Epilogue
David Wirsig Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

So should we doubt the sun's existence
When it's tucked away at night?
Making fable of all fact
That isn't right before our eyes

In the morning when we wake up
Will we fear the sun's first light?
Saying "how could we have known

Without some kind of warning sign?"

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of David Wirsig's "Epilogue" delve into the philosophical questions of what we can truly trust in our perception of reality. Wirsig asks whether we should doubt the existence of the sun when it is hidden from our view at night, questioning the reliability of our senses and the information we have taken for granted. He describes how this skepticism can lead to doubt in all things that we cannot immediately see, drawing on the idea that we often default to accepted wisdom rather than analyzing the world around us independently.

Wirsig continues this line of thought in the second verse, wondering whether we will be afraid of the sun's light when we first wake up, having been primed to distrust it during the night. The lyrics are ultimately a reflection on the nature of human perception and the challenges we face when trying to understand the world around us. It is a call to question our assumptions and seek clarity in our understanding of the world, rather than blindly accepting what we have been taught.

Line by Line Meaning

So should we doubt the sun's existence
Do we have the right to question the existence of something just because it isn't visible at all times?

When it's tucked away at night?
When the sun is not visible to us during the night.

Making fable of all fact
Doubting or rejecting the truth and accepting false stories instead.

That isn't right before our eyes
Refers to something that we can't see, but is still true.

In the morning when we wake up
At the beginning of a new day.

Will we fear the sun's first light?
Are we afraid of things that we don't understand, such as the start of a new day?

Saying 'how could we have known
Asking the question of how we could have anticipated something that we didn't know would happen.

Without some kind of warning sign?'
Without something to indicate that it was coming or would happen.

Contributed by Nicholas C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS