This, That, and the Other

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday prompt, Jim Adams gave us “even” or “odd” for our musical theme. I figured this would be a piece of cake, but for some reason I was struggling to find a song I liked. I searched Google for songs with “even” or “odd” in the lyrics and I couldn’t find a whole lot of songs that spoke to me. But I finally did come across a song I really like that has the word “even” hidden deep in the lyrics in the lines that go: Mark my word, I’ma make my mark, even when they start their Martial Law / Even when these Martians alienate, my mental state is still at heart. That song is “Radioactive” from Imagine Dragons.

“Radioactive” was recorded by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons. It was written by the members of the Imagine Dragons band, primarily Dan Reynolds, and their producer Alex Da Kid. The song became a sleeper hit, peaking at number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and was the band’s first top 10 single as well as being the third best selling song in the country in 2013. It became the Imagine Dragons’ most successful single to date and is one of the best selling singles of all time.

An electronic rock and alternative rock song, “Radioactive” contains cryptic lyrics of apocalyptic and revolutionist themes. The subject of the song was about embracing change. The lyrics depict a person who was behind bars for such a long duration that he was release from prison in an unfamiliar “new age.” Some interpret the song to be describing a futurist world, and a person experiencing this mystifying world for the very first time.

Reynolds said the song is about the realization that the world is becoming different and the need to break free by doing something new. He explained in an interview that, to him, “Radioactive” is a “very masculine, powerful-sounding song.” He said that the lyrics behind it were very personal to him. “It’s a song about having an awakening; kind of waking up one day and deciding to do something new, and to see life in a fresh way. A lot of people hear it in a dark way, but, I think it’s empowering, and so we wanted to display that in a way that the listener wouldn’t see normally.”

Reynolds added, “When I wrote Radioactive, we’d been a band for two and a half, maybe three years. We were at that point so many bands get to, where we’re playing small clubs and filling them, but to break out at that level is a difficult thing. I was questioning my own career choice. I really wanted to have a family at some point and be able to support them, and still do what I love. So it was a difficult time. I’m a really up and down person and I’ve struggled with depression. I was writing in the studio with Alex da Kid, our producer, and we knew we wanted something that was heavy. I’ve always loved songs that present a beautiful and sensitive subject in a heavy way. So we came up with this heavy beat and instrumental that just felt like an awakening. It expressed a feeling that was happening with me, so I started to write the lyrics and the melody. In truth, the song is about becoming self-empowered and saying, ‘I’m happy with who I am, happy with the choices I’m making.’ It’s about sweating off all the dust and grime of self-doubt and judgment, and embracing who you are.”

Here are the lyrics to “Radioactive.”

Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa

I’m waking up to ash and dust
I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust
I’m breathing in the chemicals
I’m breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus
This is it, the apocalypse, whoa

I’m waking up,
I feel it in my bones (enough) to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I’m radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh I’m radioactive, radioactive

I raise my flags, don my clothes
It’s a revolution, I suppose
We’ll paint it red to fit right in, whoa
I’m breaking in, shaping up, checking out on the prison bus
This is it, the apocalypse, whoa

I’m waking up,
I feel it in my bones (enough) to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I’m radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh I’m radioactive, radioactive

All systems go, sun hasn’t died
Deep in my bones, straight from inside

I’m waking up,
I feel it in my bones (enough) to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I’m radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh I’m radioactive, radioactive