Uraboros [Tommy Shaw]

Uraboros
Written by Todd Cooper, Doug Powell, Alan Parsons
Lead Vocals by Tommy Shaw

I walk the line to find To see ahead I look behind And it’s all right

Sometimes I climb Escher stairs Never leading anywhere But it’s all right

From fractal to the galaxy A revolution spiraling And it’s all right

Sooner or later Your luck will betray you But tables will turn And you’ll learn the behavior And it’s all right Got your tail in your mouth And so it goes round and round It’s the rule of the ring It’s the kiss of the uroboros If the secret clocks tell time One turns and the other flies And it’s all right Another wheel inside a wheel Inside another you can’t feel And it’s all right What is lost will be found As the serpent coils round and round Now the future’s the past In the grasp of the uroboros Round and round again Where the end begins Back where the beginning arrives Season cycle spins And the winter wind Turns to summer’s sigh

Familiar stranger in Some eternal return Heads and tails flip As fortunes turn Got your tail in your mouth And so it goes round and round And It’s the rule of the ring It’s the kiss of the uroboros Now the future’s the past In the grasp of the uroboros

Interpretation

Life goes in circles.  Let's look at the lyrics line by line:

I walk the line to find, to see ahead I look behind, and it’s all right.

I try to predict what will happen by looking back at my past experiences.

Sometimes I climb Escher stairs, never leading anywhere, but it’s all right

I can't get anywhere because the stairs never get me anywhere, a reference to the painting Relativity, by M.C. Escher.

From fractal to the galaxy, a revolution spiraling, and it’s all right

Fractals can take many forms, but many are circular or spiraled, Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is a spiral galaxy, which is rotating around a supermassive black hole. In either case, you are in spiral, going in circles.

Sooner or later, your luck will betray you, but tables will turn, and you’ll learn the behavior. And it’s all right

Luck will eventually run out on you. At some point the circumstances will change, and you will need to make adjustments.. Got your tail in your mouth, and so it goes round and round--it’s the rule of the ring. It’s the kiss of the uroboros.

A uroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. This same symbol was referenced in the Styx song A Monster. Your life is going in circles, like a uroboros or the symbolic endlessness of a circle embodied in a ring.

If the secret clocks tell time, one turns and the other flies, and it’s all right.

If there are secret clocks that keep time in the universe, one is turning at a normal pace of life, but the other one flies, because sometimes time flies and you suddenly realize that you are farther along than you thought.

Another wheel inside a wheel inside another you can’t feel, and it’s all right.

Just like a wheel within a wheel and even a third, life can be very complicated.

What is lost will be found, as the serpent coils round and round. Now the future’s the past in the grasp of the uroboros.

When you move into the future and find a repeat of the past, you can discover insight that had been lost. Round and round again, where the end begins, back where the beginning arrives. Season cycle spins, and the winter wind turns to summer’s sigh.

Just as the seasons flow in a cycle and winter becomes summer again, the events of our lives seem to move in cycles, and the end becomes the beginning again.

Familiar stranger in some eternal return.

You will encounter a stranger that somehow seems familiar. Is it reincarnation?

Heads and tails flip as fortunes turn.

If somehow heads became tails and tails became heads on a coin, that is what it seems like when your luck seems to suddenly reverse.

Got your tail in your mouth, and so it goes round and round, and it’s the rule of the ring. It’s the kiss of the uroboros. Now the future’s the past in the grasp of the uroboros.

So, just like the uroboros or the circle of the ring, the events of your life seem to go in circles.