Have you ever felt the future is the past
But you don't know how?
A reflected dream of a captured time
Is it really now? Is it really happening?

Don't know why I feel this way
Have I dreamt this time, this place?
Something vivid comes again into my mind
And I think I've seen your face
Seen this room, been in this place
Something vivid comes again into my mind

All my hopes and expectations
Looking for an explanation
Have I found my destination?
I just can't take no more

The dream is true, the dream is true
The dream is true, the dream is true

Think I've heard your voice before
Think I've said these words before
Something makes me feel I just might lose my mind
Am I still inside my dream?
Is this a new reality?
Something makes me feel that I have lost my mind

All my hopes and expectations
Looking for an explanation
Coming to the realization
That I can't see for sure

I only dream in black and white
I only dream 'cause I'm alive
I only dream in black and white
To save me from myself
I only dream in black and white
I only dream 'cause I'm alive
I only dream in black and white
Please save me from myself

The dream is true, the dream is true
The dream is true, the dream is true

I get up, put on the light
Dreading the oncoming night
Scared to fall asleep and dream the dream again
Nothing that I contemplate
Nothing that I can compare
To letting loose the demons deep inside my head

Dread to think what might be stirring
That my dream is reoccurring
Got to keep away from drifting
Saving me from myself

I only dream in black and white
I only dream 'cause I'm alive
I only dream in black and white
To save me from myself
I only dream in black and white
I only dream 'cause I'm alive
I only dream in black and white
To save me from myself

Lost in a dream of mirrors
Lost in a paradox
Lost and time is spinning
Lost a nightmare I retrace

Lost a hell that I revisit
Lost another time and place
Lost a parallel existence
Lost a nightmare I retrace

I only dream in black and white
I only dream 'cause I'm alive
I only dream in black and white
To save me from myself
I only dream in black and white
I only dream 'cause I'm alive
I only dream in black and white
To save me from myself

Oh, oh-oh-oh, oh
Oh-oh-oh, oh
Oh-oh-oh, oh, oh

Oh, oh-oh-oh, oh
Oh-oh-oh, oh
Oh-oh-oh, oh, oh

I only dream in black and white
I only dream 'cause I'm alive
I only dream in black and white
To save me from myself
I only dream in black and white
I only dream 'cause I'm alive
I only dream in black and white
To save me from myself

The dream is true, the dream is true
The dream is true, the dream is true

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Dream of Mirrors Lyrics as written by Stephen Percy Harris Janick Gers

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group

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Dream Of Mirrors song meanings

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22 Comments

+5
My Interpretation
The song is about how a man has a reoccurring nightmare symbolizing depression from the monotony of his life. The dream depicts a paradox created by two mirrors reflecting off each other, one mirror representing the past and the other the future, symbolizing that his past and future are the same, unchanging and meaningless. His dreams being in black and white symbolize the figurative lack of color in his life, there is nothing interesting in his life. The phrase "I only dream because I'm alive" takes a double meaning of the word dream; dreams can mean our hopes and desires, and they are also a natural part of our sleep cycle. This line shows that he has no more desires, no more hope, no more meaning to his life. The end of the song shows that he has fallen into depression, the song is just a metaphor for depression.

The song is about how a man has a reoccurring nightmare symbolizing depression from the monotony of his life. The dream depicts a paradox created by two mirrors reflecting off each other, one mirror representing the past and the other the future, symbolizing that his past and future are the same, unchanging and meaningless. His dreams being in black and white symbolize the figurative lack of color in his life, there is nothing interesting in his life. The phrase "I only dream because I'm alive" takes a double meaning of the word dream; dreams can mean our hopes and desires, and they are also a natural part of our sleep cycle. This line shows that he has no more desires, no more hope, no more meaning to his life. The end of the song shows that he has fallen into depression, the song is just a metaphor for depression.

Reason:

Ganondoxon June 13, 2012 Link
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@Ganondox

Sounds more like a lucid dream concerning the egos relation to eternity and its lack of understanding of the experience. The title "Dream of Mirrors" is a hook with two meanings but clearly sharing the same origin. Dreams are mirror as we examine this in light of our Jungian analysis concerning dream interpretation. If someone dreams in black and white it is actually the relation between the unconscious (black) and conscious (white or light). The dream may seem like a nightmare to the undeveloped mind but it would later make sense. That's my interpretation off the top of my head.

