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

Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

Narada Michael Walden - "Freeway of Love"

Narada Michael Walden - "Freeway of Love"They're Playing My Song

As a songwriter and producer, Narada had hits with Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Starship. But what song does he feel had the greatest impact on his career?

Soul Train Stories with Stephen McMillian

Soul Train Stories with Stephen McMillianSong Writing

A Soul Train dancer takes us through a day on the show, and explains what you had to do to get camera time.

Chris Frantz of Talking Heads

Chris Frantz of Talking HeadsSongwriter Interviews

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz on where the term "new wave" originated, the story of "Naive Melody," and why they never recorded another cover song after "Take Me To The River."

Graham Nash

Graham NashSongwriter Interviews

Graham Nash tells the stories behind some of his famous songs and photos, and is asked about "yacht rock" for the first time.

Randy Newman

Randy NewmanSongwriting Legends

Newman makes it look easy these days, but in this 1974 interview, he reveals the paranoia and pressures that made him yearn for his old 9-5 job.