The title track on Rush’s 16th studio album, Test for Echo deals with the rising popularity of crime in popular media. Primarily the syndication of crime-centric television programs, and the rising ‘gangsta rap’ style present in then-contemporary hip-hop.
[Pre-Chorus]
Here we go, vertigo
Video vertigo
Test for echo
[Chorus]
Here we go, in slo-mo
Video vertigo
Test for echo
Test for echo
[Verse 1]
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
[Pre-Chorus]
Here we go, vertigo
Video vertigo
Test for echo
[Verse 2]
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 a Gangsta Nation
Now crime's in syndication on TV
[Pre-Chorus]
Here we go
What a show, vertigo
Video vertigo
Test for echo
[Chorus]
Touch and go, in slow-mo
Video vertigo
Test for echo
Test for echo
[Pre-Chorus]
Here we go, vertigo
Video vertigo
[Bridge]
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
[Verse 3]
Can't do the time?
Don't do the crime
And wind up in the perp walk on TV
[Pre-Chorus]
Here we go, vertigo
Video vertigo
Test for echo
[Chorus]
What a show, vertigo
Video vertigo
Test for echo
[Chorus]
Touch and go, in slow-mo
Video vertigo
Test for echo
Test for echo
Test for Echo was written by Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson & Neil Peart & Pye Dubois.
Test for Echo was produced by Peter Collins & Rush.
Rush released Test for Echo on Tue Sep 10 1996.