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Okay so I read many interpretations of this song by many people and I've found them all interesting. But anyways hear is my interpretation of the song and what I thought the song was about. To me the song No Reflection by Marilyn Manson has a double meaning. The 1st meaning is very much a basic meaning and the 2nd tells a story. The 1st meaning is the idea of having a self-identity crisis, which is something we can all relate to. I feel this is reflected in the lines; "I don't know which me that I love. I've Got no Reflection." He says that he doesn't know "which me that I love." This seams to implies that there is more than one version of himself, which might infer some degree of changing. I think in the beginning, we all start as one person. We have are own set of beliefs, likes & dislikes that is probably to some degree influenced by the environment. I also feel as though there is also a certain innocence, but then somewhere along the lines we find that we are changing & this change ranges from many things. It can range from big issues than can concern morality things that can with the eternal or supernatural (such as whether or not there is an after life) or something as simple as one's taste in music. However the change is so drastic that we feel that we are more than just changing. We feel as though we are becoming another person. We are turn between the person we once were and who we are becoming. A part of us wants to stay who we were at the beginning because we are afraid of losing are innocence and we fear the unknown. There may also be a part of us that maybe afraid of what would happen if we do change because we may disappoint someone or let someone down (for example I think we have all thought something like I wonder how this person would feel if they realized I no longer felt the same way on this particular thing). But then again a part of us wants to go through with the change, but ultimately change is necessary & is a part of our grown and it the side of us that screams for our independence. I think in the song the singer is looking at himself and dealing with the same dilemma. As for the "No Reflection." This line is rich in imagery and has very unique meaning. The idea of a reflection is that it is not an actual thing, but rather a copy of an actual thing. For example when you look in the mirror, technically the person you are seeing isn't you but rather a copy of you. But here he is saying that he has "no reflection". So this gives the image of one looking in mirror & not seeing anybody. (I know it sounds a little cheesy because it makes one think of a vampire). However in spite of this fascinating image, I do not think that we are suppose take it 100% literally, as there symbolism in this image too. Reflection does not always deal with looking into mirror. It can also deal with looking at ourselves and concentrating on who we are or whether not there is something about ourselves that we need to fix. But here the speaking doesn't know who is because whenever he reflects on himself the war of the 2 identities merge within him. So because he cannot decide, which identity he wants he ultimately doesn't know which side he should reflect on, this is causes him to feel that he is no one. So whenever he tries to find to create his identity, ultimately nothing decided and everything is blank. Hence the image of someone looking in a mirror and not seeing anybody and the words "no reflection". The rest of the song might a certain extent deal with how even though our environment help shape who we are at 1st it can also help change who we are towards the end. Let me see how do we word this? In the beginning we see start off as children and with childhood and youth comes an innocence. We things through as much more naive point of view. We see the good in everything and everyone and we in a sense feel that our little world is perfect and that nothing can ever happen to us there. But then as life moves on things starts changing and how we look at our surrounding and possibly the world and life changes as well. For example we might experience something or hear about something that is dreadful and awful and or trust & since of security is shaken. We might learn something about our family or someone we once respected and this thing might cause us to view them in a more negative light. For example we might learn that or father is cheating on are mother or person that we thought had the upmost integrity has actually spent good portion of his or her life selling drugs in secret or we might an unpleasant side of something that we have not seen before, because love and innocence prevented us from seeing it. For example we may have an uncle that we love because we think he has a good sense of humor, however as we get older we find that he has a side to him that is also argumentative. We still love our uncle because he has a sense of humor,but unfortunately due to the ugly argumentative side we can never quite look at him the same way again. So begin to discover that our "little world" may not be so perfect after all and our view of the world begins to change we begin and we starting everything around. Sometimes we even begin to question what is true and if every appearance is just lie and maybe behind everything is dirty secret. I believe this explains the beginning of the song; "Crushing Cheating, Changing Am I deaf or dead? Is this constricting construction Or just streets with rusty signs Of something violent something coming?" In the 1st line the speaker is explaining all of the bad things he has seen or experienced and now it has left him feeling downhearted and discouraged, he is even disgusted by the sight of his own neighborhood. He just sees the houses as constricting construstions and the signs as rusty. This wraps up the the song's 1st meaning. So in conclusion the song deals with identity crisis and what exactly causes that. The 2nd meaning seems to tell a story of someone who is in an abusive relationship and an abusive environment and when I say abusive relationship, I get the feeling that this relationship is not of a romantic nature (even though most songs seem to focus on that). In this