Imagine Dragons: Night Visions DEMONS

MUSIC VIDEO

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 When the days are cold And the cards all fold And the saints we see* Are all made of gold When your dreams all fail And the ones we hail Are the worst of all And the blood’s run stale - Things are dark and sad - Everyone is giving up - Even the seemingly happy are hiding secrets - Life is hard - Some of the most influential people are the worst role models - Passion is failing

I wanna hide the truth I wanna shelter you But with the beast inside There’s nowhere we can hide No matter what we breed We still are made of greed This is my kingdom come This is my kingdom come -This person wants to protect someone from darkness and the truth of the sadness surrounding them -This mans demons were too strong to keep them away from them -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 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 - He tells this person to look into his eyes and see that his happiness is only a mask - 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 Don’t want to hide the truth No matter what we breed We still are made of greed This is my kingdom come This is my kingdom come - He doesn’t want to disappoint them by revealing that they aren’t as strong and good as they seem - He cant lie to them. And although his mask has hid the truth for this long, he cant go to far and end up hurting them

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

They say it's what you make I say it's up to fate It's woven in my soul I need to let you go Your eyes, they shine so bright I want to save that light I can't escape this now Unless you show me how* - Some say the way you turn out is how much you do to control your life -He believes the things that change you aren’t in your hands to control - His demons have become a part of him and the only way to protect them is to let them go This person is so pure, and he cant let himself ruin that pure happiness -He HAS to set them free -HOPE

SYMBOLISM Symbolism- The practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships To help portray the darkness surrounding his world, the writer uses many examples of symbolism to deepen the lyrics 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 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. 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. 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 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. 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 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 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 Demons- Imagine Dragons 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. Carmen- Lana Del Rey 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 Literary device definitions inversion flash-cards/ inversion flash-cards/ Lyrics- Eye jpg&imgrefurl= k2NVMM:&tbnh=91&tbnw=122&zoom=1&usg=__dIh7wpkOhx9heMlc- Hd5UvepJJg=&docid=CAW2sQBfdDXL3M&sa=X&ei=jBqvUcX1Duv_4APV54FY&ved=0CEMQ 9QEwAw&dur= jpg&imgrefurl= k2NVMM:&tbnh=91&tbnw=122&zoom=1&usg=__dIh7wpkOhx9heMlc- Hd5UvepJJg=&docid=CAW2sQBfdDXL3M&sa=X&ei=jBqvUcX1Duv_4APV54FY&ved=0CEMQ 9QEwAw&dur=353 Girl- Candle- Statue- Wonders/Christ_the_Redeemer-lge2.htmhttp://architecture.about.com/od/greatbuildings/ig/New- Wonders/Christ_the_Redeemer-lge2.htm

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