Emotion Detector

This song is really just about the complications of love. You have to take risks when you reveal how you feel to someone. There is that chance that they don't feel the same way and that can be painful.

"So often fragile power turns to scorn and ridicule." Very often relationships start out gentle and loving and end so very terribly.

I'll attempt to pick this song piece for piece.

"When we lift the covers from our feelings We expose our insecure spots Trust is just as rare as devotion-- Forgive us our cynical thoughts"

This is pretty obvious. When you express your feelings you show your emotional weaknesses, and it is hard to trust someone to share your feeling with. So forgive us when we don't want to express our feelings.

"If we need too much attention -- Not content with being cool We must throw ourselves wide open And start acting like a fool"

Perhaps this means that if you want attention, sometimes you will have to risk being "cool".

"If we need too much approval Then the cuts can seem too cruel"

However, if you want to be cool, then getting laughed at or insulted will be very harsh.

"Right to the heart of the matter Right to the beautiful part Illusions are painfully shattered Right where discovery starts In the secret wells of emotion Buried deep in our hearts"

This is probably talking about your true emotions.(the beautiful part) And when you discover who you really are, the illusion of yourself is painfully shattered. To find yourself though, you'll have to dig deep into your heart.

"It's true that love can change us But never quite enough Sometimes we are too tender Sometimes we're too tough"

When you find true love, you can be changed but not enough to become a new person. You'll always be too passive or too dominate.

"If we get too much attention It gets hard to overrule So often fragile power turns To scorn and ridicule Sometimes our big splashes Are just ripples in the pool"

If you get too much attention and want to be less famous, it'll be hard. So often your fragile power turns on you and you'll get insulted. In the end, your big moments are just small events in the big picture.

It seems like Rush has two different "stories" going on to show the difference between who you truly are and what you try to be.

Yeah, this song is straight up about love and the risks / complications involved. Come on, when you first meet someone you are just imagining who you think they are. You WILL come to find that they are not that perfect person that you hoped and imagined they were. In the last part it states that love can change us but never quite enough. If you fall in love with someone and intend on changing them, it will not work. They will always be who they are for the most part. :)

Illusions illusions are painfully shattered. When he says this he is not just repeating himself. We each try to put up an illusion of how we want to be perceived. Everyone has their own illusion about who we really are. Sometimes you can never see through both of these to learn who someone IS!

Can't really figure out the true message in the song but Neil Peart makes some great observations - "Illusions are painfully shattered right where discovery starts" - isn't that the truth eh?

wow only 1 comment this is a kick ass song ,i really have no idea on the meaning but its a awesome song ,so i thought id just say that

The meaning isn't clear to me. I just love the line "Sometimes our big splashes, Are just ripples in the pool".

The only section that I can make heads or tails out of is the first verse. I think it's saying that you must take certain risks -- giving up you reputation of being cool, and start acting a little silly. Not caring what other people think of you. As long as you are happy with who you are, that's all that matters. I could be way off, but that's what I see in that first verse.