Turn to Stone. By Ingrid Michaelson

Sometimes the Muse will speak in other ways. Some messages go straight to the heart with a clear and present truth to reveal the forgotten and/or teach the unknown. The opposing message is the second way to see things. When the primary message is quite clearly mistaken, the Muse is asking the  patient to trust the doubt and see even more clearly the true message that could not be seen if presented directly.

The direct route is in the path of the Muse here to begin

Let's take a better look

Self-analysis is a good thing, within reason. Balance is the key. So, here the Muse says nothing new, and establishes the context as one of introspection that might result in improvement. Fine

Beyond a storybook

Good. We are no longer children wondering if life is but a dream.

And learn our souls are all we own

Here the Muse plays to the mistaken majority. The counter message of the Muse begins to be developed here. The truth is even bigger: we own nothing. Even our souls are mere shadows. Yet, in this moment of ephemera, the message begins to dawn. The line of reasoning becomes clearer, and the listener must make a choice: the message is either wrong or right.

I suppose most will take the first path and follow the songstress down a very depressing path toward a life of labor that ultimately means nothing and is forgotten like a pebble.

There is another perspective. After more lines of thoughtful development the clarity envelopes the patient:

There's so much more than me and you

Indeed, there is. We are the shadows, and soon to be much more than stones. Again, the message has a choice:

1. We are not the center of the universe, so we shouldn't be selfish, we should help others, etc. Can we measure up? Yes, with selflessness. Can we measure up? Well, it doesn't matter since we are mere dust.
2. We are in the presence of something bigger than we are. Can we measure up? No. Can we be made whole? Yes, but not on our own.

And now the pivotal moment in the message

And brother how we must atone, before we turn to stone.

Message #1.: Work hard, make up for your past sins, and then die in nothingness. Again, I suppose many see life this way.

Message #2.: The Muse beats us over the head with something so impossible as working to earn our own atonement that I must step back and see this from the opposite view. It isn't possible to atone for one's past wrongs. So, the message, for the few that see it this way, is to realize and embrace one's weakness and allow for atonement or more to be done apart from us.

Wonderful peace is the result.

Enjoy.