Album: Seven And The Ragged Tiger (1983)

Charted: 1 1

License This Song 

• You've gone too far this time
  And I'm dancing on the valentine
  I tell you somebody's fooling around
  With my chances on the danger line
  I'll cross that bridge when I find it
  Another day
  To make my stand, oh oh
  High time is no time for deciding
  If I should find a helping hand, oh oh
  
  Why don't you use it?
  Try not to bruise it?
  Buy time don't lose it
  
  Why don't you use it?
  Try not to bruise it?
  Buy time don't lose it
  
  The reflex is a lonely child
  Who's waiting by the park
  The reflex is a door to finding
  Treasure in the dark
  And watching over lucky clover
  Isn't that bizarre
  Every little thing the reflex does
  Leaves you answered with a question mark
  
  I'm on a ride and I want to get off
  But they won't slow down the round-about
  I sold the Renoir and TV set
  Don't want to be around when this gets out
  
  So why don't you use it?
  Try not to bruise it?
  Buy time don't lose it
  
  Why don't you use it?
  Try not to bruise it?
  Buy time don't lose it
  
  The reflex is a lonely child
  Who's waiting in the park
  The reflex is a door to finding
  Treasure in the dark
  And watching over lucky clover
  Isn't that bizarre
  Every little thing the reflex does
  Leaves you answered with a question mark
  
  So why don't you use it?
  Try not to bruise it?
  Buy time don't loose it
  
  Why don't you use it?
  Try not to bruise it?
  Buy time don't lose it
  
  The reflex is a lonely child
  Who's waiting by the park
  The reflex is a door to finding
  Treasure in the dark
  And watching over lucky clover
  Isn't that bizarre
  Every little thing the reflex does
  Leaves you answered with a question mark
  
  Oh the reflex what a game
  He's hiding all the cards
  The reflex is in charge of finding
  Treasure in the dark
  And watching over lucky clover
  Isn't that bizarre
  Every little thing the reflex does Writer/s: Andy Taylor, John Taylor, Nick Rhodes, Roger Andrew Taylor, Simon Le Bon
  Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 26

• Jeramy S. Essary from Baxter Springs KansasNo. They're pulling your/our legs. The song is about a bad gambling addiction
• Padraig from Nowhere In ParticularThis was the first of a trilogy of songs that catapulted Duran Duran straight to the Top of the World. With hindsight, it is the best of the three songs. And the most misunderstood.
  
  Because what makes The Reflex so memorable is that, in the original album version, it was already a song written and performed by five white guys from England that was deeply rooted in American funk and R&B. Try sing Rick James's Super Freak while listening to The Reflex and vice versa - it is embarrassingly easy, because it is essentially the same tune. Those R&B roots were then amplified when Nile Rodgers was invited to do the remix that would go on to be published as the Single version of the song. The result is that other than, say, Sussidio by Phil Collins or I want your Sex by George Michael, this is not white guys from England aiming to sound like Prince. It is a fully blown powerhouse R&D record that just happens to be performed by Duran Duran as an absolute barnstormer of a pop song. And this is what the music press and the listening public, blindfolded by the boy band image, completely failed to understand.
  
  The other two songs in the trilogy, The Wild Boys (also produced by Nile Rodgers) and the A View to a Kill Bond theme, are slick recordings that have the band at the peak of their synth-pop-rock abilities, but do not fit in the Pantheon of all-time great songs. The Reflex, on the other hand, does.
• Countravioli from Fort Worth, TxThe song is using imagery from Alice in Wonderland/Alice through the Looking Glass to describe being in a strange bizarre world. The Reflex is short for reflection. The lonely child in the park is Alice. Buy time don’t lose it is the White Rabbit. Leaves you answers with a question mark is the Cheshire Cat. Dancing on a Valentine is a reference to the hearts. Hiding all the cards references deck of cards Alice interacts with.
• Rob Adams from North GeorgiaThat's it? "The early '80s was really great for profoundly weird, paranoid pop lyrics." I don't think John Taylor has a clue.
• Papeandomusica from Cascavel, Pr - BrasilObviously it's about betrayal and revenge and the risk of falling in love during it.
  
