“Sharks” by Imagine Dragons

For starters, what the titular “sharks” allude to, most simply put, is grimy people. Based on his explanation of this piece, as Dan Reynolds has aged he has also come to realize, in his own words, that “the world is filled with sharks”. And such is the fundamental concept we are met with from the onset, when the vocalist advises listeners to “hide away your sons and daughters” for instance. 

The second verse in full centers on the disadvantages of dealing with such individuals, such as their tendency to “take advantage of your niceness”.

But the punchline, if you will, is that when Reynolds spoke of the world being replete with sheisty types, he meant that quite literally. That’s to say that this is not one of those pieces with a clear-cut antagonist, whereas the audience or even the vocalist himself comes off as being innocent. Rather as presented, we’re all “just the same as” the sharks. Or viewed differently, being labeled a shark is more specifically, once again going back to Dan’s own words, a reference to “selfish people”. And needless to say, virtually all of us all have a tendency to behave so from time to time.

So you combine the lyrics of “Sharks” with Dan’s explanation of the piece, what’s being put forth can be taken in some really profound directions. But that noted, the inferred conclusion is also pretty intense itself. And what the vocalist appears to be relaying in closing, is that in the grand of things we shouldn’t get too bent out of shape by untrustworthy people, as we too may sometimes adopt such a mentality, and therefore doing so would be sort of a hypocrisy. Or, at least that’s one way of comprehensively making sense of this all.

When was “Sharks” released?

This track was released on 24 June 2022 via record labels Interscope and Kindinakorner, a week in advance of the album it is featured on, Imagine Dragons’ “Mercury – Act 2”. 

Credits

Three members of the band, Ben McKee, Dan Reynolds and Wayne Sermon, wrote “Sharks” alongside the track’s producers, Mattman & Robin. And the video’s director is Drew Kirsch who, to note, also directed Charlie Puth and Jung Kook’s “Left and Right“, which came out on the same day as “Sharks”, 24 June 2022.

Imagine Dragons is a rock group from Las Vegas, and the aforementioned clip was filmed in their hometown, at some of Sin City’s most-iconic venues.