This one line of dialogue in the song “You Are My Own” from the YK musical Phantom has always sort of made me think. Brief context: Erik is reminiscing with his father about the first time he saw his own face.
“Remember the day I looked out into the water? I thought I’d seen a sea monster!” he says, before adding “I had. That’s the irony.”
A part of me likes to think that it wasn’t just a reference to the monstrous appearance of his face. Sure, Erik’s reflection wasn’t very nice to look at, but also the first time he saw his reflection, some grotesque-looking fish (perhaps mutated by the questionable materials prevalent in 1800s construction) had found its way into the underground lake and positioned itself just so, so that it made the experience all the more awful for poor child Erik.