" lack of color in his life, there is nothing interesting in his life...." Might apply without a broader scope of the content and what the writers are relating.

"I only dream in black and white, I only dream cause I'm alive
I only dream in black and white, to save me from myself"

"Have you ever felt the future is the past, but you don't know how?
A reflected dream of a captured time, is it really now, is it really happening?"

According to Carl Jung and many others these lyrics clearly paint the picture of what I just related. It's an excepted fact in the dream analysis community dreams are the reflection of the unconscious and the way it speaks to the conscious in mirrored archetypes. When you look into a mirror what you see is actually inside out. In reality there is no such thing as a nightmare. It might seem like a nightmare because it confuses the conscious.

Call my office and we can set up that appointment. I can work you in around the middle of the week... 0_0

KingTripson December 25, 2017

@Ganondox The reply was the reason you were wrong... Guess you just didn't get true intellectualism. That song is about letting go not mental illness or suicide.

KingTripson December 25, 2017

KingTrips is an ignorant douchbag who goes around harassing people, please ignore him.

Ganondoxon March 01, 2021
+2
General Comment
to me it sounds like one of Descartes, Dancy and Putnam (they build on the previous ideas) philosophical ideas. put simply, the same idea as in The matrix, which is a story based on the idea that were are in a "fake" "dream" world. " since all we ever experience is our own inner mental states, we might , for all we could tell, be living in an illusion created by a malicious demon" - Ren Descartes "You do not know that you are not a brain, suspended in a vat full of liquid in a laboratory, and wired to a computer which is feeding you your current experiences under the control of some ingenious technician scientist (benevolent or malevolent according to taste). For if you were such a brain, then, provided that the scientist is successful, nothing in your experience could possibly reveal that you were; for your experience is ex hypothesi identical with that of something which is not a brain in a vat. Since you have only your own experience to appeal to, and that experience is the same in either situation, nothing can reveal to you which situation is the actual one." - Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology, 10

to me it sounds like one of Descartes, Dancy and Putnam (they build on the previous ideas) philosophical ideas. put simply, the same idea as in The matrix, which is a story based on the idea that were are in a "fake" "dream" world. " since all we ever experience is our own inner mental states, we might , for all we could tell, be living in an illusion created by a malicious demon" - Ren Descartes "You do not know that you are not a brain, suspended in a vat full of liquid in a laboratory, and wired to a computer which is feeding you your current experiences under the control of some ingenious technician scientist (benevolent or malevolent according to taste). For if you were such a brain, then, provided that the scientist is successful, nothing in your experience could possibly reveal that you were; for your experience is ex hypothesi identical with that of something which is not a brain in a vat. Since you have only your own experience to appeal to, and that experience is the same in either situation, nothing can reveal to you which situation is the actual one." - Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology, 10

Reason:

skalra63on August 29, 2005 Link
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@skalra63
+1
General Comment
He's having a repeating nightmare. A "dream of mirrors" or a paradox are both infinite loops without end, and the dream wont go away. He's having a reoccuring preminition (the dream is true) and he's afraid to go to sleep again for fear of seeing whatever it was he saw. He isn't sure if it is a vision of the real or the unreal and can't understand. But it keeps occuring.

He's having a repeating nightmare. A "dream of mirrors" or a paradox are both infinite loops without end, and the dream wont go away. He's having a reoccuring preminition (the dream is true) and he's afraid to go to sleep again for fear of seeing whatever it was he saw. He isn't sure if it is a vision of the real or the unreal and can't understand. But it keeps occuring.

Reason:

Otmon March 23, 2005 Link
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@Otm
+1
My Interpretation
I believe that he is talking about lucid dreams, which are the ones that have more to do with astral travel than with resting or dealing with your own thoughts and subconsciousness. Some psychologists say that we all dream in “black and white” even if we don’t realize it and it is just our memories or expectations that lend us to believe that we have dreamt in color. Sometimes however we have full color dreams, also known as lucid dreams, and this kind of dreams are so real that when you experience them, you can hardly tell dream from reality because the dream feels just too real. I think that the protagonist of this song is experiencing recurring lucid dreams that are in fact transporting him to other realities or putting him in contact with other beings in other planes. Of course, these aren’t nice dreams and the more they occur, the more he is getting confused and starting to believe that he is losing his mind (which might me true due to the things he is experiencing). That’s why whenever he goes to sleep, he does his best to try to dream in “black and white” just like everyone else, hoping that he doesn’t falls again in those dreadful, vivid dreams. He dreams only because he “is alive”, because he is a living being that needs to sleep and dream, but if he had the option he would rather not sleep or dream at all, for fear of these dreams he can’t understand.

