Songfacts®:

• Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds has battled adversity for much of his life, having struggled with depression, along with ADD, anxiety issues and a chronic inflammatory condition. More recently he has had to deal with the emotional distress arising from a marital breakdown and the constant drip, drip criticism from social media trolls. This song finds him choosing to be cold hearted as a defense mechanism to stand up to all the hardship that comes his way.
  
  Natural
  A beating heart of stone
  You gotta be so cold
  To make it in this world
  Yeah, you're a natural
  Living your life cutthroat
  You gotta be so cold
  Yeah, you're a natural
  
  The song stays true to Imagine Dragons formula of contemplative verses and soaring choruses laced with explosive drums. It is especially close to the band's 2017 hit tune "Believer," which has a similar theme of inspirational lyrics about overcoming emotional pain.
• Dan Reynolds said about the song's meaning in a press release: "Living in a dog-eat-dog world can bring out the worst in you, and sometimes, the best. It would be a lie to tell you I haven't become somewhat skeptical about some things in the last decade of my life. However, I believe that when you truly learn to love yourself, the judging eyes and hateful words become meaningless. 'Natural' is about finding yourself and being willing and able to stand up to whatever adversity comes your way."
• The song was chosen as the anthem for 2018's ESPN college football season. Interscope's vigorous pursuit of synchronization licenses for Imagine Dragon's recordings have included appearances in commercials for Jeep, Microsoft, and Nintendo's Switch console, as well as numerous movie trailers and TV shows.
• The song was produced by Robin Fredrikson and Mattias Larsson, who comprise the Swedish production team, Mattman & Robin. The duo's other credits include Nick Jonas' "Close," DNCE 's "Cake By The Ocean" and Selena Gomez's "Hands To Myself." They also previously hooked up with Imagine Dragons for "Believer."