Wow. This is impressive. A song so simple and that doesn't state it's direct meaning, but has 3 main meanings and a 4th possible implied one.
Protected Childhood
Not being Aware of World Problems
Not being Prepared for the Real World
And of all things: Imagination
I'm not going to do this line by line because the song is so fractured, but here we go.
(Protected Childhood)
And I watch from a distance seventeen
In the eyes - Of a teenage crystallized
Oh the prettiest of lights that hang the hallways of the home
We have the curtains drawn and closed
'It’s not what you painted in my head - We all are living in a dream - But life ain’t what it seems'
Oh, I know all your reasons - To keep me from seeing - Everything is actually a mess
But now I am leaving
'Distance 17' is an age. The age of 18 is when most people are considered adults and can live on their own. It's the minimum age a child is supposed to be protected till, or "distance" in this case. So it means "I couldn't really see for 17 years."
'In the eyes - Of a teenage crystallized' and 'Oh the prettiest of lights that hang the hallways of the home' Means that he had a nice home or was rich because this implies chandlers or colored light fixtures.
'We have the curtains drawn and closed' They don't look outside or more specifically, aren't bothered by it. Whether because they don't look out or this child isn't allowed to look out is personal preference.
'It’s not what you painted in my head - We all are living in a dream - But life ain’t what it seems' Easy meanings. "Life isn't what is what I though it was"
'Oh, I know all your reasons - To keep me from seeing - Everything is actually a mess' It's that child saying, "You didn't want me to see the problems of life, and I know why. This is horrible." The child saw what it had been protected from.
'But now I am leaving' The child is saying "I'm 18 now, and i have to live with these problems.
Not being Aware of World Problems
OK, most of the lines from before apply here too
'And the cries from the strangers out at night - They don’t keep us up at night - We have the curtains drawn and closed'
'It’s not what you painted in my head - We all are living in a dream - But life ain’t what it seems'
'To keep me from seeing - Everything is actually a mess'
'All of us were only dreaming'
'I’m just in the tier of everything that rides below the surface'
'It’s not what you painted in my head - We all are living in a dream - But life ain’t what it seems' They hold the same meaning as with childhood.
'And the cries from the strangers out at night - They don’t keep us up at night - We have the curtains drawn and closed' "We don't care about other peoples problems so we ignore them."
'To keep me from seeing - Everything is actually a mess' Also holds same meaning
'All of us were only dreaming' "I/We were stupid for thinking life was easy."
'I’m just in the tier of everything that rides below the surface' This is a beautiful line, while it has no meaning the first time, in context to the song it means "This is the first challenges and problems, I know there's more I haven't considered"
Not being Prepared for the Real World
I won't repeat the same lines again
'In the dark'
'And I’m short of the others dreams of being golden and on top'
'In the dark' He doesn't know what to do. He's never had to do this before.
'And I’m short of the others dreams of being golden and on top' This means "I'm not where I wanted to be by now." it could also show that he had friends or competitors that are doing better that him, but started at the same time as him.
Not those are the Pretty much directly stated meaning. I didn't go too in-depth because the song it have no solid details. It's a trademark of Imagine Dragons that lets you make your own meanings and put your life problems to their songs, but it make direct meanings near impossible to find most of the time. I say this because this next part may not truly be a meaning or could just be something only I understand.
Imagination
'It’s not what you painted in my head'
'There’s so much there instead of all the colors that I saw'
'But I wanna dream - I wanna dream - Leave me to dream'
'It’s not what you painted in my head' This on it's own means "It's not what I expected" but instead think about it as "It’s not what I imagined"
Not I want to point out the interesting wording on these 2 lines.
'Painted in my head' and 'Colors that I saw'
You use colors in painting and if painting in the first line is means Imagination, then the second line could mean "There’s so much there instead of all that I Imagined'
They both boil down to "It’s not what I imagined"
But there's one more part to this meaning. 'There’s so much there instead'
The 'There' it could be referring to could be the 'Head' from the first line.
The true question I'm asking is is what does the guy think is in his head if it's not imagination. Knowledge? Lies? I don't know, but look at the last lines.
'But I wanna dream - I wanna dream - Leave me to dream'
'I wanna dream - I wanna dream - Leave me to dream'
In the other part of the song the word 'Dream' has been used to mean "Wrong" But that doesn't work here. in these 2 lines Replace the word 'Dream' with "Imagine"
He's saying he doesn't want to deal with the worlds problems. He wants to imagine, or create, or maybe I'm completely over-analyzing and he's asking to live his life in ignorance of the worlds problems. And to leave him let him do that in peace.
@Stealthweasle Wow, that is an excellent overview. This song means a lot to me and you introduced to me what it really meant. Very well thought out, thank you!
@Stealthweasle Wow, that is an excellent overview. This song means a lot to me and you introduced to me what it really meant. Very well thought out, thank you!