I believe that he is talking about lucid dreams, which are the ones that have more to do with astral travel than with resting or dealing with your own thoughts and subconsciousness. Some psychologists say that we all dream in “black and white” even if we don’t realize it and it is just our memories or expectations that lend us to believe that we have dreamt in color. Sometimes however we have full color dreams, also known as lucid dreams, and this kind of dreams are so real that when you experience them, you can hardly tell dream from reality because the dream feels just too real. I think that the protagonist of this song is experiencing recurring lucid dreams that are in fact transporting him to other realities or putting him in contact with other beings in other planes. Of course, these aren’t nice dreams and the more they occur, the more he is getting confused and starting to believe that he is losing his mind (which might me true due to the things he is experiencing). That’s why whenever he goes to sleep, he does his best to try to dream in “black and white” just like everyone else, hoping that he doesn’t falls again in those dreadful, vivid dreams. He dreams only because he “is alive”, because he is a living being that needs to sleep and dream, but if he had the option he would rather not sleep or dream at all, for fear of these dreams he can’t understand.

Reason:

inhari1045on May 13, 2020 Link
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@inhari1045

@inhari1045 Could be to do with the duality of our nature-a light/dark side that we often struggle to control whereas in our dreams these feelings can find their outlet.....see also "Double Agent" by Rush from their superb Counterparts album.

PaulAtreideson February 24, 2022
+1
My Interpretation
The song has to do with deep depression..A man who has fought a lot of battles in his entire life, he has shed so many tears and he's just been living without any emotion left in his heart or brain...He just doesn't care about the now and the next but his before still captivates him...

The song has to do with deep depression..A man who has fought a lot of battles in his entire life, he has shed so many tears and he's just been living without any emotion left in his heart or brain...He just doesn't care about the now and the next but his before still captivates him...

Reason:

andreas106on March 01, 2021 Link
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@andreas106
0
General Comment
How come no one else has added a message? This is my second favourite Maiden song, and it is awesome live. It has the guitaring of Aces High, the lyrics of Fear of the Dark and the crowd reaction of... Fear of the Dark... again. But anyway, it's an awesome song.

How come no one else has added a message? This is my second favourite Maiden song, and it is awesome live. It has the guitaring of Aces High, the lyrics of Fear of the Dark and the crowd reaction of... Fear of the Dark... again. But anyway, it's an awesome song.

Reason:

UpTheIronson April 28, 2004 Link
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@UpTheIrons
0
General Comment
Really good song, the meaning is confusing. It seems that you can take a lot from it...

Really good song, the meaning is confusing. It seems that you can take a lot from it...

Reason:

Solinuson May 29, 2004 Link
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@Solinus
0
General Comment
I think it has a lot to do with deja vu. "Think I've heard your voice before, etc). Also, I think dreaming in black and white is something about only seeing things one way or the other.

I think it has a lot to do with deja vu. "Think I've heard your voice before, etc). Also, I think dreaming in black and white is something about only seeing things one way or the other.

Reason:

UpTheIronson September 23, 2004 Link
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@UpTheIrons
0
General Comment
Amazing song and skalra63 has the best points I've seen. This song was amazing at Rock in Rio. I just love how the crowd loves Bruce and Maiden...about halfway through the song Bruce is sining and he finishes a "The dream is true" and then he just says "tell me about it Rio", and everyone just screams out a "the dream is true". It's amazing.

Amazing song and skalra63 has the best points I've seen. This song was amazing at Rock in Rio. I just love how the crowd loves Bruce and Maiden...about halfway through the song Bruce is sining and he finishes a "The dream is true" and then he just says "tell me about it Rio", and everyone just screams out a "the dream is true". It's amazing.

Reason:

^exeF.on July 20, 2006 Link
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@^exeF.
0
General Comment
I agree with skalra63. I think a great, great portion of Iron Maiden is strongly tied to Descartes.

I agree with skalra63. I think a great, great portion of Iron Maiden is strongly tied to Descartes.

Reason:

hotsoupwomanon July 27, 2006 Link
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@hotsoupwoman

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Dream Of Mirrors

Iron Maiden

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