I agree with willhirsch's comment, though I'll give a deeper analysis:
“Well at first there was, there was just no question”
In the beginning he didn’t question
“Who wouldn’t rather be their reflection?”
-Wouldn’t you be happier in a place with no problems or worries?
“And when I got here everything was cold and perfect”
-When he switched with his reflection, he found the place had no emotion, but because it didn’t have emotion, there was no faults, and it was “perfect”
“It was clear and bright like midwinter sunlight”
-This could mean 3 things; a) the decision, b) his last day in the real world, or c) the reflection’s land (Though I doubt it since bright = warm, but he said the place was cold)
“My heartbeat counting down the moments, precise and quiet”
-He was extremely nervous beforehand, heart beating heavily, but decided to keep quiet
“I looked out and saw my own reflection, helpless”
-He looked in the mirror and saw his reflection
“I looked out and saw him overwhelmed and helpless”
Between the last 2 lines the switch takes place, and he is now the reflection looking at himself
“What have I done?”
-He regrets his decision
“And as time went on, you could feel the silence”
The more he stayed there, he realized the lack of emotion was getting to him
“Solidifying the sound of my thoughts was paralyzing”
If you mesh these two lines, he’s saying the lack of public discussion (prevention of speaking ones mind) crushed his thoughts/idea’s (he lost hope) and was unable to do anything about it (trapped, paralyzed, helpless)
“I tried to call out to him but the glass was perfect”
-He tried to escape, but since the glass has no faults, it wouldn’t let him, for reasons unknown
“What have I done?”
-Again, regrets his decision
“What wicked penance to get what you want”
He put himself through this horrible torture because he did something wrong, all for this one person
“Everyday is the same: we’re praying for rain”
Rain is considered a miracle is some tribes in the desert since water is so scarce, so basically they’re praying for a miracle
“And when it finally came, and when it came”
Now we’re in past tense, saying a miracle did come
“Everyday was the same: still praying for rain”
if you split the sentence in two, he’s saying after the miracle nothing happened, and they continue praying for another one, since there’s nothing else they can do
Please understand that it is VERY hard to try and explain these things. There are other interpretations of some lines, so I could be wrong. I also realized that the third and last stanza remind me of communist lifestyles, though I could be mistaken because in the chorus he’s talking about “to get what you want”, so it could be about a girl as well, and the singer in-between in his real life and his rock-star life.
"Well at first there was, there was just no question"
"Well at first there was, there was just no question"
>
In the beginning he didn't question
Yes, we know. He literally just said that. Also, that statement is figurative.
“It was clear and bright like midwinter sunlight”
>
In the beginning he didn't question
Yes, we know. He literally just said that. Also, that statement is figurative.
“It was clear and bright like midwinter sunlight”
>
This could mean 3 things; a) the decision, b) his last day in the real world, or c) the reflection’s land (Though I doubt it since bright = warm, but he said the place was cold)
It means that the mirrored sun isn't producing heat. Normally, sunlight warms whatever it touches, but the mirror world isn't our own. The term "mid-winter sunlight" is used as the closest approximation we have to their environment.
“My heartbeat counting down the moments, precise and quiet”
>
He was extremely nervous beforehand, heart beating heavily, but decided to keep quiet
>He's not trying to be quiet. He's saying that the reflected world is so intensely silent that he could hear his own heartbeat.
Between the last 2 lines the switch takes place, and he is now the reflection looking at himself
>No. The song begins with him already in the mirror, having traded places with his reflection. How would he be able to determine the reflected world was cold and perfect in the first stanza without having been there yet?
Also his reflection is freaking out because our own world is just as terrible and alien to him as the reflected world is to the singer. He came from a place where everything was cold, perfect, and utterly silent, thrust into a world full of heat, errors, and noise.
“What have I done?”
>
He regrets his decision
Thanks, glad you're checking in with us about that.
“And as time went on, you could feel the silence”
>
The more he stayed there, he realized the lack of emotion was getting to him
No, not yet. You're trying to jump to the last stanza with that.
“Solidifying the sound of my thoughts was paralyzing”
(“The solidifying sound of my thoughts was paralyzing”)
>
If you mesh these two lines, he’s saying the lack of public discussion (prevention of speaking ones mind) crushed his thoughts/idea’s (he lost hope) and was unable to do anything about it (trapped, paralyzed, helpless)
You actually misheard that line, so I wrote the correct version underneath what you thought he said. There's not an enforced lack of communication, the reflected world is simply much different. He hasn't yet lost hope, this line is instead basically saying that his own thoughts are so unexpected in the mirror world that they provide a much more intense stimulus than anything there.
“I tried to call out to him but the glass was perfect”
>
He tried to escape, but since the glass has no faults, it wouldn’t let him, for reasons unknown
"call out," not "climb out". Can you hear your reflection speaking in unison with you when talking in front of a mirror? This song implies that the reflected world literally produces no noise. Even if it could, the sounds would never get through the glass. How could it? The singer's only looking at a reflection, after all.
“What have I done?”
>
Again, regrets his decision
Phew, I almost forgot that he just said that.
“What wicked penance to get what you want”
("Oh, what we can pay to get what you want")
>
He put himself through this horrible torture because he did something wrong, all for this one person
Misheard the line again. Also, what? What person? He swapped with his reflection because the reflected world is perfect, then he learns it's not what he wanted, which is why he's been saying "What have I done" through the whole damn song. There's no third party here.
“Everyday is the same: we’re praying for rain”
>
Rain is considered a miracle is some tribes in the desert since water is so scarce, so basically they’re praying for a miracle
...m'kay, but he's not in a desert and he's the only person praying. A running theme in this song is that normality is subjective. He's praying for rain because it'd be something different from perfect sunny days.
