Imagine Dragons

Released: August 3, 2017

Songwriter: Joel Little Daniel Platzman Ben McKee Wayne Sermon Dan Reynolds

Producer: Imagine Dragons

[Intro]
One, two, three

[Verse 1]
Falling too fast to prepare for this
Tripping in the world could be dangerous
Everybody circling it's vulturous
Negative, nepotist
Everybody waiting for the fall of man
Everybody praying for the end of times
Everybody hoping they could be the one
I was born to run, I was born for this

[Pre-Chorus]
Whip, whip
Run me like a race horse
Pull me like a ripcord
Break me down and build me up
I wanna be the slip, slip
Word upon your lip, lip
Letter that you rip, rip
Break me down and build me up

[Chorus]
Whatever it takes
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do whatever it takes
'Cause I love how it feels when I break the chains
I do whatever it takes (oh-oh-oh!)
You take me to the top
I'm ready for whatever it takes (oh-oh-oh!)
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do what it takes

[Verse 2]
Always had a fear of being typical
Looking at my body feeling miserable
Always hanging on to the visual
I wanna be invisible
Looking at my years like a martyrdom
Everybody needs to be a part of 'em
Never be enough, I'm the prodigal son
I was born to run, I was born for this

[Pre-Chorus]
Whip, whip
Run me like a race horse
Pull me like a ripcord
Break me down and build me up
I wanna be the slip, slip
Word upon your lip, lip
Letter that you rip, rip
Break me down and build me up

[Chorus]
Whatever it takes
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do whatever it takes
'Cause I love how it feels when I break the chains
I do whatever it takes (oh-oh-oh!)
You take me to the top
I'm ready for whatever it takes (oh-oh-oh!)
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do what it takes

[Bridge]
Hypocritical, egotistical
Don't wanna be the parenthetical, hypothetical
Working onto something that I'm proud of, out of the box
An epoxy to the world and the vision we've lost
I'm an apostrophe
I'm just a symbol to remind you that there's more to see
I'm just a product of the system, a catastrophe
Yet a masterpiece, yet I'm half-diseased
And when I am deceased
At least I go down to the grave and die happily
Leave my body and my soul to be a part of me
I do what it takes

[Chorus]
Whatever it takes
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do whatever it takes
'Cause I love how it feels when I break the chains
I do whatever it takes (oh-oh-oh!)
You take me to the top
I'm ready for whatever it takes (oh-oh-oh!)
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do what it takes

One of the defining artists of the 2010s and perhaps the biggest band of the decade, Imagine Dragons is an American alt-rock band that originated in Las Vegas and led by Dan Reynolds. While the band began in 2008, the group boasted an entirely different roster than most are familiar. Before releasing their debut album, Night Visions, in 2012, the band released six EPs over four years, constantly shifting their sound and roster from folk to the crowd-shattering anthems they’ve been known for since.

The band’s roster was finalized before Night Visions‘ release with Daniel Platzman on the drums, Wayne Sermon on guitar, and Ben McKee on bass. Their break-out single, “Radioactive” was essential to putting Vegas on the map musically, citing The Killers before them. The song went on to become an international success, obliterating the record for the most weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 at 87 straight weeks.

It wasn’t until 2015 the band released their sophomore album, Smoke + Mirrors. The album was extremely divergent from their freshman album, characterized by an accentuation of their Rock roots and an internal struggle, later described by Reynolds as being his bout with severe depression.

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