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Music Notes #1084393 added February 26, 2025 at 12:25pm
Restrictions: None
Polaroid, by ID
My 26th track is yet another deep cut (no music video) from the 2015 Imagine Dragons album Smoke + Mirrors. This is my last one off of it for this year's "Invalid Item"  series.
The cover art which surrealist oil painter Tim Cantor created for Polaroid shows an infant floating over a cheetah in full speed mode. This is supposed to capture the theme of a life lived recklessly and thoughtlessly.
In Cantor's rough drafts and concept sketches, which were released alongside the S+M demo collection (Reflections), it is revealed the original ideas for the painting included a skeleton in the grave at the base of the image, and the infant was a fetus in the womb. This would have completed the cycle of life in a rather more intense way than it ended up being.
Sound:
Polaroid jumps right into the opening lines, beginning lightly and then bringing in the drums between the opening and the first chorus.
I'm pretty sure it has a glockenspiel, or perhaps a xylophone; some kind of bell notes which add a unique texture. I like how we can hear everyone in the band join in on the second chorus; it adds a folksy, "sing-along" feel. The wall of sound at the end is a bit of a pile-on, but it's typical of the S+M album.
I might add here that Smoke + Mirrors was entirely self-produced by the Dragons, which resulted in a rather over-the-top sound as compared to their next album, Evolve (2017,) which had outside producers overseeing it and recommending a cleaner, more pared-down style.
Theme:
Polaroid lays out emotions disguised in an endless series of folksy, almost playfully opaque metaphors; Dan Reynolds describes himself as everything from a "day-late two face" to a "rolling freight train."
When he started writing and sharing his songs as a teenager, he didn't like to reveal his true feelings of confusion and depression to his parents, so he would hide behind metaphorical language. This habit lingered through several albums, until these days when guitarist Wayne Sermon has expressed admiration for the way Dan's songwriting voice has matured and he can express what he feels with directness and honesty. (Amazon Music Songline performance)
Significance:
I can remember the day I put this on to listen to for the first time. It was New Year's Eve, and we were headed to Naples, Florida for a vacation. I played it once, and proceeded to have it on loop for most of the drive south, enthralled by the simple, catchy melody and the quaint, unique metaphorical lyrics which seemed to describe me as well as the narrator.
The next day was the new year, and I found myself making a digital art piece inspired by Polaroid, with the words "life's a blank canvas, and you are the color of boom!" incorporating the idea of fireworks and a new beginning despite the song's overall gloomy theme.
Polaroid is one of my favorite ID songs to sing to myself, quite easy and memorable like an old-fashioned folk song.
Words: 516.
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