  You've gone too far this time
  And I'm Dancing Up on Valentine's Day Card
  I tell you that someone has been joking
  With my chances on the danger line
  I'll cross that bridge when I find it
  Another day
  
  crossing the bridge is about breaking someone's trust
  
  So why don't you use it?
  try not to hurt him
  Buy time, don't waste it would be the questions inside the head about whether it would be right or wrong
  
  Isn't that bizarre?
  Every little thing the reflection does
  Leaves you a question mark as an answer
  
  I'm on a ride and I wanna get out
  But they won't slow down the merry-go-round
  I sold the radio and TV set
  I don't want to be around when it blows up
  
  So why don't you use it?
  try not to hurt him
  Buy time, don't waste it
  
  So why don't you use it?
  try not to hurt him
  Buy time, don't waste it
  
  The reflection is an only child
  What's waiting in the parking lot
  The reflection is the door to find yourself
  the hidden treasure
  And to take care of the lucky clovers
  Isn't that bizarre?
  Every little thing the reflection does
  Leaves you a question mark as an answer
  
  So why don't you use it?
  try not to hurt him
  Buy time, don't waste it
  
  So why don't you use it?
  try not to hurt him
  Buy time, don't waste it
  
  The reflection is an only child
  What's waiting in the parking lot
  The reflection is the door to find yourself
  the hidden treasure
  And to take care of the lucky clovers
  Isn't that bizarre?
  Every little thing the reflection does
  Leaves you a question mark as an answer
  
  The reflection - what a game!
  And he's hiding all the cards
  The reflection is in charge of finding
  the hidden treasure
  And to take care of the lucky clovers
  Isn't that bizarre?
  Every little thing the reflection does
  Leaves you a question mark as an answer
  
  would be doubt and the sense of being torn between pleasure and guilt
  
  including feelings of revolt and revenge, desire and euphoria, guilt and doubt are very present
• Grimtraveller {lower Case 'g' !} from North West LondonWhy do people bother to try to tell us what the song is about when its lyric writer is on record as saying he never tells people what it's about ?
  It's a great song, leave it at that.
• Susan from Illinois This is one of the best songs from the 80’s. I never tried to analyze Duran Duran lyrics. They take stream-of-consciousness to a completely different level!
• Pooh From Mn from MnSam from KY nailed it! Great job!!!
• AnonymousI remember listening and watching a documentary on Duran Duran and it’s about erections
• Seventhmist from 7th HeavenLike its creators, I also had no idea what this song meant.
• Thea from CaliforniaThe Reflex is about card gambling addiction. The Reflex itself is the excited rush a gambler feels. The rest of the lyrics, that some seem to think are nonsense, are the consequences of a gambling addiction; abandoned child, stealing at night, selling your possessions, superstition for luck, dumbfounded when they don't win "answered with a question mark". "Four leaf clover" - Clubs, "Valentine" - Hearts. ....and lots more.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn this day in 1984 {June 16th} a video of Duran Duran's "The Reflex" was aired on the Dick Clark ABC-TV Saturday-afternoon program, 'American Bandstand'...
  At the time "The Reflex" was at position #2 on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart, the following week it would peak at #1 {for 2 weeks} and it spent twenty one weeks on the Top 100...
  As noted above, it also reached #1 in the United Kingdom, and in Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands...
  Between 1982 and 2004 the British band had twenty one records on the Hot Top 100 chart, eleven made the Top 10 with two* reaching #1, besides the above "The Reflex", their other #1 record was "A View To A Kill", for two weeks on July 7th, 1985...
  * They just missed having two more #1 records when both "The Wild Boys" {1984} and "Notorious" {1987} peaked at #2 on the Hot Top 100 chart...
• Esskayess from Dallas, Txdick, are you saying that sometimes songwriters don't know what they're writing about? I'd hate to hear some examples.
• Mandy from London, United Kingdomthis song is about Nick Rhodes, just as My Own Way is about John Taylor. As a lyricist you just can't help writing about the people close to you.
• Dick from Washington, DcAt some point, even if the songwriter tells you what a song is about (if he knows), it's not interesting.
• Don from Benton, ArThe song has to be a drug rant. The description above says the song was written over a couple bottles of wine but wine doesn't put someone on a trip like that. The only other option is that Simon had a break from reality. Hope he's feeling better now!
• Layla from Vancouver, BcI can't remember where I read this but the article quoted Simon calling 'The Reflex' a song about forgetting your lyrics while performing/
• Blil from Kansas City, KsWhen I saw them in Atlanta in 1984 (just before this song was released as a single), Simon introduced this song by holding up a little stuffed animal tiger and saying "This song is about a little friend of ours...."
• Dale from Henderson, KyThe song seems to be about oral sex.."The reflex"
  or the "Gag Reflex" of a woman perhaps?
• Sam from Wilmore, KyThe lyrics seem to have something to do with drugs--"why dontcha use it?" if a syringe is used, "try not to bruise it," and if you have wasted time using it, you need to "buy time (and) don't lose it." Particularly the third verse, he's on a ride ("high" ride), want to get off but he can't slow down (want to stop but can't?) so he needs to sell his Renoir and TV--to do what? to buy drugs? Hopelessly(?) maybe, he doesn't want to "be around when this gets out" (or when it loses it's effect?). Other hints--there is waiting in the park to find treasure in the dark, and what the reflex does leaves a question.
• Mike from Santa Barbara, CaThe video to this song caused a minor uproar, and those who have seen it know why.
• Kevin from Tampa, Fli guess if it is about erections, it would give a definate meaning to "high tide is no time for deciding if i should find a helping hand"
• Patrick from Portland, Or"The Reflex" has at least two levels of meaning. (1) It's about unwanted adolescent erections. (2) It's about a challenging process of psychic, spiritual, magickal, occult awakening that every soul eventually undergoes -- one frequently misunderstood and mistaken for psychopathology.
• Dean from Potomac Falls, VaIf you read the chorus carefully, you might conclude that The Reflex is Simon LeBon's ode to the penis/male libido. It's clever. I grin every time I here it.
• Emily from Abingdon, VaSong lyrics are pointless but one must admit there is a significant amount of musicality there.
• Kendall from Thomasville, Gayeah the lyrics don't really make sense to me either

