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Dylan hails from Edgewood, Texas and although he might have cut his teeth in the tiny dive bars all around Texas like so many of his East Texas heroes before him, his ability to garner a committed fan base early on, even before he had officially released any music, is a distinct characteristic of the new generation of artists that Dylan is a part of. His use of social media platforms, like Twitter, where he would post acoustic videos of both originals and cover songs allowed Dylan to gain fans from all over long before he had committed himself to being a full-time musician. One such video, of the 90’s country hit “Strawberry Wine”, that he uploaded back in May of 2017 quickly gained well over 100,000 views and would give him an early glimpse of “what could be”. His continual cultivation of this early fanbase made the release of his first EP “Tell Me If I’m Wrong” towards the end of 2018 one of most highly anticipated releases for a new artist for that entire year. Those early songs quickly tallied 10’s of thousands and then 100’s of thousands of streams and it was only after this small taste of success that Dylan decided that becoming a full-time musician was attainable, in all honesty, this fate seemed rather unavoidable to anybody who had been paying attention.
In 2019 Dylan finalized that decision by quitting his job working in the Oil & Gas industry and committed himself full-time to his music and everything that goes along with it. With the training wheels finally off Dylan’s schedule quickly filled up, the shows got bigger… and better, he began making more trips to Nashville to write and record new music, he kept up his engagement with his ever-growing fanbase, and most importantly he released new music that displayed all the growth that came along with fully committing himself to his art. Every new song that Dylan has released has given us a further glimpse of what he is capable of and with each new layer of growth he grabbed new fans and made all the people that already love him even more committed to following his journey.
In just a few short years Dylan gone from getting 10’s of thousands of views on acoustic videos that he would post to now amassing 10’s of millions of total streams across all major platforms. He’s gone from playing those tiny dive bars to selling out major venues across his home state and others. But, if you ask him he will let you know that he is just getting started and that the sky is the limit. Not too bad for “some broke-ass kid beating on his guitar”, not too bad.
Mirror
Dylan Wheeler Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Say the words that I can′t say
I guess you know it all
Oh, yes, you do
I'm takin′ off, I'm settin' free
I think it′s time for us to be alone
Oh, to be alone
′Fore there ain't no me that′s left
'Cause there′s so much of who I was that's already gone
You′ve had my heart on the shelf
Givin' all that I had left
To the face that's in the mirror that I see
You don′t look much like me
When I′m goin' wrong, you′re goin' right
It seems there ain′t no end in sight
No end at all, no, no
And every time we talk, it ends in a fight
Got me thinkin', thinkin′ maybe I
I need a little time for myself
'Fore there ain't no me that′s left
There′s so much of who I was that's already gone
You′ve had my heart on the shelf
Givin' all that I had left
To the face that′s in the mirror that I see
You don't look much like me
You don′t look much like me
I turn it off, you turn it on
Sometimes, it goes on all night long
Don't you think that we
Don't you think that we
We need a little time for ourselves
′Fore there ain′t nothin' left
′Cause there's so much of who we were that′s already gone
We've had our hearts on the shelf
Givin′ all that we had left
To the faces in the mirror that we see
It don't look much like you and me
Don't look much like you and me
Tell me, baby, do you see?
It don′t look much like me
It don′t look much like me
In Dylan Wheeler's song Mirror, the lyrics reveal a sense of confusion and loss of identity as the singer realizes that he has been living his life according to someone else's expectations, rather than his own. The opening lines "You call my shots, you pave my way, Say the words that I can't say", suggests that the singer has been following someone else's lead and suppressing his own desires and opinions. The lines "I need a little time for myself, 'Fore there ain't no me that's left" indicate that the singer is in danger of losing his sense of self completely, due to his preoccupation with pleasing others.
The metaphor of the mirror is also used throughout the song to signify the singer's struggle with his own identity. The lines "To the face that's in the mirror that I see, You don't look much like me" suggests that he doesn't recognize himself anymore, and that the image he sees in the mirror is not the version of himself that he wants to be. In the chorus, when he sings "We've had our hearts on the shelf, Giving all that we had left, To the faces in the mirror that we see, It don't look much like you and me", it highlights the idea that both him and his partner have been losing who they are in the relationship.
Overall, the song's lyrics explore the internal conflict one can experience when they are trying to live up to others' expectations, at the expense of their own identity.
Line by Line Meaning
You call my shots, you pave my way
You make all the decisions and guide my path.
Say the words that I can't say
You speak on my behalf when I am unable to express myself.
I guess you know it all
You think you have all the answers and solutions.
Oh, yes, you do
You are confident in your own knowledge and abilities.
I'm takin' off, I'm settin' free
I am leaving and becoming independent.
I think it's time for us to be alone
I believe it is essential for us to spend some time apart.
Oh, to be alone
The idea of solitude is appealing to me.
I need a little time for myself
I require some time alone to reflect and recharge.
'Fore there ain't no me that's left
Before I lose my sense of identity completely.
'Cause there's so much of who I was that's already gone
I have lost much of who I used to be and need to find myself again.
You've had my heart on the shelf
You have kept my emotions and feelings out of reach.
Givin' all that I had left
I have given everything I could, but it was not enough.
To the face that's in the mirror that I see
I see myself, but I feel like a different person.
You don't look much like me
I do not recognize myself in my reflection.
When I'm goin' wrong, you're goin' right
When I make mistakes, you always seem to know the right thing to do.
It seems there ain't no end in sight
It feels like our problems will never end or reach a resolution.
No end at all, no, no
Our situation seems to be never-ending and futile.
And every time we talk, it ends in a fight
We cannot have a constructive conversation without arguing.
Got me thinkin', thinkin' maybe I
It has made me contemplate the idea that perhaps I need to make a change.
We need a little time for ourselves
We both need space to sort ourselves out.
'Fore there ain't nothin' left
Before we lose everything or destroy our relationship entirely.
'Cause there's so much of who we were that's already gone
Our relationship has changed so much that it is almost unrecognizable.
We've had our hearts on the shelf
We have kept our emotions and feelings out of reach from each other.
Givin' all that we had left
We have both given everything we could, but it was not enough to save our relationship.
To the faces in the mirror that we see
We see ourselves, but we do not see the people we fell in love with.
It don't look much like you and me
We no longer resemble the couple we once were.
Tell me, baby, do you see?
Do you also feel like we have lost ourselves and our relationship?
It don't look much like me
I do not recognize the person I see in the mirror.
Contributed by Lila B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.