Imagine Dragons Song Meanings

Dream

Dream from Smoke + Mirrors album.

/Piano intro/

/In the dark and I'm right on the middle mark/
Cannot see to one side or the other but knows they are in middle.

/I'm just on the tier of everything that rides below the surface/
Can mean that you're that close to depression or emotions that are bottled up. The way artist says 'surface', it ends with a sigh. This further points to the cumbersome 'below the surface' as if he has an idea of what lurks below.

/And I watch from a distance 17/
The singer perhaps could have reflected on themselves at the age of 17. Perhaps he stood back and observed his life (where's it's going in future)

/Short of others dreams of being gold and on top/
Dan Reynolds' siblings all were good in school and became doctors, lawyers... Etc. So being not the best at school he feels guilty about letting down those who set high goals for him.

This could apply to anyone looking back and seeing they they fell short of their goals. A heavy lyric.

Could also mean comparing yourself to other people's goals and socially imposed goals

/It's not what you painted in my head/
Has very soft undertones of accusation. A realization that it (could imply adulthood, college, life) is different than what they had been told
Could also mean that as a child you are shown so many happy things about the world and its made out to be a perfect happy place

/There's so much there instead of all the colors that I saw/
There's more to it (could imply adulthood, college, life) than that they had expected or imagined.
Breaking yolk of childhood and becoming aware  of all the problems and vices that befall human kind

/WE ALL ARE LIVING IN A DREAM/
Humans as a species are so blind to each other's pain and suffering. Each of us (meaning household, neighborhood, country) are living in our own little bubble. In the lyric, 'we' could mean those who live in a 1st world country or not in extreme poverty. Basically the listeners of the music. Those who live comfortably and We are not aware of the full extent of the world's issues. We see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear.
(((An epiphany that is come upon and needs to be screamed with tears running down your face)))

/BUT LIFE AIN'T WHAT IT SEEMS/
Just as the lyrics say, life isn't what one may perceive it to be. So much more going on then someone could ever realize. The sung lyrics pack so much pent up emotion and strain that encompasses life

/EVERYTHINGS A MESS/
Just as lyrics state. This world is such a mess; famine, terrorism, pestilence, poverty, the too wealthy, corruption, cruelty, intolerance, ignorance, hatred, greed, etc.
Acceptance that there's nothing we can do. Just acknowledge it and live with it. The high glide in 'everything' is the searching of hope only to have it met with reality. Or perhaps the holding onto of hope in this world of turmoil.

/And all these sorrows I have seen, they lead me to believe that everything's a mess/
Dan Reynolds in particular did a mission trip at the age of 19. He was in a super poor and high crime town and helped the children there. This made him see the conditions that other people lived in right outside his doorstep.
For other people, this can apply to watching the news to a certain extent or just having general knowledge of the bad things that happen.

/But I wanna dream. I wanna dream. Leave me to dream/
In this line, Reynolds coasts on a light,  'dreeaam'. It's almost as if a longing to return to the innocence before knowing this.
Doesn't want to be burdened with the weight of the worlds problems
Almost a statement that people turn their heads to the problems in an effort to to return to obliviousness. They continue living in their dream

/In the eyes of a teenage crystallized oh the prettiest of lights that hang the hallways of the home/
Teenage years is our last bout of innocence. That could refer to the optimistic views on life and everything before knowing the full extent of issues. That's where innocence 'crystallized' or froze

/And the cries from the strangers out at night, they don't keep us up at night we have the curtains drawn and closed/
This goes back to the show the 'dream' that we live in. Think about it, all the news headlines and depressing things never keep people up at night because they 'close the curtains' or push it aside and move on. It shows how quickly we turn a blind eye to the troubles of the world like its no big deal. We lie to ourselves that it's fine when it's really not.

//Chorus//

/I know all your reasons to keep me from seeing everything is actually a mess/
Artist can understand why people live in a 'dream'. Can imply that he knows why children and young people are so often kept from the truth- because they need not focus on others problems when they have their own. They shouldn't be burdened with the weight of other people's problems

/But now I am leaving. All of us were only dreaming. Everything is actually a mess/
Singer doesn't wish to live in an exsistance of lies and false reassurance. Doesn't want to dream. Understands that innocence doesn't return and is ready to embrace that instead of running away from the problems. Is 'waking up' to the real world.
All of us were only dreaming refers to how we constantly ignore world problems because we live in our bubble. 

//chorus and outro//

Comment what you think and how you relate to this song!