Emotion Detector

An exploration of how people guard their emotions and the difficulty of truly knowing what others feel. The title suggests an imaginary device that could cut through the masks people wear — a concept that speaks to the fundamental isolation of human experience.

This was the only song on the album where Rush discussed recording a ballad. When Peart presented his lyrics to Lee and Lifeson, they happened to fit perfectly with the piece of music the two were already working on — a rare moment of serendipity in the band's usually meticulous process. The track was never performed live, making it the sole Power Windows track to miss the concert stage.

Lifeson delivers some of his most emotionally expressive soloing of the era, and the arrangement has a warmth that sets it apart from the album's more driving tracks.