First things first
I'ma say all the words inside my head
I'm fired up and tired of
The way that things have been, oh-ooh
The way that things have been, oh-ooh
[Verse 2]
Second things second
Don't you tell me what you think that I could be
I'm the one at the sail
I'm the master of my sea, oh-ooh
The master of my sea, oh-ooh
[Pre-Chorus]
I was broken from a young age
Taking my sulkin' to the masses
Writing my poems for the few
That look at me, took to me, shook at me, feelin' me
Singing from heartache from the pain
Taking my message from the veins
Speaking my lesson from the brain
Seeing the beauty through the...
[Chorus]
Pain! You made me a, you made me a
Believer, believer
Pain! You break me down, you build me up
Believer, believer
Pain! Oh, let the bullets fly, oh, let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from…
Pain! You made me a, you made me a
Believer, believer
Third things third
Send a prayer to the ones up above
All the hate that you've heard
Has turned your spirit to a dove, oh-ooh
Your spirit up above, oh-ooh
[Pre-Chorus]
I was chokin' in the crowd
Building my rain up in the cloud
Falling like ashes to the ground
Hoping my feelings, they would drown
But they never did, ever lived, ebbin' and flowin'
Inhibited, limited 'til it broke open and rained down
It rained down, like…
[Chorus]
Pain! You made me a, you made me a
Believer, believer
Pain! You break me down, you build me up
Believer, believer
Pain! Oh, let the bullets fly, oh, let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from…
Pain! You made me a, you made me a
Believer, believer
Last things last
By the grace of the fire and the flames
You're the face of the future
The blood in my veins, oh-ooh
The blood in my veins, oh-ooh
[Pre-Chorus]
But they never did, ever lived, ebbin' and flowin'
Inhibited, limited 'til it broke open and rained down
It rained down, like…
[Chorus]
Pain! You made me a, you made me a
Believer, believer
Pain! You break me down, you build me up
Believer, believer
Pain! Oh, let the bullets fly, oh, let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from…
Pain! You made me a, you made me a
Believer, believer
About
“Believer” thunders around a percussive backbeat and expressive vocals from Dan Reynolds to bring about a message of embracing pain, and using it as a tool for personal growth. It marks the end of Imagine Dragons' self-imposed hiatus that started in 2016. The song acts as the title for their documentary surrounding LGBT youth and the Mormon church.
The song was released on the first of February as the lead single for their third studio album, Evolve, and was featured in a commercial for the Nintendo Switch that premiered on Super Bowl LI. The song was also featured in the first trailer for Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express remake.
Nearly two years after its release, the band released a remix of the song alongside Lil Wayne during their 2019 National College Football Championship halftime performance.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
On February 1, 2017, Imagine Dragons sent out a tweet about the song.
Later that same month, writer and vocalist Dan Reynolds spoke to Radio.com in regards to this song:
‘Believer’ to me, is the first song I’ve ever written in my career that I could stand back and say, that is only Imagine Dragons—that comes from a place that is really authentic to us, it’s very percussive, it has the urban qualities that I’ve always latched onto but it also sounds strange and kind of grand
There’s this incredible artist called Beeple. We found him online and just loved his stuff. I had a visual in my mind of what ‘Believer’ represented for me…you see this guy wandering the darkness of space—it’s kind of ’80s—I’ve always been a huge ’80s nerd—and he’s arriving at a place of color and brilliance.
–Dan Reynolds via Radio.com.
Believer logged over a year (52 weeks) on the Hot 100. With this, Imagine Dragons set a new Billboard record for the most songs to be on the Billboard Hot 100 for over a year (3) alongside “Radioactive” and “Demons.”