“And when it finally came, and when it came”
>
Now we’re in past tense, saying a miracle did come
Hold up, hombre, you didn't finish listening to the line yet.
“Everyday was the same: still praying for rain”
>
if you split the sentence in two, he’s saying after the miracle nothing happened, and they continue praying for another one, since there’s nothing else they can do
So here's the thing you missed: the singer's conformed to the monotonous, perfect nature of the reflected world. He sings the same lines repeatedly for the end of the song. He may have prayed for rain because it would be something different, at least at first. But as time passed, rain came and went (as it would, because the other side of the mirror has different weather all the time), and presumably many other forms of weather as well. Perhaps he expected something to happen when the monotony was "broken," maybe a feeling or some way to shatter the reflected world and get back to his own. Chasing that dream, he falls into a perfect routine: he prays, it rains, nothing changes, so he prays, it rains, nothing changes, ad infinitum.
Here's the deal: you're not stupid for how you interpreted this song, though I'm sure it seems like I think that from my responses to your statements. You definitely misinterpreted a lot of it, though, probably because you thought it was about a relationship.
I agree with willhirsch's comment, though I'll give a deeper analysis:
“Well at first there was, there was just no question”
“It was clear and bright like midwinter sunlight” -This could mean 3 things; a) the decision, b) his last day in the real world, or c) the reflection’s land (Though I doubt it since bright = warm, but he said the place was cold) “My heartbeat counting down the moments, precise and quiet” -He was extremely nervous beforehand, heart beating heavily, but decided to keep quiet “I looked out and saw my own reflection, helpless” -He looked in the mirror and saw his reflection “I looked out and saw him overwhelmed and helpless”
“What have I done?” -He regrets his decision
“And as time went on, you could feel the silence”
“What have I done?” -Again, regrets his decision “What wicked penance to get what you want”
“Everyday is the same: we’re praying for rain”
Please understand that it is VERY hard to try and explain these things. There are other interpretations of some lines, so I could be wrong. I also realized that the third and last stanza remind me of communist lifestyles, though I could be mistaken because in the chorus he’s talking about “to get what you want”, so it could be about a girl as well, and the singer in-between in his real life and his rock-star life.
I'm going to analyze your analysis.
I'm going to analyze your analysis.
"Well at first there was, there was just no question"
"Well at first there was, there was just no question"
>
Yes, we know. He literally just said that. Also, that statement is figurative.
“It was clear and bright like midwinter sunlight”
>
Yes, we know. He literally just said that. Also, that statement is figurative.
“It was clear and bright like midwinter sunlight”
>
It means that the mirrored sun isn't producing heat. Normally, sunlight warms whatever it touches, but the mirror world isn't our own. The term "mid-winter sunlight" is used as the closest approximation we have to their environment.
“My heartbeat counting down the moments, precise and quiet”
>
He was extremely nervous beforehand, heart beating heavily, but decided to keep quiet
>He's not trying to be quiet. He's saying that the reflected world is so intensely silent that he could hear his own heartbeat.
Between the last 2 lines the switch takes place, and he is now the reflection looking at himself
>No. The song begins with him already in the mirror, having traded places with his reflection. How would he be able to determine the reflected world was cold and perfect in the first stanza without having been there yet?
Also his reflection is freaking out because our own world is just as terrible and alien to him as the reflected world is to the singer. He came from a place where everything was cold, perfect, and utterly silent, thrust into a world full of heat, errors, and noise.
“What have I done?”
>
Thanks, glad you're checking in with us about that.
“And as time went on, you could feel the silence”
>
No, not yet. You're trying to jump to the last stanza with that.
“Solidifying the sound of my thoughts was paralyzing” (“The solidifying sound of my thoughts was paralyzing”)
>
You actually misheard that line, so I wrote the correct version underneath what you thought he said. There's not an enforced lack of communication, the reflected world is simply much different. He hasn't yet lost hope, this line is instead basically saying that his own thoughts are so unexpected in the mirror world that they provide a much more intense stimulus than anything there.
“I tried to call out to him but the glass was perfect”
>
"call out," not "climb out". Can you hear your reflection speaking in unison with you when talking in front of a mirror? This song implies that the reflected world literally produces no noise. Even if it could, the sounds would never get through the glass. How could it? The singer's only looking at a reflection, after all.
“What have I done?”
>
Phew, I almost forgot that he just said that.
“What wicked penance to get what you want” ("Oh, what we can pay to get what you want")
>
Misheard the line again. Also, what? What person? He swapped with his reflection because the reflected world is perfect, then he learns it's not what he wanted, which is why he's been saying "What have I done" through the whole damn song. There's no third party here.
“Everyday is the same: we’re praying for rain”
>
...m'kay, but he's not in a desert and he's the only person praying. A running theme in this song is that normality is subjective. He's praying for rain because it'd be something different from perfect sunny days.
“And when it finally came, and when it came”
>
Hold up, hombre, you didn't finish listening to the line yet.
“Everyday was the same: still praying for rain”
>
So here's the thing you missed: the singer's conformed to the monotonous, perfect nature of the reflected world. He sings the same lines repeatedly for the end of the song. He may have prayed for rain because it would be something different, at least at first. But as time passed, rain came and went (as it would, because the other side of the mirror has different weather all the time), and presumably many other forms of weather as well. Perhaps he expected something to happen when the monotony was "broken," maybe a feeling or some way to shatter the reflected world and get back to his own. Chasing that dream, he falls into a perfect routine: he prays, it rains, nothing changes, so he prays, it rains, nothing changes, ad infinitum.
Here's the deal: you're not stupid for how you interpreted this song, though I'm sure it seems like I think that from my responses to your statements. You definitely misinterpreted a lot of it, though, probably because you thought it was about a relationship.