Machine by Imagine Dragons

Album: Origins (2018)

License This Song

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

Imagine Dragons singer Dan Reynolds is a frustrated man here, trapped in a system, caught up in the titular machine. Reynolds longs to break free, to live outside the box others had put him in, so that he can "paint this town with my very own vision."
The defiant, drum-heavy song was written by Imagine Dragons with Alex Da Kid. the English producer has collaborated with the group on several of their previous hits including "Radioactive," "Demons," "Sucker For Pain" and "Thunder."
Guitarist Wayne Sermon told Beats 1's Zane Lowe that the song "started with that simple drum thing at the beginning." Dan Reynolds then started vocalizing in the studio and Sermon quickly latched onto and laid down some guitar. Reynolds matched what Sermon was coming up with vocally and "Machine" took off from there.

Comments: 2

Bridget from CoOh wait, I didn't even know what human trafficking is
Bridget from CoI always thought that this song was about being bullied and human trafficking. The lyrics that made me think that are, "'Cause I've been wondering when you're gonna see I'm not for sale, I've been questioning when you're gonna see I'm not a part of your machine."

see more comments

More Songfacts:

Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out The Barrel)Will Glahe

In 1939, a polka craze swept America thanks to "Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out The Barrel)."

BloodstreamEd Sheeran

Ed Sheeran's "Bloodstream" was written after an experience taking MDMA during a wedding celebration in Ibiza; it's basically about all the feelings that he got from that time.

"Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who is about a revolution, but it doesn't have a happy ending, since in the end the new regime becomes just like the old one. Pete Townshend thought that whoever was in power was destined to become corrupt.

Good TimesChic

The disco song "Good Tmes" by Chic was a huge influence on early rap, providing the bassline for "Rapper's Delight."

Dancing QueenABBA

ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson conceived "Dancing Queen" as a dance song with the working title "Boogaloo," drawing inspiration from the 1974 George McCrae disco hit "Rock Your Baby." Their manager Stig Anderson came up with the title "Dancing Queen."

Uptown FunkMark Ronson

The actress Michelle Pfeiffer gets namechecked in the 2014 megahit "Uptown Funk" ("Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold"). When it was released, "Riptide" by Vance Joy was on the charts; that song also mentions her ("Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you've ever seen").