What does Broken Mirrors mean?

Rise Against: Broken Mirrors Meaning

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Album cover for Broken Mirrors album cover

Broken Mirrors Lyrics

Hey man, now did you hear?
Your final days are near.
In a free fall of fire and ice.
And explosions in the sky.
A fate that we deserve.
There's no escape, no.
Now it's your turn.

It's been years since our luck ran out and left us...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Mar 30th 2011 !⃝

    I think the song tells about taking responsibility. The person has been wild and done many mistakes. But the chorus tells he hates this side about himself. Mirrors present that and the hardships in his life that has made him the way he is.

    He hates the mirrors and wants to destroy the image surrounding him. When he looks at the shattered mirror he doesn't recognize himself, the shards distort the reality who he really is.

    And like the song says: Mirrors only see what's outside, not his heart and his scars. But he can still recreate his image and start again. Or the broken mirrors might be other people who reflect his actions and appearance but can't really reach his heart.

    It's almost like he's some kind of a criminal who regrets his past mistakes. But not quite. But depending our conscience we might have regrets and be criminals ourselves.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Mar 16th 2011 !⃝

    I think the beginning part of this song is about the end of the world and what it will be like. He is saying that we deserve this punishment and there will be no escaping it.This is possibly because of all the bad deeds people have done. Near the end of the song, he says that people are afraid to look into the mirror because they will see themselves for who they truely are and thats's not something that they want to see. He then goes on to say that there is always time to start over because a mirror can only see what's on the outside, not what actions a person has done.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Apr 25th 2011 !⃝

    I think that this song ends up telling us that you dont have to hate what you see in the mirror. not literally, but you dont have to hate the person you have become. You can smash the mirror and start yourself over again. If you wanna go with the RA theme, I think they may be suggesting that the government can be reformed, we can smash the mirror, rebuild it how we want it rebuilt, and look into it with pride.

  4. anonymous
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    Dec 15th 2011 !⃝

    This song is not about what any of you are saying.. This song is about the secretive government that has been ruling us that people are now waking up to. "Because mirrors cant see our heart" says more than you think it does. The mirror is the government saying "This is what you are suppose to be like" thinking the one behind the mirror will accept it like we have for years ("its been years since our luck ran out"). But saying they cant see the heart symbolizes that we are sick of what we have been seeing in the mirror. The fear of the mirror and the scars you have are the scars of believing what they have been showing you in the mirror. But smashing it and "restarting" is basically starting a revolution and a new way of thinking, which makes your old face unfamiliar like said in the song.

  5. anonymous
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    Jul 16th 2011 !⃝

    I believe the song is a representation of modern day America. "Its been years since our luck ran out and left us here." Being how America has somewhat fallen since our glory in the 20th century and the corruption of government since then, the broken mirrors representing the corruption of Government, "Im not the old town crier, im the one that sets it all on fire!" showing how those that were made to aid us (Government) have fucked us. The Reflections of an unfamiliar face being how Government represents us all in the wrong way, but they cant portray the true heart of America. Cus' mirrors cant see our hearts

  6. anonymous
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    Jun 19th 2011 !⃝

    One interpretation could be surrounding the idea of political leaders (yes I know not all rise against songs are about political topics, but this one is glaring at me).

    The idea of seeing an unfamiliar face could be harkened to the idea of politicians starting out with good intentions, but falling into crappy positions and almost being forced to do things that he/she wouldn't normally do. The thought of the mirror as being the reflection of yourself or maybe the mirror is public opinion and the line of "the mirrors can't see your heart" meaning the public almost never understands ones motivation behind an act that might seem abhorrent or a 180 from ones original view.

    The line of "hide from the mirrors, they might show our scars" would back up this public opinion idea, being focused on the fact that the media and public only ever see the bad things behind a particular call. These bad calls could be invasions or even just attacks on other countries leaving "10 millions shards of glass and tears."

  7. anonymous
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    Jun 14th 2011 !⃝

    In my opinion the song is about taking responsibility for how we lash out at people and burn our bridges when angry. In the first verse it says "Hey man, now did you hear? Your final days are near." implying that somehow payback is gonna get him. Similar messages of disregard or aggression can been seen in the other verses. The chorus is about how when we do these things to other people (the mirrors) they leave and become broken. In the wake of that we feel regret and cant recognize what we did and have become

  8. anonymous
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    Jun 5th 2011 !⃝

    I think it sounds a bit like global warming. But what does "it's been years. Since our luck ran out and left us here." mean?
    If it is about GW, then it seems it be about how the world will fall apart if we keep ruining it and there's no escape. However, after some thought, it seems to be more likely that it's about crimminal actions, and hating that side of ourselves.
    My final theory is that it's about America and the parts that we hate and make us look bad, and restarting and getting rid of Amerika(search it on UD if you don't know what it means with a K).

  9. anonymous
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    May 28th 2011 !⃝

    I think this song is about owning up to what we've done and not avoiding the punishment for our actions. We've all made choices bad and good and now comes the time when fate will take over and carry the course of our actions and dole oput the punishment due. It also gives us hope by sayin that we can start over, we can choose to change our ways and fix our mistakes. It calls on us to make a choice between bad and good.

  10. anonymous
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    May 23rd 2011 !⃝

    I think that this song is about getting drafted to go into war. When your "luck ran out", it shows the person being drafted for war getting chosen by some bad luck. I always pictured "reflections of an unfamiliar face" to be a guy staring into a mirror and looking at himself dressed up ready for war. I also pictured this guy breaking the mirror into "ten million shards" because he is "in tears" knowing that he might die in the war.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  11. anonymous
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    May 20th 2011 !⃝

    Anyone think it may be about 9/11.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  12. anonymous
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    May 7th 2011 !⃝

    I've made the Endgame songs into a story of sorts. Here, in Broken Mirrors, I think the song is supposed to reflect personal change of revolutionaries. (Yes, that's what I think Endgame's story is. A revolution.)

    "Hey man, now did you hear?
    Your final days are near.
    In a free fall of fire and ice."
    That's saying how the revolutionaries are in this. Or so they say.

    "We hide from the mirrors.
    They might show our scars.
    There is the person that we want to be."
    This is where one of the revolutionaries says he isn't in it for the revolution.

    "And the people we are.
    Confront your reflection.
    Smash what you see and lets restart.
    Because mirrors cant see our heart."
    Doubling my point, he isn't in it for revolution, but to make himself look good.
    However, he changes his ways and decides that the revolution is what's right.

  13. anonymous
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    Apr 20th 2011 !⃝

    I think it is about broken mirrors.

  14. anonymous
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    Mar 30th 2011 !⃝

    Add to before, it was a bit wrong: He's afraid that the mirrors (might be people or his own consciousness) see the scars life has caused.

  15. anonymous
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    Mar 23rd 2011 !⃝

    I think "In a free fall of fire and ice.
    And explosions in the sky." may have something to do with the volcanic eruption in Iceland last year, dunno, just an idea :)


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