It's Time

Album: Continued Silence (2012)
Charted: 23 15
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Imagine Dragons is a four-piece rock band based in Las Vegas, Nevada comprising vocalist Dan Reynolds, guitarist D Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel "Z" Platzma, After recording three buzzed about EPs, Imagine Dragons signed to major label Interscope Records in November 2011. They linked up with producer Alex Da Kid (Eminem, Rihanna) to record Continued Silence, their first major label release. This is the lead single from the EP. Reynolds says the song is "about self-empowerment and staying true to your roots."
  • Reynolds told The Huffington Post about the writing process for the song: "There's so many times you wake up at 3 a.m., grab a recorder on the iPhone and say something - a lyrical idea or melody - and then you lay it out in logic later on and sometimes it makes no sense," he said. "We sat with 'It's Time' for a year or year-and-a-half. Sometimes you just have to let a song sit for awhile. There's just something really special about it. I wrote it during a very hard time in my life. I had dropped out of college, and I was just sitting down at my computer, and I came up with this rhythm. And the words just wrote themselves. I knew I had something special coming.

    When a song is most honest and most raw that's when you know you're doing something right. A lot of my favorite artists are able to be in touch with their problems and put it through melodies. It happens all the time with bands."
  • The song featured in the trailer for the American film adaptation of The Perks Of Being a Wallflower.
  • The Anthony Leonardi III directed music video features the band as mystic travelers carrying a very special parcel. The clip also works as a metaphor for Imagine Dragons' rise. "We had this idea in our heads for a long time, but, you know, we could never make it," frontman Dan Reynolds told MTV News. "Until we found a director who could bring it to life. We went out to Barstow [California] - which is between Las Vegas and L.A., and we've made that drive many times, because we're from Vegas - and we shot it on a dry lake bed. It was our first time doing a music video, so it was a really awesome experience."
  • Reynolds wrote the inspirational anthem in his kitchen as he dealt with a bout of depression. "I was dropping out of college, making some changes, and it wasn't the peak of my life," he told Billboard magazine. "I was just trying to write a song for myself. I've struggled with depression and anxiety, and the song spurred from that. Whoever connects to it, I'm happy."

Comments: 1

  • Chelsea from Phoenix , AzLove this song to bits!!
see more comments

Editor's Picks

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."

Spooner Oldham

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."