Musicians and writers alike tackle similar "Big Questions", and occasionally draw ideas from each other to express their worldview. Therefore, it comes to no surprise that the widely known single "Demons" by Imagine Dragons (a.k.a Amigos In Danger, an anagram used by hardcore fans) references Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
When the days are cold
And the cards all fold
And the saints we see
Are all made of gold
(Just when Ralph's head is about to part ways with his body)(Naval officer with "gold foliage" on his cap arrives)
When your dreams all fail
And the ones we hail
Are the worst of all
And the blood’s run stale(Ralph has failed to keep a fire going)
(Even the littluns worship Jack)
(Including MBB, death count is 3! already)
I wanna hide the truth
I wanna shelter you
But with the beast inside
There’s nowhere we can hide(Ralph tries to maintain a civil society)
("Maybe it's only us"-Simon)
No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come(Golding's worldview: Humans are fundamentally evil)
(According to Baumeister, greed is one of the roots of evil)
("Thy kingdom come" refers to the end of the (Ralph's) world in the Lord's Prayer)
When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide(Jack & Co. setting the entire island on fire)
(The Beast lives within us)
Don’t get too close
It’s dark inside
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide
At the curtain’s call
It's the last of all
When the lights fade out
All the sinners crawl(A "curtain" flaps in Ralph's head whenever he loses focus, when he starts to give in to the savagery)
(Ralph hides where "only a crawler like himself" could get in)
So they dug your grave
And the masquerade
Will come calling out
At the mess you made(Ralph's final resting place is kindly prepared: on a stick)
(Jack & Co. wearing face paint)
(This is ironic since the island is toast thanks to Jack, not Ralph)
Don't wanna let you down
But I am hell bound
Though this is all for you
Don't wanna hide the truth
(Open to interpretation)
No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come
[Chorus]
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(Again, Golding's worldview of nature "fate" > nurture "what you make")
Your eyes, they shine so bright
I wanna save that light
I can't escape this now
Unless you show me how(The naval officer is described as shiny "white", "gilt", "gold")
(Ralph wants to be like him, as a responsible sensible adult)
(He cries for "the end of innocence", and it is too late to change anything)
(He believes that the officer can help fix everything because he is a responsible adult. This is ironic since the adults are mirroring the boys action, only on a macro scale)
Someone mentioned this to me which I found very interesting.
ReplyDeleteIn the first verse, where Dan sings
And the ones we hail
Are the worst of all
This could also be interpreted from Ralph's viewpoint instead of the littluns, who worship Jack. Ralph looks up to the naval officer, but in reality the adults are the ones who caused all this in the first place, they are waging war as well etc. etc. Therefore, the adults could be seen as "the worst of all", not Jack.
This is really, really interesting! I've listened to this song since we began the book but never once would have thought to relate the two. I think the line in the beginning about how "the saints we see are all made of gold" also relates to how Ralph is described as having a golden body at the beginning and he's also very much like a golden boy, or someone who is quite popular and attractive. Overall, there are some really strong connections and I quiet enjoyed your interpretation of this song!!!
ReplyDeleteRito,
ReplyDeleteAmazing song I absolutely love this song and now that I read your connection I can wholeheartedly agree with you! Do you think anything could be related to Piggy here?
Great song Rito!
I really like this connection between song and LOTF. I really liked the first phrase that you talked about and connecting that to how Ralph was about to part ways with his body when the naval officer arrived. I have heard this song before and even performed it in choir and now that I have read you analysis of the song and connection to LOTF I can never think of the song the same! Good connection Rito!
ReplyDeleteWow Rito, great job! I decided to listen to the song while reading your post, and for every verse, I was able to visualise and relate to some point in Lord of the Flies. The line "But with the beast inside, there's nowhere we can hide" is a very strong literal connection. This made me think of the time Ralph said "I'm afraid. Of us."
ReplyDeleteImpressive connection, and great interpretations Rito!
I'm literally mind blown! Did you make up this connection or did you find it on the interweb???? Also the phrase "Will come calling out At the mess you made" is also kind of a literal connection as you mentioned!!! Overall this is really cool and now I know you were born on a Tuesday!
ReplyDeleteP-IGG-Y PUT MY NAME IN BOLD
I love the line -
ReplyDeleteNo matter what we breed
We still are made of greed -
when you think of it in regard to the book. No matter how hard they try to fight their inherently evil nature, in the end it will always come out because that is their true self.
Great connection!
This is an great analysis of the song! I wouldn't have thought of how well it relates to Lord of the Flies before reading this. One part that caught my attention was:
ReplyDelete"I wanna hide the truth
I wanna shelter you
But with the beast inside
There’s nowhere we can hide"
I think this section can relate to our class discussion about how some of the boys want to deal with the beast, especially from Jack's perspective. Jack tends to "hide the truth" by wearing a mask and attempting to fight a physical beast. But he doesn't realize that he can't hide; that the beast lives inside him. Towards the end of the book, these lines would connect more with Ralph because he's trying to hide from the beast inside Jack's hunters. He attempts to keep the remainder of his tribe safe, "sheltering" them as he has tried to throughout the book. But as he runs and hides, Ralph realizes that there is no escaping the beast. Even when the boys are "rescued" they are merely being taken to a new kind of beast.
Overall, amazing post!
Its amazing how books bring themselves into pop culture and how artists use them as a reference for songs. I think that the beast inside is a great connection to the beast living within us.
ReplyDeleteGreat connection and analysis! Someone from the other humanities class also mentioned this song when we were reading the book and I found this very interesting! We only talked about the "beast inside" part but you made a great analysis!
ReplyDeleteGreat connection and analysis! Someone from the other humanities class also mentioned this song when we were reading the book and I found this very interesting! We only talked about the "beast inside" part but you made a great analysis!
ReplyDelete