Reflections

Remember how I said I was going to watch Mulan with the boys the other night? Well, you know, I must not have ever paid really close attention to the songs before, because one song in particular seemed to be written just for me. For real. It’s called “Reflections” and it’s the one that is also sung by Christina Aquilera on the soundtrack. In the movie, Mulan sings this song after she has a little comedy of errors with the Matchmaker, and she has “lost honor” for her family, and she is basically feeling like the constraints of her life are not allowing her to be herself as SHE knows herself to be, and she is always playing the part of what is expected of her.

Look at me
You may think you see who I really am
But you’ll never know me
Every day it’s as if I play a part
Now I see if I wear a mask, I can fool the world
But I can not fool my heart.
—
Who is that girl I see, staring straight back at me?
When will my reflection show who I am inside?
—
I am now
In a world where I have to hide my heart
And what I believe in
But somehow I will show the world
What’s inside my heart
And be loved for who I am.
—
Who is that girl I see staring straight back at me?
Why is my reflection someone I don’t know?
Must I pretend that I’m
Someone else for all time?
When will my reflection show who I am inside?
—
Can the heart that must be free to fly
Not burst with the need to know the reasons why?
Why must we all conceal
What we think, how we feel?
Must there be a secret me I’m forced to hide?
—
I won’t pretend that I’m someone else for all time
When will my reflection show who I am inside?
When will my reflection show who I am inside?