Mirror, mirror
Do you like
What you see?
I'll dance for you
If you dance for me
Who says a woman
Cannot serve?
It would be my pleasure
Who says it is
Not my destiny
To let you control me?
Underneath the disco light
Everybody's feelin' all right
Get on your hands and knees
And praise the new deity
Serve the ego
Serve the ego

Two ships sailing
On a neon sea
Eat the flesh
Spit out the seeds
Feathered hair
And lame heels
What turns me on
Is so surreal

Underneath the disco light
Everybody's feelin' all right
Get on your hands and knees
And praise the new deity
Serve the ego
Serve the ego

Tut tut, oh, to discover oh
Oh no, you're yesterday's lover

Underneath the disco light
Everybody's feelin' all right
Get on your hands and knees
And praise the new deity
Serve the ego
Serve the ego


Lyrics submitted by 7_myshell_7

Serve the Ego Lyrics as written by Itaal Shur Jewel Kilcher

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Hipgnosis Songs Group

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Serve The Ego song meanings
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6 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    I like this song. Makes you want to dance like one of those desert ppl. Or india ppl .. and also a rock tune to it.

    MorbidPuppeton June 09, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Wow! this song rocks! Ah it has that strange and distant feel to it, and of course her voice is like aaaaah! so lovely! Check out her humming half way through the song till the end, ah man! it takes you on a high!

    preemaniaon March 18, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "Who says it is not my destiny To let you control me"

    Wow! What a sexually charged lyric. Submit yourself to love submit yourself to the music....

    troubadour13on August 04, 2009   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning

    No one besides Troubadour is commenting much on meanings here... My attempt:

    Mirror mirror Do you like what you see? [Our lovers are always our mirrors... and she wants to please him.] I'll dance for you And you'll dance for me [We put on our best faces, try to please our mates, etc.. we "dance" for them.] Who says a woman cannot serve? It would be my pleasure Who says it is not my destiny To let you control me [Oh BABY I love these lines... this is JUST want I want my well-loved girls to be saying to me... :-) For clarity, I don't hear this offer as over-extending OR asking for abuse, but a sincere offer -- there should of course be love and caretaking flowing back to the one making these offers -- I am proud to love and take good care of submissive women... :-)] Get on your hands and knees And praise the new deity [Yes, sexually and otherwise, we 'praise' our new lovers as deity... their ego is our altar.] Serve the ego, serve the ego [Serving the ego is perhaps not a flattering phrase for it, but much of love and dating IS pandering to your lover's ego, isn't it? I don't mean to be casual/flippant, but of course you seek to please them and 'stroke their ego'] Two ships sailing on a neon sea [It's neon... bright and wonderful and we sail together... but we're also gaudy and still TWO ships, eh?] Eat the flesh, spit out the seeds [Ahem... Must I explain how I hear THIS line? eating the meat, spitting out SEED... er, yeah!] Feathered hair and lam� heels [Side note for those who don't know... this isn't lame (guady/stupid) heels, but Lame' said as lah-may] What turns me on is so surreal [What turns her on may be surreal/even "stupid"... but she acknowledges that it DOES work for the speaker...] Tutt tutt To discover Oh no Yesterday's lover [And then, when all you have is flattery and pageantry, sometimes the whole thing does collapse... paraphase this section as "How sad to discover what seemed passionate/intense is now thrown away tommorrow"]

    wolfnroseon August 18, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    I think this song is about masturbation. She's dancing for herself in the mirror and "serving the ego." She's clearly pleasing herself. The second stanza gets trickier because it seems like she's talking about giving a bj, but I think she's just fantasizing about giving one because she says, "What turns me on is so surreal." The imagery of dancing in a club and having the dancers bow down to her is part of her fantasy -- it's all part of her pleasure, part of her ego. She's today's lover ("new deity") as opposed to normal person she sleeps with to get off, "yesterday's lover." That's just what I've always thought!

    whatupwigson December 13, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning

    Geez has anyone that commented actually listened to the album? There's another song like, 2 or 3 ahead of this one, (called Do You Want to Play?) And it's about her meeting a girl that lives under a disco something or other. She even says the word deity in that song as well. Like OBVIOUSLY it's about the same girl. Why is everyone such an idiot lol. I don't mean anyone that previously commented is an idiot btw, could be as simple as never listened to the album. But I know there's people that HAVE, & even still, will not correlate the information given in a pretty plain manner. Like God help those types of people try and read Shakespeare. It would be a fucking nightmare

    alxohplxon December 18, 2023   Link

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