Mirror

Lil Wayne feat. Bruno Mars

[Lil Wayne:]
With everything happening today
You don't know whether you're coming or going
But you think that you're on your way
Life lined up on the mirror don't blow it
Look at me when I'm talking to you
You looking at me but I'm looking through you
I see the blood in your eyes
I see the love in disguise
I see the pain hidden in your pride
I see you're not satisfied
And I don't see nobody else
I see myself I'm looking at the

[Bruno Mars:]
Mirror on the wall, here we are again
Through my rise and fall
You've been my only friend
You told me that they can understand the man I am
So why are we here talkin' to each other again?

[Lil Wayne:]
Uh, I see the truth in your lies
I see nobody by your side
But I'm with you when you are all alone
And you correct me when I'm looking wrong
I see the guilt beneath the shame
I see your soul through your window pane
I see the scars that remain
I see you Wayne, I'm looking at the...

[Bruno Mars:]
Mirror on the wall, here we are again ([Wayne:] Yeah)
Through my rise and fall ([Wayne:] Uh-Huh)
You've been my only friend ([Wayne:] my only friend)
You told me that they can understand the man I am ([Wayne:] they can understand)
So why are we here ([Wayne:] misunderstood) talkin' to each other again?

[Lil Wayne:]
Looking at me now I can see my past
Damn I look just like my fucking dad
Light it up, that's smoke in mirrors
I ain't even look good in the broken mirror
I see my momma smile that's a blessing
I see the change, I see the message
And no message could've been any clearer
So I'm startin' with the man in the...

[Bruno Mars:]
Mirror on the wall,

[Lil Wayne:]
MJ taught me that.

[Bruno Mars:]
Here we are again
Through my rise and fall
You've been my only friend

[Lil Wayne:]
Take 'em to Mars man

[Bruno Mars:]
You told me that they can understand the man I am
So why are we talkin' to each other again?

[Lil Wayne:]
Uh...

Mirror on the wall, here we are again ([Wayne:] yeah)
Through my rise and fall
You've been my only friend ([Wayne:] Any questions?)
You told me that they can ([Wayne:] I come to you) understand the man I am ([Wayne:] You always have the answer)
So why are we here talkin' to each other again?

[Bruno Mars:]
Mirror on the wall.

[Wayne:]
Ay, B.P.
Looks like I did take 'em to Mars this time

[Bruno Mars:]
(So why are we talking to each other again?)

"Mirror" is one of Lil Wayne's song that actually has some depth to it, where he's not just singing about meaningless things. When Lil Wayne writes this type of song, I love it because his lyrics are incredibly well thought out and deep. The first lines of the first verse say "With everything happening today/you don't know whether you're coming or you're going", which I interpret as Wayne saying that with the competition in the music industry these days, you don't know if you're on your way to success or failure, or "coming or going". Following this is "But you think that you're on your way/life lined up on the mirror don't blow it", which to me has two meanings. The first, easier to understand, meaning is that you can believe you're on the road to success, and you can see it in the way you act, way you look and dress, and who you're associated with. The second, more thought out meaning involves the way success is handled by some people, specifically referring to drugs. Once again with "But you think that you're on your way", it can be understood that you are becoming successful. The next line "Life lined up on the mirror don't blow it", is what I believe to be a reference to blow, which is a slang term for cocaine. Cocaine is commonly lined up and snorted off of mirrors, which makes me believe that this interpretation is relevant. Then Wayne says "You looking at me but I'm looking through you", which could be that he believes that people only look at his outside, which can be seen in a mirror, while he looks deep into a person. All the things he claims to see show pain, as if he's saying he can see through the facade a person puts on to hide their true feelings. After the first verse, Bruno Mars comes in with the chorus "Mirror on the wall, here we are again/through my rise and fall/you've been my only friend/you told me that they can understand the man I am/so why are we talking to each other again". With "here we are again" we can see that this is a recurring instance. "Through my rise and fall/you've been my only friend" suggests that through his success and failure, being able to look at himself and evaluate himself is the only thing that has stuck with him. "You told me that they can understand the man I am" shows that Mars looks at himself in the mirror and believes that people will accept him, yet the next line "so why are we talking to each other again?" proves that he's still looking in the mirror for things to fix. The next verse seems to be about a friendship that has lasted throughout ups, and more specifically, downs. In the third verse, Wayne says "Looking at me now I can see my past", which is interesting because that means that his past has shaped the person he is now. "Light it up, that's smoke in mirrors" is another drug reference, possibly referring to his own drug use. Following this, we realize that Lil Wayne has decided to change himself because he says "I see my momma smile that's a blessing/I see the change, I see the message." This is Wayne saying that his change has helped others, specifically his mom because she is now smiling and he finds that a blessing, as if it's a rare occurrence. "And no message could've been any clearer/so I'm starting with the man in the [mirror]", shows that Wayne has realized that things need to change, starting with himself, or the man in the mirror.