More Songfacts:

Sharp Dressed ManZZ Top

ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man" was the first video that was a sequel. It picked up the storyline of their "Gimme All Your Lovin'" video about a guy who encounters three beautiful women.

Wonderful TonightEric Clapton

Eric Clapton wrote "Wonderful Tonight" while waiting for his girlfriend, Pattie Boyd, to get ready for a night out. By the time she was ready, he had written the song.

Cotton Eye JoeRednex

"Cotton Eye Joe" is a folk song dating to the 1800s, but it became a hit when a Swedish act called Rednex did a psychokinetic version in 1994.

Livin' On A PrayerBon Jovi

Gina in Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer" is based on a singer named Maria Vidal, who was working as a singing waitress using the name Gina Velvet.

Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)Billy Ocean

Billy Ocean's "Caribbean Queen" was originally released as "European Queen," and it underperformed. When it was issued in America as "Caribbean Queen" it went to #1 and revived his career.

Video Killed The Radio StarBuggles

"Video Killed The Radio Star" by Buggles was the first video to air on MTV when the network started broadcasting on August 1, 1981.

Editor's Picks

Cy Curnin of The FixxSongwriter Interviews

The man who brought us "Red Skies" and "Saved By Zero" is now an organic farmer in France.

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

Dr. JohnSongwriter Interviews

The good doctor shares some candid insights on recording with Phil Spector and The Black Keys.

MelanieSongwriter Interviews

The singer-songwriter Melanie talks about her spiritual awakening at Woodstock, "Brand New Key," and why songwriting is an art, not a craft.

Richie Wise (Kiss producer, Dust)Songwriter Interviews

Richie talks about producing the first two Kiss albums, recording "Brother Louie," and the newfound appreciation of his rock band, Dust.

"Private Eyes" - The Story Behind the SongSong Writing

How a goofy detective movie, a disenchanted director and an unlikely songwriter led to one of the biggest hits in pop history.