Diana Ross and the Supremes - Reflections - Lyrics Meaning

Reflections was released in 1967. The song was written by the Motown songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland. It has been covered by many artists, including Michael McDonald, Lamont Dozier, and the Temptations.

The song is about a person looking back on a relationship that has ended. Everything in the singer's mind reminds her of the man she used to be with and the way her life was when he was around. He has taken her love and happiness and she is left clinging to the happy memories of their life together. She has invested her love in the relationship for nothing and is left with unfulfilled promises and sees that she has wasted a lot of time. Her world has crumbled right in front of her.

The track begins with unusual noises before the song actually starts. The Holland-Dozier Holland team reportedly heard the recording engineer making strange noises with an oscillator in the studio. The team decided to start the song with some of these noises. "Reflections" is one of the most popular examples of the influence of psychedelic rock on the soul genre. Psychedelic soul would challenge the traditional Motown sound.