Meaning of “Thunder” by Imagine Dragons

“Thunder” is a song performed by the rock band Imagine Dragons. The lyrics of the song basically are about the band (especially the band’s lead vocalist Dan Reynolds) and how he surmounted all the challenges in his life to achieve his long cherished dreams of becoming a global icon in the music industry. In the lyrics, Reynolds mentions growing up as a kid and having dreams of becoming a superstar. He goes on to sing about how he was made fun of by his mates who felt his dream of making it big in music industry was a joke.

Speaking with the Las Vegas daily newspaper the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Reynolds shed more light on the meaning of the lyrics of “Thunder”. According to him, the lyrics are about how the obstacles in his life such as a “crappy” school and being “kicked” out of college pushed him to achieve success in music. He went on to add that these obstacles created a great deal of anger in him that eventually gave birth to “art”.

In one way or another, this song inspires people to go ahead and achieve their dreams despite the obstacles that confront them.

Facts about “Thunder”

• “Thunder” was written by Dan Reynolds, all his band mates (Ben McKee, Wayne Sermon and Daniel Platzman), music producer Alexander Grant (best known as Alex da Kid) and music producer Jayson DeZuzio.
• The song was produced by Alex da Kid and DeZuzio.
• “Thunder” was released on April 27th, 2017 as the second of the four singles from the band’s third studio album titled Evolve.
• The music video of “Thunder”, which was directed by renowned Italian-American music video director Joseph Khan, was filmed in the biggest city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – Dubai.
• Contrary to popular belief, the person who sings the chorus of the song is not one of Reynold’s young daughters but rather Reynolds himself. Many fans assumed the chorus was sung by Reynolds’ 5-year-old daughter Arrow Eve Reynolds. In an interview with ABC Radio, Reynolds debunked the rumors about his daughter Arrow singing the song’s high-pitched chorus. According to him, the voice you hear singing “Thunder, feel the thunder…” is actually his. To achieve that sound, all he did was pitch up his voice!
• On the US Billboard Hot 100, the song peaked at number 4 whereas on the UK Singles Chart, it peaked at number 20. “Thunder” was Imagine Dragons’ fourth song to make it into the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100.
• “Thunder” was one of the biggest hits of 2017. Actually, it was placed at number 9 on the list of 2017’s best-selling songs in the United States.
• “Thunder” was ranked as the 84th greatest song of the year 2017 by Billboard.
• The official remixed version of the song features American singer and K. Flay.

Did “Thunder” win a Grammy Award?

No, it didn’t. It was nominated for a Grammy at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category but lost to “Feel It Still” by the American band Portugal. The Man. The album (Evolve), on which the song appears, was also nominated for a Grammy in the Best Pop Vocal Album category.

What genre is “Thunder”?

“Thunder” is purely a synth-pop song.