"Oh, dig my shallow grave
It's not me you'll save
'Cause I'm a lost cause
I'm a lost cause
A lost, lost cause
Wait, all this time away
Makes me think that I might be okay
The kiss of death will have wait
My head, is holding on to all those things you said
You taught me to be strong and get through it, in the mist of all the darkness in my head"
Imagine Dragons
Lost Cause
I remembered the Latin words "Carpe diem,"(seize the day) from high school and from Robin Williams' speech in Dead Poet's Society.
https://youtu.be/veYR3ZC9wMQ
From the Smoke + Mirrors album, Release is probably the most difficult song for me to listen to and hear Dan ask, "Is there nothing good in me?" I have also asked if The Fall has a literal or religious meaning? "You were the one who helped me see," could be about God or a person? The song has an amazing bouncy start and very deep lyrics.
When most people think of skulls they think of a skull and crossbones. Oh No! Poison! Pirates!?
The symbol is synonymous with death but could also be a reminder to live. Seize the moment because we will all someday die.
"Momento Mori," is another Laitn term reminding us, "you are mortal." Yes, it speaks of the inevitability of death, however, is a reminder to live your life.
Most people think the idea is way too morbid. I kind of like the idea that a skull could also mean to be kind to one another and a reminder not to waste your life.
Looking back to high school, the only clique that didn't beat me up were the goths! Perhaps it wasn't a part of their subculture or they were too busy trying not to get beaten up themselves.
In the song Demons the lyrics, "Don't wanna let you down but I'm hell bound," are tempered with, "Your eyes they shine so bright/ I wanna save that light/ I can't escape this now/ Unless you show me how."
In the song Roots, Imagine Dragons remind us, "Hell will always come before you grow," and in It's Time they sing, "The path to heaven runs through miles of clouded hell." These all seem to have a common thread of the idea that if you feel like you are in hell-keep going!
Some of the darkest songs by Imagine Dragons seem like anthems of personal strength.
Probably the most difficult song for me to listen to is I Was Me. I bought the song because the money raised from the song's sales goes to help refugees. Dan may have written the song from the point of view of a refugee but the song speaks to me of depression. "If I recover, will you take me back again?
I'm just another trying hard to fit right in/ But the photographs remind me of just who I used to be/ If only I could go back when, I was me."
These images from Roots were difficult for me too when Dan's world goes to black and white and he goes completely underwater. It signified drowning in depression for me. So fortunate that he comes back to the surface of the water and the color reruns to the video. Perhaps the whole idea of putting your demons into your art makes them much easier to deal with. Leave them in the video and clock out for the night. Get rid of the demons on stage and go home. Scream them out in the recording studio and go home without them! Pretty cool idea right?