Tool: Reflection Meaning
Reflection Lyrics
Beneath my self-indulgent pitiful hole.
Defeated,
I concede and move closer. I may find comfort here.
I may find peace within the emptiness. How pitiful.
And it's calling me.
It's calling...
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some people have got it nearly perfect, but you are all neglecting to mention ACID!!! seriously.. "I have come curiously close to the end","defeated,i move closer I may find comfort here-within in the emptiness-how pitiful..." when tripping you feel naked scared and you see your true human self!this is crippling for those who haven't seen it before.also when one realizes he is eternal one can get full on his spiritual ego,and believe this light is his own-but Maynards saying don't be fooled by that!!!realize we are part of it all!!but just a part!!!
capable of all that's imagined and all concievable...when we all realize that, we can progress as a race and let the light shine through in art, music creations of all kinds.
this is the most beautiful song EVER wrote by a human being.hats off -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This I think is an absolute kick ass tool song.......especially if you listen to the lyrics
I believe that this is about the reflection of people on people.
Maynard in this is from the point of view of an ignorant asshole that takes credit of other peoples work. He uses the metaphor with the moon of how it is not the moon that gives the beautiful light. "The source is the light and endless sheen
The source that makes the hole black
Without her, we are lifeless satellites drifting" AKA the sun which is basically the source of life.
he uses the "Before I hide away" to simulate that the people that take credit just thrive from it then hide away and pat themselves on their back (growing ego)
so Maynard says "Crucify the ego" and stop all this bullshit credit taking and ego building of ignorant people who didn't do the work.....because really "you will come to find that we are all one mind capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable" (that we really all are connected in thought and that we should be equivilant for what has been discovered)
this song seemed to me to be more of an angry criticism of what Maynard and Tool see today in this world.
sorry if my interpretation is a little confusing...its hard to explain but if you look at the lyrics under this concept you will see it in your own way.......but either way it is another great song by Tool -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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"I have come curiously close to the end, down
beneath my self-indulgent pitiful hole.
Defeated, concede and move closer. I may find comfort here
i may find peace within the emptiness.
How pitiful."
he has become depressed and suicidal in his misunderstanding that he may find comfort in that state of mind from what ever he did/realized to make him feel this way. How pitiful.
"the moon tells me a secret.
My confidant.
As full and bright as I am, this light is not my own
a million light reflections
pass over me
it's source is bright and endless. She resuscitates the hopeless.
Without her we are lifeless satellites driiiiiifting.
And as I pull my head out I am without one doubt
don't want to peer down here serving my narcissism
i must crucify the ego before it's far too late
i pray the light lifts me out
before I pine away"
the moon represents the collective unconcious. Its not his, but everyones. He then pulls his head out of his depressed hole and realizes he must crucify the ego (crucifixion is how jesus died. Christianity/catholicism is based on one god, or one ego) before its far too late (he will be too deep in his hole to pull his head out from this depressed hole).
"so crucify the ego before it's far too late
to leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical
and you will come to find that we are all one mind
capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
Just let the light touch you and let the words spill through
just let them pass right through, bringing out our hope and reason."
get rid your ego, and you will realize that we are all part of the same mind, we are one. You will realize that christianity/catholicism bases eternal love from god on fear, when in fact there is no love in fear (the belief that we will go to hell if we are not done as we are told and suffer for all eternity). If you are to leave behind these blinding cynical beliefs you will get out of your self-indulgent pitiful hole, and prevent yourself from pining away. -
I've always thought this song was so beautiful. Although...I never really thought to much about it...Until my friend told me what he saw in this song, and I thought it was interesting...So I'll share it with you:
this song is about how a man is trying to cope with his problems, although he feels like he is the only one. "you've got it easy; life is just peachy for you." is something that the man would say to someone else. Though sitting and thinking about his troubles, the moon speaks to him and says, "hey, look around you...You're not the only one with problems in this world. Take me for example, I am not composed of myself, I get my light from another, but I'm not sitting here and complaining about it." but the moon can be significant to just one other person...Like most Tool songs, you must read between the lines. -
I think that this song is about leaving behind your ego and realizing that there are forces more powerful than you. "I have come curiously close to the end, down
Beneath my self-indulgent pitiful hole.
