The longest song on the 13 track album “Night Vision” by Imagine Dragons is “Nothing Left to Say/Rocks.”
Like every middle schooler in the late 2010’s who had their life changed by the general Alternative rock music, I listened to Imagine Dragons.
As the original album turned 10 earlier this year, it’s the perfect time to review the background of the song and convince you to add it to your playlist.
Originally the song was supposed to be two different tracks, but the band was running out of space on the album so they combined the two songs, making it nine minutes long.
It perfectly pairs with the definition of yin and yang and its battle between light and darkness. “Nothing Left to Say” is the darkness and “Rocks” is the light at the end of the tunnel.
The song can be described perfectly as melodramatic, starting with the track “Nothing Left.” This was originally written to be the last song on the track, with the band having nothing left to say in the end.
It starts with a light instrumental hum of a guitar accompanied by distorted piano notes. The sound grows into the start of a song with light drums, bass and electric guitar vibrato as the sound mimics that of a symphony with high and low notes.
Focusing on the lyrics, it tells the story of a pessimistic person who has given up on life, deciding he has nothing left to give, do or say in this world.
The particular lyric that sticks with me is “Below, my soul, I feel an engine, Collapsing as it sees the pain, If I could only shout it out.” They see how painful it is to live as darkness closes in, doing nothing to stop it.
The dark tunnel vision they have adapted to reminds me a lot about depression and how easy it is to only see and express physical pain, but not mental pain.
There are few lines about this pain in-between the chorus that seems to drown out the thoughts repeating “There’s nothing left to say now, I’m giving up, giving up hey hey, Giving up now,” alluding to the fact that they have made up their mind and are ready to end it all.
About 4:10 minutes into the song it just ends, more of the electric guitar vibrato, strumming of an acoustic guitar accompanied by light humming for about 2:33 minutes, then silence. It has a sort of melancholy effect.
That’s when the secret song at the end of the first song starts. I had a friend who constantly wanted to skip those pivotal 2:33 minutes when it played in the car all the time, and did not want to wait for the second song thinking it was over. But that time is what I refer to as the “regret period.”
I like to think of this song as not just a metaphor for life, but as a tracker for where my life is currently.
The beginning of the song is devoid of all hope, it’s that dark period of time. But in the so-called regret period it gives you 2:33 minutes of time to think, re-asses and decide a new plan of action.
It’s the quiet after the storm that brings peace with it.
After hearing a whole song about giving up, the secret song called “Rocks” starts with the lyrics “Where do we go from here?”
A perfect way to begin again, pick yourself up from the emotional battle and start anew.
The tone to this song starkly contrasts the slow and quiet beats of “Nothing Left to Say,” with high and fast tempos on the guitar and a couple of pitchy melodies and strong beat of the drum.
It has a total 180 meaning from the last song. The character expresses a greater sense of optimism, as they throw rocks up at the window of someone they fancy.
The song ends with the lyrics “We fall, we fall apart.” As the intro song sang about the giving up on life, this one sings the praises of finding the one who feels important to you and falling into that new relationship.
Support systems are an important part of life and emotion is meant to be expressed. Whether it is good or bad, talking to someone about what you’re going through helps.
This is the part of the song I someday strive to be in, the happiness and the strength to get out of that dark tunnel and see true light.
I sometimes feel so close to it and other times very far away. I think it’s a good goal and as soon as I reach it, “Nothing Left to Say/Rocks” will finally feel complete.