situation I picture the speaker with an authority figure in particular more along the lines of a parent or guardian. But anyways the case is this person was suppose to show the speaker love and affection, but instead he showed hostility and cruelty. I get the feeling that the speaker was even hit by said parent or legal guardian a couple of times and now he (meaning the speaker) is on the verge of losing mind and unfortunately becoming just as bad as the one who is abusing him. The beginning of the song in this 2nd interpretation is suppose to show the conditions of where he lives and that basically everyone has it just as bad as he does. In the 1st line, "Crushing Cheating Changing" he is saying that he lives in a world where he sees this on a everyday basis. He sees a married woman making love to another man that she's not married too. He sees someone beating or crushing another person just because the first person is drunk and not thinking rationally etc. In the 2nd line,"Am I deaf or dead?", He is saying that a part of him wants to just to disappear or least wants to not know what is going on. It's almost like he is saying; "I wish I was deaf so I do not have to hear people screaming everyday." or "I was dead because at least I'd be out of here." Either way the speaker wishes to be set free from the prison that feels that he is forced to live in on a daily basis. The other lines such as the constricting construction and rusty signs focus on the terrible condition the neighborhood. People are so busy fighting and wrapped up in their own sins & problems that the neighborhood isn't even kept clean. The houses are not the nicest. They are obviously not these nice multimillion dollar. They're small probably not the most welcoming places to be in & the people in them are probably inside selling dope anyways. Everything is rusty and dirty, trash all over the place. The part where he talks about signs of something violent coming, he is saying that he so use to violence that he now expects it. Nothing surprises him. The rest of the song deals the speaker carefully planning out his revenge towards his abusing. In the song I don't think that he has actually done anything. I think he is just imagining it. In addiction to getting even with his abuser, he is also thinking about killing himself. In the 2nd stanza he reveals his desires to get even with this person who feels has done him much harm. In the 2nd stanza he says; "This'll hurt you worse than me. I'm weak 7 days, I'm weak. Don't run from me. I won't Bother counting 1, 2, 3." He is now imaging going up to this person and saying; "I am going to damage you far worse than you have damaged me. I have dealt with your cruelty everyday and have caused to feel weak and inferior and you're going to pay for it!!! Don't even bother trying to escape because in the end I will find and get you! I'm not even going to count to 3 this time!" I assume the phrase; " I won't bother counting 1, 2,3." is suppose to allude the idea that once you're angry you are suppose to count 3 in order to calm yourself down. He makes it clears that he wants to kill himself when he talks about guns, nooses & razor. He now telling his abuser; "None of us are going to come out of this okay. We are both gonna die. I am going to kill you 1st and then I am going kill myself." The know No Reflection part of the song pretty much holds the same meaning as in the first interpretation. It is the idea of having a self-identity crisis, so there isn't as much need to further elaborate on it again. The only thing this time is that there is a little bit of dark twist. This time it is more apparent which identity he struggling with. One side of him is hesitant on his revenge, because somewhere along the lines he was taught to always be kind to others. The 1st person is the shred of mortality he has left and the second person is the side of him that is thinking; "Why should I be kind? Why should care about anything? Nobody else does." In addition I also feel that when he says; "I don't know which me that I love." there is reference to a mental illness, possibly schizophrenia or a split personality disorder, in which case one could argue he is quite literally becoming 2 people. In the line that says; "You don't even want to what I'm gonna do to you." The speaker has smirk look on his face as he imagines how the abuser would react if he could read his mind. So that is my interpretation for the the 2nd meaning of the song. The music video, on the other hand, seems a tad bit unclear to me as I cannot quite make out how it connects with the song. The only think I can think is it is suppose to be a magnification of the speaker's madness. Except here the situation is a little bit different. Here the speaker is sitting with a bunch of girls (young girls I might add) and he can't seem to make up his mind whether he wants to have sexual intercourse with them or straggle them. Perhaps he wants to do a little bit of both. Here I imagine that they have been living together in this home or place that is suppose to be a safe haven and they have been abused by there caretaker for all these years. I know that I am letting my imagination running away with me here, since the video does not exactly go into that much detail. But anyways here he has gone so insane he does not necessarily want to kill just his abuser, but everyone. In the end all the girls end up eventually dyeing, but it cannot seem to tell what the cause of death was. The idea maybe that he did end up eventually choking them, but this act is never shown. I cannot tell if they were straggled, what they drank was poisoned (this maybe indicated by the fact that they are all sitting at a table and they are sounded by a black liquid, which is also in a cup and in the end they are all laying in that liquid) or if it was caused by some unknown force. The music video sort of reminds me of an Edgar All Poe story. As it to certain extent follows a similar patterns. It tells a darks story and ends with a small amount of uncertainty. Well anyways that's my take on the song. I know it may come across strange to some or maybe completely different from Marilyn Manson completely intended, but that was the best I could make of it. |
