This song is an appeal to the innocents of the world who are preparing to face their own demons for the first time.
"When the days are cold and the cards all fold .." is the setting. When you're feeling down and out of luck, when the world seems to be an unfair place to live.
".. and the saints we see are all made of gold .." more setting, but allusion to the fact that the although it APPEARS as though the good people in this world are part of a life that's unattainable, the author also suggests that the "saints" we don't see are very real, very human, and don't call attention to themselves like those made of "gold".
"When your dreams all fail .." more setting, speaking of the betrayal of innocence by the harsh realities of life.
".. and the one's we hail are the worst of all .." direct statement against the people who we place in control of our lives, like parents, politicians, doctors, generals, managers, teachers. Again, the use of the word "worst" implies that there has been a breach of trust recently, of abandonment, of not really having all the answers they claimed to have during the listener's former period of innocence.
".. and the blood's run stale." This is an interesting, ambiguous line that I think implies that at one point, there was a willingness to fight against this reality that has now faded into submission. The time of fighting has since passed, to be replaced by the above setting of betrayal, loss of trust and defeat.
"I want to hide the truth, I want to shelter you .." is the emotion of the song, in response to the setting. The singer references himself, appealing to his listeners that if he could NOT share this truth with them, then he would, feeling that it might offer them some sort of protection. However ..
".. but with the beast inside, there's nowhere we can hide .." is the truth, plain and simple. There's no way to keep the truth from someone if they want to find it, and by lumping himself in with the word "we" he alludes to the fact that he feels this beast (ie demon) is something that everyone who's lost their innocence possesses, and the truth being sought by the listener is going to bring them face to face with their own beast, eventually, so there's really no point in hiding from it.
"No matter what we breed, we are still made of greed .." this begins the explanation as to why the world is this way. Essentially, what the singer is saying that it doesn't matter what our best intentions are, greed still governs our intentions. He believes that all people are creatures of want, inherently selfish, and no matter how hard we try to overcome this "me-centric" reality, greed is the foundation upon which we were all raised, and that's the demon we need to confront.
"This is my kingdom come .." this is his message to his listeners. It's only his, and others might have a different outlook, but if someone's asking for answers and they come to him, this is the world the singer feels he lives in, and this is why he feels their innocence was taken from them.
"When you feel my heat, look into my eyes .." this is the singer's justification for the way he feels. Heat is in reference to the demon inside him, but it's also in reference to the aforementioned blood he held within him, his passion, the point upon which his own innocence was taken from him that he still hasn't overcome. When that personal heat comes to the fore, and that guard goes down, he encourages the listener to look into his eyes, because ..
".. it's where my demons hide .." implying that there's something he wants to let out, and he comes close, but those personal truths remain inside of him, visible only through his eyes when he lets his guard down.
"Don't get too close, it's dark inside .." is a warning, but it's more for self preservation than anything else. He doesn't want the listener to ask the questions he himself doesn't want to answer, but at the same time, he wants SOMEONE to help him, but he can't bear the idea of destroying that person's own innocence in order to do so. He doesn't want them to experience his "darkness".
"Curtains call is the last of all .." this line sets the stage (pardon the pun) for the identity of the world the listener now might accept is made up of bitter secrets kept from them. The singer suggests that the play is now over, the fantasy, the Act, and now the reality sets in to fill the void.
".. when the lights fade out all the sinners crawl .." likening the people of the world to insects and vermin, who when the spotlights are off them go about their day to day business acting in their own self-interest.
"So they dug your grave .." "they" being the sinners mentioned in the previous verse, and the grave in reference to the listener's own fall from innocence, the tarnishing of the soul, the descent into darkness each of them is a part of.
"And the masquerade .." nice line. The "masquerade" is comprised of the same "sinners" from above, only this time, the delusion once held by the listener as to all these people being themselves people worthy of respect and admiration is now understood to be a facade. Thus, now that the truth is out, sinners are seen as they really are.
".. will come calling out at the mess you've made .." awesome line! The singer doesn't just suggest that this will happen ... he confirms it. That collective group of phonies WILL pounce on the listener's loss of innocence, calling (note the similarity to "crawling" mentioned above) out at the way life actually is, as if it's the listener's own fault for losing their own innocence. The work of having "dug a grave" in the expectation that it will be filled by the listener's loss of innocence speaks to the singer's bleak opinion of the rest of the world. However ..
"Don't want to let you down but I am hell bound .." tells the listener that even though he's trying in his own way to "breed" something good from all this, he's casting his own lot with those of the other sinners, and doesn't have much hope.
