I woke up first this morning
I've never seen the dawn
But I know what the world looked like before
How would I know what you said?
You're always first to go to bed
You're intent on sleeping it off

Let me sleep, next to the mirror
I know you don't like mirrors
When they reflect on you

For every word that you write
They won't mean much as barricades (they hold me down)

I'm sure that you'll be fine
Ten more years of this
It will nearly be time
I'm sure that you'll be fine
It can't take ten more years

You woke up first this morning
You told me that you had a bad dream
Like one never before
What was in it?
My reflection showed that I'm far too critical

Let me sleep next to the mirror
Don't tell me that you don't like mirrors
Don't tell me that you don't like
Looking right through your own reflection.

For every word that I write
They won't mean much as barricades (they hold me down)

I'm sure that you'll be fine
Ten more years of this
It will nearly be time
I'm sure that you'll be fine
But it can't take ten more years.


Lyrics submitted by black_cow_of_death

Let Me Sleep (Next to the Mirror) Lyrics as written by Colin Newton Bob Fairfoull

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Let Me Sleep (Next To The Mirror) song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

9 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    this is one of my favorite songs ever! i agree with everyone that said it's about someone with low self-esteem.. i dunno if it's like his girlfriend or if he's singing about himself? or maybe just in general about people who hate themselves.... a statement about the fashion industry! ok, watever, i'm rambling. but i just want to say, you know how in the chorus there's the guitar and stuff and singing AND THEN you can hear someone picking out a few notes on the piano? it's so simple, but it took me a year of listening to the song constantly to even hear it! i find it so amazing now, like there was something hidden the whole time that i finally discovered. or maybe i just don't pay enough attention...

    esoteric_rubbishon September 02, 2006   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Album art
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it. “I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.