Narcissism

[Marquizzo]

Here is my take on the meaning of the song. This song is definitely my favorite of all Tool songs. Which, in turn, makes it my favorite song of all time. It is so profound, complex, intricate, and moralistic... I just can't explain how true this song is for me.

As for my interpretation of the song, here it goes:
Maynard starts talking about his self-indulgent pitiful hole. He is full of himself, and proud of it. He has fallen into a self-righteous void, full of vanity, decadence, and arrogance. He likes it there, where his pride and conceit rules everything. In his own eyes, he is king.

Then, during one of his worst moments, the "moon" tells him a life-changing truth. All the beauty and light that you see from the moon actually belongs to someone else. The moon isn't arrogant about its splendor. It is humble, and pays its dues to the true owner of this beauty. The "sun", which is much brighter and magnificent than the moon itself. Without the sun, the moon wouldn't shine. Nothing would. The moon wouldn't have purpose, it would be a giant, useless rock in space.

This realization changes Maynard, and forces him to come out of his self-righteous hole. He doesn't "want to be down here, feeding [his] narcissism". He understands that without the help of a superior being, he is nothing. So, he prays the "light" lifts him out of this dark place, before it's too late. Before he pines away.

It is such a majestic story, it holds true to every one of us, regardless of what religion you believe in. In my own interpretation, being Christian, I believe that the Sun is God, the Moon, Jesus. Us humans can be so vain and arrogant about our accomplishments. We easily fall into the glamor of fame and reputation. We must learn to be humble, and acknowledge that without Him, or whoever you may believe in, we are nothing.

[mawrestler_140]

except for the whole god thing and the"He understands that without the help of a superior being" part, I love you for that interpretation. It is what I have been thinking for a while now.

Superior being = everyone's contribution to the world

In my interpretation, the sun = everyone in the world, and the moon = Each individual

He understands that without everyones collective contributions shaping each individual, then we would all be lifeless satellites.

"so crucify the ego, before its far too late"

I have always believed that this line was the key to the song. Finding our way out of the "pitiful hole" by becoming humble and realizing that the world does not revolve around any single person.

P.S. You have no Idea how much it pisses me off when I go to Google and type in, reflection lyrics, and tons of Christina Aguilara matches come up.

[OGT from back in the day]

i want to feed him bird seed but the last time i gave him seeds the birds swooped down and bit my horse's teeth

[Marquizzo]

P.S. You have no Idea how much it pisses me off when I go to Google and type in, reflection lyrics, and tons of Christina Aguilara matches come up.

HAHAHA! I never knew Christina had a song titled Reflection. I kind of want to hear it to compare... and laugh.

Thanks for the love. I knew some people would have a different perspective with the religious connotations. In your interpretation, the line "And you will come to find that we are all one mind" makes more sense. Once the light of our collective touches him, he can come out and join us.

Here's the link to my lyrics source page, so you don't have to browse through Christina ever again.
http://toolshed.down.net/lyrics/

[Cheesegreater]

Here is my take on the meaning of the song. This song is definitely my favorite of all Tool songs. Which, in turn, makes it my favorite song of all time. It is so profound, complex, intricate, and moralistic... I just can't explain how true this song is for me.

As for my interpretation of the song, here it goes:
Maynard starts talking about his self-indulgent pitiful hole. He is full of himself, and proud of it. He has fallen into a self-righteous void, full of vanity, decadence, and arrogance. He likes it there, where his pride and conceit rules everything. In his own eyes, he is king.

Then, during one of his worst moments, the "moon" tells him a life-changing truth. All the beauty and light that you see from the moon actually belongs to someone else. The moon isn't arrogant about its splendor. It is humble, and pays its dues to the true owner of this beauty. The "sun", which is much brighter and magnificent than the moon itself. Without the sun, the moon wouldn't shine. Nothing would. The moon wouldn't have purpose, it would be a giant, useless rock in space.

This realization changes Maynard, and forces him to come out of his self-righteous hole. He doesn't "want to be down here, feeding [his] narcissism". He understands that without the help of a superior being, he is nothing. So, he prays the "light" lifts him out of this dark place, before it's too late. Before he pines away.

