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Well, hello. I’m still testing this.
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Music Notes #1083242 added February 3, 2025 at 9:32am
Restrictions: None
Monica, by ID
Number three in my "Invalid Item"  tracklist is Monica, an old demo which Imagine Dragons released from the vault about a week ago in celebration of the tenth anniversary of their sophomore album Smoke + Mirrors. I'm including it just for fun.
When I first listened to this song, I spent most of it trying to figure out why on earth Dan Reynolds fake deepened his voice to such an exaggerated extent. It was almost over when I realized he probably wanted to sound more like George Ezra, an artist who was trending at approximately the time this demo was created.
After the initial shock, I found myself laughing at the almost asinine yet deadpan goofiness of the lyrics: "popcorn candy - my favorite." It hearkens back to some of ID's earliest work such as Emma (2009), when Dan was unsure of himself as a songwriter and tended to write corny, mostly fictionalized songs about failed love, rather than being brave enough to really share his heart with us.
I can see why Monica never made it to the album, as it largely lacks the moody, medieval mystique which I love so much about S+M, instead dealing with a dud relationship in absurdly whimsical detail. It feels like a song Dan sat down and put together experimentally (indeed almost haphazardly) on his computer… which is exactly what a demo usually is, I suppose. I've actually watched him show us how he composes raw demos, but that's a story for another time.
An interesting observation I discovered on Reddit points out the presence of "tritones" in Monica, which I'd never heard of before. Having no knowledge of music theory, I'm not sure if I can identify them myself, but it's certainly something which adds depth to what could be considered a rather disposable song.
At any rate, this is a side of the Dragons we've not seen before, and as such it's quaint and amusing.
Words: 338.
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