Imagine Dragons’ “Demons” Lyrics Meaning
The easiest way to describe the premise behind Imagine Dragons’ “Demons” is as the vocalist acknowledging not only that he’s evil but also most of the rest of us. No, the lyrics may not necessarily make that assertion forthrightly. Instead, they are metaphorical. Perhaps it can also be said, at least to some degree, the lyrics are accordingly indirect.
As we have noted in the past, “demons” is a term we come across pretty regularly in contemporary songs, perhaps in part due to the success of this very track. Even though we all have a general idea of what a demon is, i.e. an evil spirit, the word can mean different things depending on the musical context.
But in this particular piece it can be taken more literally. In that sense, it is apparently pointing to the vocalist housing “the beast inside”. Or put differently, he is speaking to a concept like human beings, including himself, being inherently sinful, i.e. all of us, no matter our respective aspirations or what have you, “still” being “made of greed”, i.e. selfish ambition.
Of course, Dan Reynolds is not the first person to make such a statement. But what makes this song different and once again a trendsetter is the fact that he seems to be embracing that reality. Well, maybe putting forth that he’s embracing it is a stretch. But he definitely doesn’t seem to be resisting the demons within.
Rather, where there’s palpable conflict in this song, even if only briefly, is during the bridge. Therein, as with the chorus, there is someone like an identifiable addressee present.
The Addressee of “Demons”
It has been theorized that said addressee may be akin to a romantic interest, one whom Dan is leery of letting get too close. And why? Simply because this person may be negatively affected by the “demons” within the vocalist.
It is also in the bridge where the singer reveals that he isn’t necessarily fond of his imperfections. Instead, most simply explained, he doesn’t believe that it’s actually possible for someone to go from the dark side to the light. So he perceives the addressee being of the latter, more favorable side of the spectrum and wants that person to remain there. Simply put, he wants them to remain uncorrupted.
In Conclusion
So, there is a whole lot going on in this song. The lyrics are actually quasi-religious or philosophical or however you want to put it. And as far as a thesis sentiment goes yes, all lyrics considered, it can be gleaned that the vocalist does not have much faith in the goodness of mankind. But he does recognize that some of us, even if not the ones we all look up to, are purer than others. So what’s basically being implied here, conclusively, is that it’s more ideal to never venture over to the dark side to begin with.
Imagine Dragons
As far as American bands that have commenced operations in the 21st century, none have sold more records thus far than Imagine Dragons. Making that statistic even more impressive is the fact that, as of this writing, they’ve only really been around for a little over a decade. That means when Dan Reynolds and the boys hit, they hit big. Amongst one of the biggest successes in their discography is “Demons”.
When did Imagine Dragons release “Demons”?
The band released “Demons” via KIDinaKORNER and Interscope on 14 February 2012. This song can be found on the band’s “Night Visions” album. The said album holds the distinction of being the first album Imagine Dragons ever came out with.
Interesting to note is that the band was founded in 2008. But only one of its five founders, Dan Reynolds himself, was still involved as of 2012, i.e. the year in which “Night Visions”, which itself was a major success, was released.
In addition to Reynolds, the musicians who backed him during that outing are members of the band to this day. They are:
- Daniel Platzman (drummer)
- Ben McKee (bassist)
- Wayne Sermon (guitarist)
Credits
It is also the above mentioned quartet, alongside Josh Mosser and the track’s producer Alex da Kid, who are credited with writing “Demons”.
Success of “Demons”
“Demons” was a song charted in many countries across Europe and North America. Furthermore it topped charts in a few of them, including Billboard’s US Mainstream Top 40. Also, it also placed within the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and top 20 of the UK Singles Chart.
Moreover to note as far as the Hot 100 is concerned, “Demons” managed to maintain a place on that highly-competitive list for a whopping 61 weeks. And to note another single Imagine Dragons released shortly before that, 2012’s “Radioactive“, also remained therein for 60 weeks.
So those accomplishments made this band the first musical act in history to have dropped two separate songs that stayed on the Hot 100 for at least 60 weeks.
Even more importantly in the grand scheme of things, as it currently stands, “Demons” has gone multi-platinum in nearly 10 nations. This includes currently enjoying sextuple-platinum status in Australia, octuple-platinum standing in Canada and being certified diamond in the USA.
“Demons” was a top-10 hit in the following countries:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Brazil
- Canada
- Czech Republic
- Germany
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Poland
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- United States
Official Music Video
As of late-July 2022, the music video to this piece achieved the rare feat of garnering 1,000,000,000 (one billion) YouTube views. However, such an accomplishment is not particularly unusual as far as Imagine Dragons are concerned, as they already had three other music videos do so prior.
To note, the official visual to Demons was dedicated to one Tyler Robinson, a young cancer victim who was an early Imagine Dragons’ fan. Robinson actually had a profound influence on the group’s trajectory.
An American film director who goes by the name Isaac Halasima is recognized as the director of the video.
Media Appearances
Since being released in 2012, “Demons” has appeared or been associated with a ton of films and TV shows. Some of these notable mentions include:
- Trailer of 2012 American comedy-drama movie, “Thanks for Sharing”. The film centers on the lives of three people recovering from sex addiction.
- Trailer of 2012 American mystery romantic-drama movie, “The Words”.
- 2019 American rom-com movie, “Can You Keep a Secret?”.
- American fantasy-drama series, “Once Upon A Time”. It was featured on Season 4, Episode 1.
- British fantasy TV show, “A Discovery of Witches”. It appeared on Episode 3 of the 1st Season.
Imagine Dragons’ “Night Visions”
“Night Visions” is an album by Imagine Dragons, one of the finest pop bands to emerge from Nevada. The album was released on the 4th of September, 2012 as their debut studio album.
The album was jointly produced by Imagine Dragons themselves alongside these music producers:
- Alex da Kid
- Brandon Darner
Within the first week of release, the album sold over 80,000 copies in the United States alone. In doing so, it made its way onto the Billboard 200 chart at No. 2. It appeared on major top-10 charts across the world, including Scotland where it ranked at the apex of the OCC charts.
“Night Visions” was No. 2 on both the Billboard 200 and the OCC charts in the United States and the United Kingdom. It peaked at as follows in the following countries:
- Canada (#3)
- Australia (#4)
- Germany (#6)
- Portugal (#5)
In support of the album, Imagine Dragons toured the US in a tour dubbed, the “Fall Tour 2012”. The following year, they embarked on the “Night Visions Tour”, a world tour which had them perform in Europe and North America.
Album’s Achievements
By the close of 2013, the album had recorded sales of over 1.4 million copies in America, making it the 4th best-selling album in the country. By the end of 2015, records showed sales of over 2.5 million copies there. “Night Visions” has been certified 7x platinum by the RIAA and Music Canada in the US and Canada respectively. The album is platinum-certified in the UK as well as a number of countries including Austria, Mexico, Italy and Sweden. It attained gold status in Brazil as well as Spain and received a 3x gold certification from Germany’s BVMI.
Aside from winning the award for “Top Rock Album” at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards, “Night Visions” received a number of accolades including the following:
- 2013’s 32nd best-selling album in the UK according to the BPI
- 2013’s 4th biggest selling album in the US according to the RIAA
- Music Canada’s 3rd best-selling album of 2013 in Canada
- The most streamed album in the US and the 3rd most streamed album in the UK on streaming platform, Spotify
