media has us desensitized to it. another great song with similar lyrical meaning is vicarious by tool
• Avlight from Anytown, NcIt's about Neil's opinion of how crime, criminals, and their trials are overglorified on the television news.
  
  It was deeply influenced by the OJ Simpson trial
• Theartofbalance from Mary Esther, FlDon't I feel stupid. I thought it was about crime because the only distinquishable lyric I could hear was "miles of yellow tape...chalk line." Besides the obvious other stuff that isnt in the verses.
• Mike from Sarasota, FlAn interesting thing I noticed about this song is the use of alliteration (I think that's the correct term) in the opening vocals. When Geddy sings
  
  "Here we go --- vertigo
  Video vertigo
  Test for echo
  
  Here we go --- in slo-mo
  Video vertigo
  Test for echo"
  
  Each word or block of words is three syllables, with the accent on the first. The way it rolls out it almost has an echoing effect. A clever touch, considering the title of the song
  
  
  
• Ray from Roseville, MiThis song is also about crime tv shows.
• Wil from Milwaukee, WiThis is one of my favorite Rush tunes!! It only took 6 years to get a chance to hear another original Rush song!! I thank God that Neil had the internal strength to carry on and give back to us the view of the talent God gave him!!
• Ben from Nyc, MsGreat Book.
• Mike from Mountlake Terrace, WashingtonNeil also saw small representations of these "Inukashuk"s along the road on his trip in Ghost Rider - Travels on the healing road.

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