".. though this is all for you, don't want to hide the truth .." regardless of where he's headed, he's giving all of this advice and opinion to the listener, without using a mask like others might.
"They say it's what you make, I say it's up to fate .." an interesting line. "They" in this is back to the sinners mentioned before, and he's trying to distinguish himself from the others by removing what he "makes" from the equation, believing that whatever the outcome of this song, it'll be up to the listener to take from it, and not be "made" to do against their will. The "what" the listener makes is in relation to the "breeding" mentioned before. In essence, he's telling the listener not to follow the same path as everyone else, and confront that demon without trying to hide it inside.
"It's woven in my soul, I need to let you go .." double-meaning? Is the earlier truth of the singer's revelation what's woven in his soul, or the fact that he needs to let the listener make their own choice on what path to follow? Perhaps "it's" both.
"Your eyes they shine so bright, I want to save that light .." from the darkness inside him, seeing such pure innocence is a bright light, and he wants to keep it around him for as long as he can without extinguishing it. This is a paradox, considering he feels that the listener will eventually come to face their own truth at some point, based on the "made of greed" logic from earlier. However, in his last line, he turns that paradox on it's ear.
"I can't escape this now, unless you show me how!" He feels that he's trapped in this reality, and now that he's confronted his own demons through the course of the song, he understands that he needs to place his faith back in someone else again, to shed that selfishness and greed he feels is the problem, and trust in the purity and innocence of the listener to help him escape his own path to hell.
I've listened to a lot of music over the years, and yes, I've loved listening to Imagine Dragons these past couple months. But when this song came on the radio, I was blown away. I listened, and thought to myself "this guy knows exactly what he's trying to say in this song, and he's trying to say to everyone". There's not many songs like that anymore. It was enough to compel me to sign up on this forum and add my own interpretation. Hope you get as much from it as I did.
Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed interpretation. My thoughts when I first heard the song ran along the same lines but I could not have expressed it as eloquently as you did.
Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed interpretation. My thoughts when I first heard the song ran along the same lines but I could not have expressed it as eloquently as you did.
This song is an appeal to the innocents of the world who are preparing to face their own demons for the first time.
"When the days are cold and the cards all fold .." is the setting. When you're feeling down and out of luck, when the world seems to be an unfair place to live.
".. and the saints we see are all made of gold .." more setting, but allusion to the fact that the although it APPEARS as though the good people in this world are part of a life that's unattainable, the author also suggests that the "saints" we don't see are very real, very human, and don't call attention to themselves like those made of "gold".
"When your dreams all fail .." more setting, speaking of the betrayal of innocence by the harsh realities of life.
".. and the one's we hail are the worst of all .." direct statement against the people who we place in control of our lives, like parents, politicians, doctors, generals, managers, teachers. Again, the use of the word "worst" implies that there has been a breach of trust recently, of abandonment, of not really having all the answers they claimed to have during the listener's former period of innocence.
".. and the blood's run stale." This is an interesting, ambiguous line that I think implies that at one point, there was a willingness to fight against this reality that has now faded into submission. The time of fighting has since passed, to be replaced by the above setting of betrayal, loss of trust and defeat.
"I want to hide the truth, I want to shelter you .." is the emotion of the song, in response to the setting. The singer references himself, appealing to his listeners that if he could NOT share this truth with them, then he would, feeling that it might offer them some sort of protection. However ..
".. but with the beast inside, there's nowhere we can hide .." is the truth, plain and simple. There's no way to keep the truth from someone if they want to find it, and by lumping himself in with the word "we" he alludes to the fact that he feels this beast (ie demon) is something that everyone who's lost their innocence possesses, and the truth being sought by the listener is going to bring them face to face with their own beast, eventually, so there's really no point in hiding from it.
"No matter what we breed, we are still made of greed .." this begins the explanation as to why the world is this way. Essentially, what the singer is saying that it doesn't matter what our best intentions are, greed still governs our intentions. He believes that all people are creatures of want, inherently selfish, and no matter how hard we try to overcome this "me-centric" reality, greed is the foundation upon which we were all raised, and that's the demon we need to confront.
"This is my kingdom come .." this is his message to his listeners. It's only his, and others might have a different outlook, but if someone's asking for answers and they come to him, this is the world the singer feels he lives in, and this is why he feels their innocence was taken from them.