It is such a majestic story, it holds true to every one of us, regardless of what religion you believe in. In my own interpretation, being Christian, I believe that the Sun is God, the Moon, Jesus. Us humans can be so vain and arrogant about our accomplishments. We easily fall into the glamor of fame and reputation. We must learn to be humble, and acknowledge that without Him, or whoever you may believe in, we are nothing.

I like this interpretation. It's cool how he says "This light is not my own." Thus, we are all reflections of something greater than ourselves. It's also very eye-opening when "the moon tells [him] a secret... [His] confidant." That's one of my favorite lines. He's telling us that he confides in the moon because they very clearly have something in common. The secret the moon tells him, I think, is simply, "Look at me! Is this light my own?" The answer is the moral of this song. Lose your ego and arrogance and realize how selfish you are by pretending your light is your own instead of coming from a different source.

[gabe_angelfire]

I am new here so if I touch on something that has been posted elsewhere, please be gentle, I'm still making my way around :O)

This song, one of my favorites, seems very Buddhist to me. First because of the title of the song - Reflection. To me reflection is another way to refer to "meditation." "I may find peace within the emptiness" - Buddhist meditation often focuses on emptying ones mind to make room for the true essence.

In some sects of Buddhism, in order to reach enlightenment, one must realize that there is no "self" because in reality everything is connected. The story is that the Buddha who created the universe (call it what you want to make it relevant, the light... what have you) is present in all of us... well actually it IS us. However our own selfish egos prevent us from realizing this. The goal of meditation is to rid ourselves of our ego in order to realize who we really are (manifestations of Buddha, the light etc.) Once one reaches this realization he/she returns to the Buddha and becomes one with the universe.

This song says to me, I have and continue to let my ego and my selfishness prevent me from realizing everything that I could be... I must rid myself of my ego, and only then can I "leave this place" and become a part of something so much greater.

One final note... astral projection is not an uncommon theme among Buddhists who meditate. (Not claiming here that anyone is Buddhist, just saying) I can imagine that communion with the universe at this level, whether you really believe you have left your body or you believe that it is an internal experience brought on by the type of brain waves that are induced through meditation, would give one the euphoric feeling of one million reflections passing over/through them... I certainly have experienced this type of feeling/imagery through meditation.

[PShepherd11]

As for my interpretation of the song, here it goes:

Excellent interpretation. Reflection is such a beautiful song.

[iminsideurmind]

I like the inturpretaion and have found a new song to explore....thanks

[Marquizzo]

I am new here so if I touch on something that has been posted elsewhere, please be gentle, I'm still making my way around :O)

This song, one of my favorites, seems very Buddhist to me. First because of the title of the song - Reflection. To me reflection is another way to refer to "meditation." "I may find peace within the emptiness" - Buddhist meditation often focuses on emptying ones mind to make room for the true essence.


I find this quote to be very applicable to what you just said:

"In the beginner's mind, there are many possibilities. In the expert's, there are few."
-Suzuki Roshi

[sparafucile]

Bumping an old thread!

This is pretty much the exact interpretation I took from the song. From the beginning, it was obvious to me that 'the source' that the moon speaks of is the sun.

"As full and bright as I am, my light is not my own. A million light reflections pass over me"
The moon is but a reflection of the sun's brightness!

"The source is bright and endless"
Although the sun will not be there for ever, relative to our lifespan and the lifespan of many generations to come, the sun can indeed thought of as endless.

"She ressucitates the hopeless"
The sun can have that effect on people who are depressed.

"Without her we are lifeless satellites drifting"
No life can exist without the sun in our world.


The message of the song is to realize that we are not alone in the world, and that by your interaction with others you can truly shine.

I have difficulty with the message itself though... I can see and understand the virtues of not being egotistical, but I'm also a big fan of Ayn Rand's book, the Fountainhead, which basically has the opposite message: be selfish, be true to yourself and to your ideals, not to others, and don't let anyone try to dissuade you otherwise. Both make sense to me, and I believe they can both be achieved simultaneously, but a balance is required.

Easily my favorite song... I think it holds so much meaning for me because the sun for me is a very meaningful and recurring symbol. If I ever get a tattoo, it'd probably be of the sun, for sure.

2 years and I finally made a post!

[Inner_Eulogy]

2 years and I finally made a post!

Yaayyy, now back to your hole