Album: Origins (2018)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Imagine Dragons wrote this power anthem for the Disney animated movie Ralph Breaks The Internet (the sequel to 2012's Wreck It Ralph). The song is an ode to the misfit representing the hardships and struggles faced by the movie's main characters, Ralph and Vanellope.

    Hello, hello
    Let me tell you what it's like to be a zero, zero
    Let me show you what it's like to always feel, feel
    Like I'm empty and there's nothing really real, real
    I'm looking for a way out


    Speaking to Beats 1's Zane Lowe," Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds explained the song is about "accepting and finding a bit of levity and joy in being a zero... I look back at [my struggles], and I guess the only way I can face it is to see it with levity, and that sounds so strange, I know."
  • The song echoes the teenage underdog themes that run through Imagine Dragons' 2017 single "Thunder."

    Kids were laughing in my classes
    While I was scheming for the masses
    Who do you think you are?
    Dreaming 'bout being a big star


    "I was able to go to a place that was very vulnerable for me," Dan Reynolds told Radio.com regarding "Zero." "I wasn't in any sub-group. I was like not a popular kid, I wasn't a band kid, I wasn't good at sports. I just kind of was someone who went home by myself and wrote music every day and then started a band."
  • The song's music video takes place in an '80s-style neon-lit arcade, and stars the Imagine Dragons members as arcade employees and nerdy gamers. There are several references to video game culture, such as Dan Reynolds wandering through a maze wearing a giant, Pac-Man-esque head.

Comments: 1

  • Giovanni LindsayThis is all nice to know and This song changed my life for the better in so many ways.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Michael Franti

Michael FrantiSongwriter Interviews

Franti tells the story behind his hit "Say Hey (I Love You)" and explains why yoga is an integral part of his lifestyle and his Soulshine tour.

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse Pop

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse PopSong Writing

Songs that seem to glorify violence against women are often misinterpreted - but not always.

Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots

Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple PilotsSongwriter Interviews

Stone Temple Pilots bass player Robert DeLeo names the songs that have most connected with fans and tells the stories behind tracks from their Tiny Music album.

Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets

Curt Kirkwood of Meat PuppetsSongwriter Interviews

The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.

Real or Spinal Tap

Real or Spinal TapMusic Quiz

They sang about pink torpedoes and rocking you tonight tonight, but some real lyrics are just as ridiculous. See if you can tell which lyrics are real and which are Spinal Tap in this lyrics quiz.

Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles

Timothy B. Schmit of the EaglesSongwriter Interviews

Did this Eagle come up with the term "Parrothead"? And what is it like playing "Hotel California" for the gazillionth time?