"When you feel my heat, look into my eyes .." this is the singer's justification for the way he feels. Heat is in reference to the demon inside him, but it's also in reference to the aforementioned blood he held within him, his passion, the point upon which his own innocence was taken from him that he still hasn't overcome. When that personal heat comes to the fore, and that guard goes down, he encourages the listener to look into his eyes, because ..
".. it's where my demons hide .." implying that there's something he wants to let out, and he comes close, but those personal truths remain inside of him, visible only through his eyes when he lets his guard down.
"Don't get too close, it's dark inside .." is a warning, but it's more for self preservation than anything else. He doesn't want the listener to ask the questions he himself doesn't want to answer, but at the same time, he wants SOMEONE to help him, but he can't bear the idea of destroying that person's own innocence in order to do so. He doesn't want them to experience his "darkness".
"Curtains call is the last of all .." this line sets the stage (pardon the pun) for the identity of the world the listener now might accept is made up of bitter secrets kept from them. The singer suggests that the play is now over, the fantasy, the Act, and now the reality sets in to fill the void.
".. when the lights fade out all the sinners crawl .." likening the people of the world to insects and vermin, who when the spotlights are off them go about their day to day business acting in their own self-interest.
"So they dug your grave .." "they" being the sinners mentioned in the previous verse, and the grave in reference to the listener's own fall from innocence, the tarnishing of the soul, the descent into darkness each of them is a part of.
"And the masquerade .." nice line. The "masquerade" is comprised of the same "sinners" from above, only this time, the delusion once held by the listener as to all these people being themselves people worthy of respect and admiration is now understood to be a facade. Thus, now that the truth is out, sinners are seen as they really are.
".. will come calling out at the mess you've made .." awesome line! The singer doesn't just suggest that this will happen ... he confirms it. That collective group of phonies WILL pounce on the listener's loss of innocence, calling (note the similarity to "crawling" mentioned above) out at the way life actually is, as if it's the listener's own fault for losing their own innocence. The work of having "dug a grave" in the expectation that it will be filled by the listener's loss of innocence speaks to the singer's bleak opinion of the rest of the world. However ..
"Don't want to let you down but I am hell bound .." tells the listener that even though he's trying in his own way to "breed" something good from all this, he's casting his own lot with those of the other sinners, and doesn't have much hope.
".. though this is all for you, don't want to hide the truth .." regardless of where he's headed, he's giving all of this advice and opinion to the listener, without using a mask like others might.
"They say it's what you make, I say it's up to fate .." an interesting line. "They" in this is back to the sinners mentioned before, and he's trying to distinguish himself from the others by removing what he "makes" from the equation, believing that whatever the outcome of this song, it'll be up to the listener to take from it, and not be "made" to do against their will. The "what" the listener makes is in relation to the "breeding" mentioned before. In essence, he's telling the listener not to follow the same path as everyone else, and confront that demon without trying to hide it inside.
"It's woven in my soul, I need to let you go .." double-meaning? Is the earlier truth of the singer's revelation what's woven in his soul, or the fact that he needs to let the listener make their own choice on what path to follow? Perhaps "it's" both.
"Your eyes they shine so bright, I want to save that light .." from the darkness inside him, seeing such pure innocence is a bright light, and he wants to keep it around him for as long as he can without extinguishing it. This is a paradox, considering he feels that the listener will eventually come to face their own truth at some point, based on the "made of greed" logic from earlier. However, in his last line, he turns that paradox on it's ear.
"I can't escape this now, unless you show me how!" He feels that he's trapped in this reality, and now that he's confronted his own demons through the course of the song, he understands that he needs to place his faith back in someone else again, to shed that selfishness and greed he feels is the problem, and trust in the purity and innocence of the listener to help him escape his own path to hell.
I've listened to a lot of music over the years, and yes, I've loved listening to Imagine Dragons these past couple months. But when this song came on the radio, I was blown away. I listened, and thought to myself "this guy knows exactly what he's trying to say in this song, and he's trying to say to everyone". There's not many songs like that anymore. It was enough to compel me to sign up on this forum and add my own interpretation. Hope you get as much from it as I did.
I love this song, as well. Thank you for taking the time to write this analysis.
I love this song, as well. Thank you for taking the time to write this analysis.
That is LONG!!!
That is LONG!!!
Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed interpretation. My thoughts when I first heard the song ran along the same lines but I could not have expressed it as eloquently as you did.
Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed interpretation. My thoughts when I first heard the song ran along the same lines but I could not have expressed it as eloquently as you did.