The narrator things of himself in the metaphorical position of a person who escaped the cave, and is the only one who knows that our world is nothing but an illusion. He was returned to the metaphorical cave as a consequence of an action he undertook - the line "When I made the shadows on my window shade" implies that, in his metaphor, he took the role of one of the puppeteers. He plans to escape again, but since the world outside the cave is unknown to everyone in the 'real world' he can only talk about his plan to his mirror and the bars locking him in the cave - the prison being another part of his metaphor for his situation.
The burning autumn leaves he mentions could be responsible for the fire that feeds the cave - the prisoners can smell the fire, but don't know it exists, so can't tell where the smell comes from.
My interpretation of the song relies heavily on Plato's Allegory of the Cave, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave , referred to in the second verse.
The narrator things of himself in the metaphorical position of a person who escaped the cave, and is the only one who knows that our world is nothing but an illusion. He was returned to the metaphorical cave as a consequence of an action he undertook - the line "When I made the shadows on my window shade" implies that, in his metaphor, he took the role of one of the puppeteers. He plans to escape again, but since the world outside the cave is unknown to everyone in the 'real world' he can only talk about his plan to his mirror and the bars locking him in the cave - the prison being another part of his metaphor for his situation.
The burning autumn leaves he mentions could be responsible for the fire that feeds the cave - the prisoners can smell the fire, but don't know it exists, so can't tell where the smell comes from.