For many years I heard of the band, Imagine Dragons;
however, I wasn’t very familiar with any of their music. Until recently when my
seven-year-old daughter watched a YouTube video which featured the song
“Believer” over and over. I found myself enjoying the song. So, I decided to
look deeper to this band and their music. Imagine Dragons is an American pop
rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada. Dan Reynolds, lead vocalist, and Wayne
Sermon, lead guitarist, met while students at Bingham Young University. They
went through other members before becoming the band we know today with Ben
McKee, bassist, and Daniel Platzman, drummer. According to Reynolds, the band’s name is an anagram that
only the members known and approve of. The band received its first exposure with
the song, “It’s Time” followed by their award-winning debut album, Night Visions (2012). Their music style
has been described as alternative rock, pop, electronic, dance-pop, electropop,
and arena rock. Their influences are a mix of folk, R&B, hip-hop and
electric dance music (EDM). Artistic influences have been cited as Nirvana,
Muse, The Beatles, Coldplay, Linkin Park, and U2 as well as other musical
giants.
As I do with many bands, I analyze a few of their songs.
First, “Believer” as it is the song, I am most familiar with. “Believer” is
from their third studio album, Evolve
(2017). According to Reynolds, the song was inspired by his experience with
ankylosing spondylitis, a type of arthritis which affects the joints of the
spine. He said that, "The meaning of the song is really reflecting on
specific things in my life that were painful, whether it was anxiety and
dealing with crowds, feeling overwhelmed by that or the success of the band,
disease, going through depression—anything that was a source of pain in my
life. And just rising above that, finding a place of perspective where I could
be appreciative of the pain in my life and make it my greatest strength”
(Mizoguchi 2017). The lyrics which carry the most meaning for me is the
pre-chorus and chorus:
[Pre-chorus]
I was broken from a young age
Taking my sulkin' to the masses
Writing my poems for the few
That look at me, took to me, shook to me, feelin' me
Singing from heartache from the pain
Taking my message from the veins
Speaking my lesson from the brain
Seeing the beauty through the...
[Chorus]
Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain! You break me down and build me up, believer, believer
Pain! Oh, let the bullets fly, oh, let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from...
Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Reynolds took his experiences, his pain and wrote them in
songs, his audience (the masses) took them, felt them with him and now he can
see the beauty in the pain. I think anyone who suffers from chronic pain, whether
it is physical or emotional, can relate and find power in the lyrics as well as
the power of the hard-hitting rhythms.
Another I enjoyed discovering is “I Bet My Life” from their
second studio album, Smoke +Mirrors
(2015). It is the song of a once rebellious teen “Now remember when I told you
that's the last you'll see of me/Remember when I broke you down to tears/I know
I took the path that you would never want for me/I gave you hell through all
the years” comes home to seek forgiveness “Please forgive me for all I've done.”
Reynolds stated that this song is about his relationship with his parents who
were conservative and didn’t want to see their son be a musician (Leight 2014).
He was in and out of trouble and this song was a way to apologize when the real
words failed him (Leight 2014). While I wasn’t a rebellious teenager, I
witnessed rebellious tents butt heads with their parents and the pain caused on
both sides when things were said they really didn’t mean. In one verse, he
states “I've been around the world/And never in my wildest dreams/Would I come
running home to you/I've told a million lies/But now I tell a single
truth/There's you in everything I do.” Our parents’ influence, good and bad, is
carried with us on our path in life.
In conclusion, there is so much soul bearing truth in
Imagine Dragon’s music that it was hard to pick songs to analyze. I could sit
here all day and pick apart every song and relate to some of the songs and
understand the motivation behind others. “It’s Time” is a great song as well as
many of their catalog. However, I am particularly fond of “Believer” and “I Bet
My Life.” I admire Dan Reynolds’ passion to bear his soul and speak honestly
about his experiences. I also enjoy the power in the music itself which
punctuates the power in the lyrics. If you haven’t discovered Imagine Dragons
yet, I highly recommend you check them out.
References
Leight, Elias (December 9, 2014). ‘My Entire Life, I’ve been
the Black Sheep in my family’: Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds on the story
behind the hit single ‘I Bet My Life.’ www.billboard.com/articles/news/6397725/imagine-dragons-dan-reynolds-on-new-single-i-bet-my-life.
Retrieved February 13, 2019
Mizoguchi, Karen (March 9,
2017). "How Health Issues Made Imagine Dragons' Dan Reynolds a 'Believer'
Again: 'I'm Appreciative of the Pain in My Life'". www.yahoo.com/entertainment/health-issues-made-imagine-dragons-170016704.html.
People. Retrieved February 13, 2019
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