Defeated,
I concede and move closer. I may find comfort here.
I may find peace within the emptiness. How pitiful." He's saying that he's digging a deeper and deeper hole to find comfort, but the deeper he gets, the more screwed he is, and he's not finding any comfort. I think he's trying to say that if people would stop being so stubborn and admit defeat, we would stop getting ourselves in horrible situations. We need to allow ourselves to be wrong because you can't win by getting into deeper and deeper shit. And the deeper you get, the harder it is to get out. "And it's calling me, calling me..." I think that here, he is referring to the urge to prove that he's right, even though he knows he's wrong.
"And in my darkest moment, fetal and weeping.
The moon tells me a secret. My confidant.
As full and bright as I am, this light is not my own and
A million light reflections pass over me
It's source is bright and endless...." Here, I think he's describing the revelation that there is something greater, and we are more insignificant than we think. This force, whether you believe it's a God or whatever your beliefs are, has shown him greater purpose.
-Drew -
I'm not going to read the lyrics anywhere anymore. Reading them changes the context so much for me. I would have to write down my ideas for the lyrical content before I read the official lyrics because I find it hard to relearn my original themes. For example, this tune is about burning out for me. I'm talking here about what the music says to me as well as the vocal lines. I hear Maynard singing "before I hide away" meaning that once he has expired all of his emotional energy he will probably fall away and rest his mind and his conflict. Only through silence can he realize his own existence. But he knows he's not there yet. That's why he's still writing songs. "I have come curiously close, this I have no doubt". He knows when he has finished burning his light (which is not 'my own') he might "find comfort" but he finds it shameful ("how pitiful") to be that way, that's why he's not there yet. But he still wants to get there. Because he is "beyond one doubt" that he doesn't want to remain the way he is...feeding his narcicism.
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In short: Giving up your past and transcending everything that it molded you into before you fall too deep to realize the horrible state you are in.
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I think the moon is the collective subconscious, and if people only knew about this they wouldn't think so much about themselves. Also this knowledge would give people hope.
"And in my darkest moment, fetal and weeping." I think this is about feeling suicidal(the end), and then the "moon" comes into view above your "hole"(depression) and bathes you in it's light.
"It's source is bright and endless. She resuscitates the hopeless."
i agree with the previous post that said you must give up your ego before you die or you may not reach this collective. -
I agree with both of you. I only would like to add on that, "crucify the ego", is simply IMO referring to letting go of a person's belief that they are better than everyone else. In retrospect he is saying that you need embrace humility before death so you can go to a better place. (Not in reference to Heaven knowing he doesn't believe in God). The whole song all together means to me, that no one is alone, and no one can live alone. We all need one another to survive. So "crucify the ego" and be a part of humanity. IMHO
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I love this song, for the reasons that it is a universal truth in everyones life I think, to feel despair, absence of light, of hope..to be human basically. and the desire to look up for comfort, "the moon, my confidant". Throughout the song, it lifts you up and you can feel a presence lifting the song up through despair. However, I don't like the one part where he puts so much emphasis on "crucifying the ego" and "leaving behind this place so blind and cynical". I think the ego has a purpose; whether its good or bad is not known, maybe it has no other purpose but to instruct, and introduce you to other realms of experience, like being human, and dwelling in the beauty of human error. Without this error, how would you know to crawl up towards the light? In this sense, Lateralus is much more accurate I think in embracing the ultimate reality,"I embrace my desire to
feel the rhythm, to feel connected
enough to step aside and weep like a widow, and still be human"(paraphrasing of course, but you get the drift) -
Starting from the beginning of the album, the running theme seems to be letting go of the past. Reflection seems to continue with this by saying let go of your selfishness and the unimportant things in your life.
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