DEMONS
Imagine Dragons: Night Visions
MUSIC VIDEO
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWRsgZuwf_8
SPEAKER
The speaker is an unidentified gender and age. From the singers perspective, I will consider
the speaker as an adult male. This man has had a troubled past with some dark experiences
and they haunt him. He sees these as his demons and considers them a part of him. Although
this song can be interpreted in many ways, I took this as a man trying to keep someone he
loves from getting too close and finding their own demons.
LYRIC INTERPRETATIONS
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When the days are cold
- Things are dark and sad
And the cards all fold
- Everyone is giving up
And the saints we see*
- Even the seemingly happy are
hiding secrets
Are all made of gold
When your dreams all fail
- Life is hard
And the ones we hail
- Some of the most influential
people are the worst role models
Are the worst of all
And the blood’s run stale
- Passion is failing
- This person wants to protect
I wanna hide the truth
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I wanna shelter you
But with the beast inside
There’s nowhere we can hide
someone from darkness and the
truth of the sadness surrounding
them
- This mans demons were too
strong to keep them away from
No matter what we breed
them
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come
- Beneath all the talk of
‘goodness’ human behavior
makes us think of ourselves
- This is how it is, It can’t change
When you feel my heat
- He tells this person to look into
Look into my eyes
his eyes and see that his
It’s where my demons hide
happiness is only a mask
It’s where my demons hide
Don’t get too close
It’s dark inside
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide
- His ‘demons’ from his past are
hiding there, consuming his
being
- - Stay away, I will hurt you
When the curtain’s call
Is the last of all
When the lights fade out
All the sinners crawl
So they dug your grave
And the masquerade
Will come calling out
At the mess you've made
- At the end of the day, us people with demons
have to reveal ourselves and our true pain is
shown
- Everyone is just waiting for you to fall too
- The people with disguises of goodness are
standing by waiting to pull you down at your first
moment of weakness
Don’t want to let you down
But I am hell bound
Though this is all for you
- He doesn’t want to disappoint them by
revealing that they aren’t as strong and good
as they seem
Don’t want to hide the truth
- He cant lie to them. And although his mask
No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come
has hid the truth for this long, he cant go to far
and end up hurting them
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When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide
Don’t get too close
It’s dark inside
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide
- Some say the way you turn out is how much
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They say it's what you make
you do to control your life
I say it's up to fate
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He believes the things that change you aren’t
It's woven in my soul
in your hands to control
I need to let you go
- His demons have become a part of him and the
only way to protect them is to let them go
Your eyes, they shine so bright
I want to save that light
I can't escape this now
This person is so pure, and he cant let himself
ruin that pure happiness
Unless you show me how*
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He HAS to set them free
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HOPE
SYMBOLISM
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Symbolism- The practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing
symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships
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To help portray the darkness surrounding his world, the writer uses many examples of
symbolism to deepen the lyrics
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EX: “And the saints we see are all mad of gold”
- This represents the masks that people wear to hide their dark sides
TONE OF VOICE
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Tone- Tone helps the reader ascertain the writer’s feelings towards a particular topic and this
in turn influences the reader’s understanding of the story.
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The narrator of this song speaks of having to let this person go out of love throughout
the whole song until the very last line.
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EX: “I’ve got to let you go, Unless you show me how”
- This immediate turn is the only thing that gives the reader an idea of hope, and the
possibility of change.
REPETITION
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Repetition- The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several
successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs to emphasize or reiterate and idea or emotion.
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In order to get certain ideas across about human behavior and why he is the way he is,
the narrator uses some examples of repetition
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EX: “This is my kingdom come, This is my kingdom come”
- Because this was him expressing that this was how good is world is going to get, this
repetition is used almost as him repeating it to himself to accept that nothing can get much
better.
OVERALL THEME
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Even though the song is specifically about a human intimacy that is troubled by a mans past,
I believe the overall theme of the song is about people’s pasts. Everyone has demons in their
pasts whether it is from relationships, injuries, losses, or trauma. If you let these demons
define you, a fake smile won’t save you.
SONG COMPARISON
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Demons- Imagine Dragons
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Carmen- Lana Del Rey
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Demons is about a man trying to hide his
past from someone he loves, but is so
troubled that his masks of happiness
aren’t going to shelter them.
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Carmen is about a girl who comes off as
happy and fun loving, but she is dark and
troubled. She is a master at disguising
her sadness but is hurting inside all of the
time.
CITATIONS
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Literary device definitions- http://www.thefreedictionary.com/symbolism
http://literary-devices.com/content/tone
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http://quizlet.com/4309213/ap-english-literary-terms-repetition-parallelism-andinversion-012611-flash-cards/
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Lyrics- http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/imaginedragons/demons.html
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Eyehttp://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://eofdreams.com/data_images/dreams/eye/eye 03.jpg&imgrefurl=http://eofdreams.com/eye.html&h=1073&w=1431&sz=601&tbnid=nZgYBkLP
k2NVMM:&tbnh=91&tbnw=122&zoom=1&usg=__dIh7wpkOhx9heMlcHd5UvepJJg=&docid=CAW2sQBfdDXL3M&sa=X&ei=jBqvUcX1Duv_4APV54FY&ved=0CEMQ
9QEwAw&dur=353
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Girl-http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/girl-habit-tumblr-111612
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Candle-http://eofdreams.com/candle.html
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Statue-http://architecture.about.com/od/greatbuildings/ig/NewWonders/Christ_the_Redeemer-lge2.htm
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