This song is about slowly drifting into depression because it feels more comfortable than facing your fears and risking failure when you don't have much to offer. As he starts slipping, the guy rationalizes that the reason he can't be happy is that he is better than everyone else--that he's above them, so he's much better off alone in his own pitiful hole.
As he's tripping on his self-pity, he's made aware that the moon(his confidant), the brightest, fullest body in the night sky, is simply reflecting the light of other bodies. Even though the moon provides light to everyone, she has no light of her own. At that moment, the guy realizes that he doesn't need anything great built-in to himself in order to be full and bright, he just needs to reflect the light of others. As he lifts himself out of his hole, he immediately realizes that the comfort he felt from his seclusion and loneliness was far worse than the relief he feels out in the open. Even though it feels comforting to be depressed and accepting of your own sad fate, the relief that you get from rejecting it and rising above it feels much better.
The key here is that the moon was reflecting light, not absorbing it. Even though she was better off than the guy in the song, she took notice and projected her (borrowed)light to get him out of his hole. The rest of the song is about living by others for others. You can't produce anything within yourself to make yourself happy, so you have to share the happiness of others. You have to crucify your ego and make an effort to reflect light onto others. The message is basically to follow the Golden Rule.
This song is about slowly drifting into depression because it feels more comfortable than facing your fears and risking failure when you don't have much to offer. As he starts slipping, the guy rationalizes that the reason he can't be happy is that he is better than everyone else--that he's above them, so he's much better off alone in his own pitiful hole.
As he's tripping on his self-pity, he's made aware that the moon(his confidant), the brightest, fullest body in the night sky, is simply reflecting the light of other bodies. Even though the moon provides light to everyone, she has no light of her own. At that moment, the guy realizes that he doesn't need anything great built-in to himself in order to be full and bright, he just needs to reflect the light of others. As he lifts himself out of his hole, he immediately realizes that the comfort he felt from his seclusion and loneliness was far worse than the relief he feels out in the open. Even though it feels comforting to be depressed and accepting of your own sad fate, the relief that you get from rejecting it and rising above it feels much better.
The key here is that the moon was reflecting light, not absorbing it. Even though she was better off than the guy in the song, she took notice and projected her (borrowed)light to get him out of his hole. The rest of the song is about living by others for others. You can't produce anything within yourself to make yourself happy, so you have to share the happiness of others. You have to crucify your ego and make an effort to reflect light onto others. The message is basically to follow the Golden Rule.