| Imagine Dragons – Mouth of the River Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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Mouth of the River, to me, is about the duality of man. It is about feeling as though you have two different parts of you that, despite all stemming from the same source, are incompatible. It talks specifically about religion, probably in reference to Dan Reynolds's religious upbringing. The first verse itself kicks itself off by introducing religion. He talks about how he wants to be religious, "wanna bow to the floor with everybody else," but then contradicts itself immediately--"wanna be someone." The next line I interpret as rather personal to Reynolds's life, but I'm not deadset. "Wanna make some love" could be in reference to how he got kicked out of his Mormon school for having had sex with his long term, high school girlfriend. The next line would be the contradictions I was talking about, because to him, he cannot make love and not have enemies. Just as easily, though, these lines could be trying to say the same thing, depending on interpretation. "On the mouth of the river" would refer to where he is at life--he is always at a point where he can make a decision, but not a crossroads. He is at a place where he has to look out into the wide ocean and make a decision about where he will go. He cannot be in all places at once, but he wants to be everywhere. Despite the fact that there are no walls between the two sides of himself--no walls in the ocean at all--he still has to make a choice. "Oh I'm alkaline" is my favorite line due to it being a pun. "Alkaline" is a chemistry term for a solution that has a pH greater than 7, aka a basic solution. This is in reference to the next line, "I'm always sticking to the basics." As with all of the song, though, this part of him is immediately contradicted: "I'm overboard." It's pretty hard to be both simple and complex. Then, "I'm self-destructive and self-important." These aren't necessarily exact opposites of each other, I do believe that they can exist within a person simultaneously, but it's pretty rare to find yourself both building yourself up and breaking yourself down. Anxious and self assured are opposites, and the final lines in this verse I think is just his own reconciliation (or lack thereof) of all this contradiction within himself. The rest of the song is just various parts being repeated, but I do think the line, "Oh I am going under," deserves some analysis. I don't think this strictly means hell. Reynolds has been very open about his struggle with mental health, and I think that this line refers to how, so long as this contradiction exists, he is in a no-win situation. Sure, given the religious overtones of the song, it probably does refer on some level to hell--but maybe the opposite of that is socially and financially, as he doesn't believe he can handle his fame and appease his religion at the same time. Overwhelmingly, it's not just a song about religion--again, it is a song about duality and contradiction, with religion playing a main part in that. |
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| Imagine Dragons – Hopeless Opus Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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As some people have already said, "opus" means "work (of art)." And seeing as Imagine Dragons writes their own music, I think this song is about someone who got famous on their own and then started to gave in to their own fame and became a figurehead of sorts. So, I'm going to start with the chorus because the chorus almost always holds the main point of the song: It's not a picture perfect life Not what I had in mind // These two lines refer to the lifestyle of someone famous, and how it's not perfect at all Let me write my own line // This refers to the fact that the narrator wants to write their own music instead of preforming the music of others. I've got this place That I've filled with empty space // This would refer not to a physical space but the "place" in the artist's head where they used to write music. Oh I'm trying not to face what I've done My hopeless opus // The opus that's mentioned wouldn't be a song but the artist themselves, hopeless because they aren't really famous anymore but rather just someone who displays the work of others. I'm in this race and I'm hoping just to place Oh I'm trying not to face what's become of me // "What's become" of them is that they've started to not be themselves anymore, and they don't want to face that. My hopeless opus Now, to the first verse: Hey Mr. cage man let me get a fresh breath // "Mr. Cage Man" would probably refer to an agent or someone who's pressuring the artist into not being themselves. The artist wants a fresh breath so they can start writing their own music again. Cherry bomb head strong I could fake my own death // By faking their own death, the artist would be free of the constraints put on them and they could write their own music. Hey Mr. fate man shuffle me a ninth life // They're asking for a "ninth life" so that they can become someone new and write their own music. I've been wrong, go long Throwing me a sharp right // The sharp right would be the sudden change from writing their own music to preforming the music of others. Next: Hey Mr. safe man hustle me an okay // If "Mr. Safe Man" hustles them an okay, they'll know it's safe to go back to writing their own music. This refers to the fact that it would be the safe thing to just keep preforming the music of others. I could slide take a dive take it for the home team // "I could slide" means that they could lose their fame. I'm honestly not sure what the other things mean. Hey Mr. postman slip me one more green note // They want to keep getting paid even if they go back, so they're asking the postman to give them one more "green note" or paycheck. I've been low hit the floor looking just to make broke // They've been low probably as a struggling musician before they became famous. "Hit the floor" would be in the present, which is a metaphor for what would happen if they lost all their money. Again, I'm honestly not sure what the other stuff means. In total, I think this is a song about how musicians feel pressure to stop being true to themselves once they become famous. It's very possible that Imagine Dragons themselves were pressured into preforming music not written by them, but they write their own music for the most part and it always shows through in their songs. |