Wow. This is impressive. A song so simple and that doesn't state it's direct meaning, but has 3 main meanings and a 4th possible implied one. Protected Childhood Not being Aware of World Problems Not being Prepared for the Real World And of all things: Imagination
I'm not going to do this line by line because the song is so fractured, but here we go.
(Protected Childhood)
And I watch from a distance seventeen In the eyes - Of a teenage crystallized Oh the prettiest of lights that hang the hallways of the home We have the curtains drawn and closed 'It’s not what you painted in my head - We all are living in a dream - But life ain’t what it seems' Oh, I know all your reasons - To keep me from seeing - Everything is actually a mess But now I am leaving
'Distance 17' is an age. The age of 18 is when most people are considered adults and can live on their own. It's the minimum age a child is supposed to be protected till, or "distance" in this case. So it means "I couldn't really see for 17 years." 'In the eyes - Of a teenage crystallized' and 'Oh the prettiest of lights that hang the hallways of the home' Means that he had a nice home or was rich because this implies chandlers or colored light fixtures. 'We have the curtains drawn and closed' They don't look outside or more specifically, aren't bothered by it. Whether because they don't look out or this child isn't allowed to look out is personal preference. 'It’s not what you painted in my head - We all are living in a dream - But life ain’t what it seems' Easy meanings. "Life isn't what is what I though it was" 'Oh, I know all your reasons - To keep me from seeing - Everything is actually a mess' It's that child saying, "You didn't want me to see the problems of life, and I know why. This is horrible." The child saw what it had been protected from. 'But now I am leaving' The child is saying "I'm 18 now, and i have to live with these problems.
Not being Aware of World Problems
OK, most of the lines from before apply here too 'And the cries from the strangers out at night - They don’t keep us up at night - We have the curtains drawn and closed' 'It’s not what you painted in my head - We all are living in a dream - But life ain’t what it seems' 'To keep me from seeing - Everything is actually a mess' 'All of us were only dreaming' 'I’m just in the tier of everything that rides below the surface'
'It’s not what you painted in my head - We all are living in a dream - But life ain’t what it seems' They hold the same meaning as with childhood. 'And the cries from the strangers out at night - They don’t keep us up at night - We have the curtains drawn and closed' "We don't care about other peoples problems so we ignore them." 'To keep me from seeing - Everything is actually a mess' Also holds same meaning 'All of us were only dreaming' "I/We were stupid for thinking life was easy." 'I’m just in the tier of everything that rides below the surface' This is a beautiful line, while it has no meaning the first time, in context to the song it means "This is the first challenges and problems, I know there's more I haven't considered"
Not being Prepared for the Real World
I won't repeat the same lines again 'In the dark' 'And I’m short of the others dreams of being golden and on top' 'In the dark' He doesn't know what to do. He's never had to do this before. 'And I’m short of the others dreams of being golden and on top' This means "I'm not where I wanted to be by now." it could also show that he had friends or competitors that are doing better that him, but started at the same time as him.
Not those are the Pretty much directly stated meaning. I didn't go too in-depth because the song it have no solid details. It's a trademark of Imagine Dragons that lets you make your own meanings and put your life problems to their songs, but it make direct meanings near impossible to find most of the time. I say this because this next part may not truly be a meaning or could just be something only I understand.
Imagination
'It’s not what you painted in my head' 'There’s so much there instead of all the colors that I saw' 'But I wanna dream - I wanna dream - Leave me to dream'
'It’s not what you painted in my head' This on it's own means "It's not what I expected" but instead think about it as "It’s not what I imagined" Not I want to point out the interesting wording on these 2 lines. 'Painted in my head' and 'Colors that I saw' You use colors in painting and if painting in the first line is means Imagination, then the second line could mean "There’s so much there instead of all that I Imagined' They both boil down to "It’s not what I imagined"
But there's one more part to this meaning. 'There’s so much there instead' The 'There' it could be referring to could be the 'Head' from the first line. The true question I'm asking is is what does the guy think is in his head if it's not imagination. Knowledge? Lies? I don't know, but look at the last lines.
'But I wanna dream - I wanna dream - Leave me to dream' 'I wanna dream - I wanna dream - Leave me to dream' In the other part of the song the word 'Dream' has been used to mean "Wrong" But that doesn't work here. in these 2 lines Replace the word 'Dream' with "Imagine" He's saying he doesn't want to deal with the worlds problems. He wants to imagine, or create, or maybe I'm completely over-analyzing and he's asking to live his life in ignorance of the worlds problems. And to leave him let him do that in peace.
@Stealthweasle Wow, that is an excellent overview. This song means a lot to me and you introduced to me what it really meant. Very well thought out, thank you!
@Stealthweasle Wow, that is an excellent overview. This song means a lot to me and you introduced to me what it really meant. Very well thought out, thank you!
@Stealthweasle
@Stealthweasle
@Stealthweasle Great n organized meaning toward the lyrics. Thanks!
@Stealthweasle Great n organized meaning toward the lyrics. Thanks!