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| Imagine Dragons – Second Chances Lyrics | 7 years ago |
| This song is about someone who messed up, maybe in a relationship and maybe not, but they want a second chance to make up for what they did. They're saying, "I believe in second chances, so can you please give me one?" The lines, "I will not break you, I will not let you down," tend to suggest that it is a relationship and that they accidentally did something that made the other person upset and want to leave them. But the narrator just wants to make up for it. The line, "I get older and life fades but you remain," suggests that the narrator has spent time away from the other person and yet that person hasn't yet disappeared from their life. In general, I think it's a beautiful and soft song about someone who wants redemption for a mistake and really just wants someone else back in their life. | |
| Imagine Dragons – Tiptoe Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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Okay, so I saw a lot of long-winded and kinda odd explanations and I just wanted to put in my two cents. So, the first verse: In the morning light let my roots take flight Watch me from above like a vicious dove They don't see me come, who can blame them? They never seem to catch my eye but I never wondered why This suggests to me that the narrator is an underdog in this situation. "They don't see me come, who can blame them?" is a reference to the fact that no one cares about him and what he has to contribute to the world. The chorus: Hey yeah, don’t let 'em know we’re coming Hey yeah, tiptoe higher Take some time to simmer down, keep your head down low Hey yeah, tiptoe higher This sounds like there's now a second underdog in the mix. Whoever the narrator is talking to, they have the same issues as the narrator. And the narrator is telling him, "Don't let 'em know we're coming," as in, We're the underdogs already so why let them know that we're going to come up on them and be greater than them? The line "Tiptoe higher" goes back to the line "Don't let 'em know we're coming" but it also would mean, Be as good as you want, show off, be better and do well. Then the next verse: From your slanted view see the morning dew Sink into the soil, watch the water boil They won’t see me run, who can blame them? They never look to see me fly, so I never have to lie This is going back to the underdog thing. I don't know exactly what the first two lines mean, but the second one is essentially: They don't pay attention and see me getting better, but I never had to tell them about my plans to be better than them one day. Then the rest of the song either repeats this or goes back to these meaning. |
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| Imagine Dragons – Who We Are Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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A lot of people have been talking about how this is from the Catching Fire soundtrack but I think that just because it is doesn't mean that it doesn't hold other meaning. Personally, I think this is a song about oppression of certain groups (probably about slavery and the groups that were affected by that but it could also be about other groups like that). First of all, the title automatically suggests a group that can't change themselves and doesn't want to, and applying that to a racial standpoint, most POC are proud of themselves and would like to be themselves without persecution. Then, the lines: Up on the mountain, Down in the king's lair, Pushing these boxes in the heat of the afternoon. Oh, afternoon. suggest that this group is being forced to do something they don't want to do. And while LGBTQ+ groups certainly are, slavery is literally only being forced to do something that you don't want to do. Also, the lines: Save us, What we are, Don't look clear, It's all uphill from here. Ooh. suggest that no matter what happens to this group, good or bad, it is still going to be a struggle for them. And this definitely applies to any group that's ever been persecuted, but any racial group is still experiencing racism to this day. There are definitely lines that I can't relate to this, but then again, I suck at picking up metaphorical meanings and can't experience this firsthand (I'm white). |
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| All Time Low – Good Times Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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I was really surprised that no one had commented on this so I literally made an account to share my thoughts. I think that this song is about two people (the song was probably intended for it to be about a couple but it could be interpreted as two old friends) who are/are at risk of being torn apart by circumstance, whether that be moving away, death, or just drifting apart and just stopping being friends/a couple. And the person whose perspective this song is in is basically saying, 'I will be upset, yes, and I won't want to go, but I'm not going to forget everything we did and everything we told each other just because of that.' The song is a beautiful song about how two people can drift apart and/or be torn apart but that doesn't mean they have to hate each other. |
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