"I Bet My Life" is a song by American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band Imagine Dragons. The track, written by band members

Ben McKee Benjamin Arthur McKee (born April 7, 1985) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is the bassist for the pop rock band Imagine Dragons. Early life McKee was raised in Forestville, California, and graduated from El Molino ...

Daniel Platzman Daniel James Platzman (born September 28, 1986) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and composer. He is the drummer for the pop rock band Imagine Dragons. Early life Platzman was born on September 28, 1986 in Atlanta, Georgia. ...

Dan Reynolds Daniel Coulter Reynolds (born July 14, 1987) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist of the pop rock band Imagine Dragons. Reynolds also released an EP in 2011, titled ''Egyptian – EP,'' as a duo with his former wife A ...

and

Wayne Sermon Daniel Wayne Sermon (born June 15, 1984) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is the lead guitarist for the pop rock band Imagine Dragons. Early life Sermon was born on June 15, 1984 in American Fork, Utah to parents Jeff ...

, was released as the lead single from their second studio album ''

Smoke + Mirrors ''Smoke + Mirrors'' is the second studio album by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons. The album was recorded during 2014 at the band's home studio in Las Vegas, Nevada. Self-produced by members of the band along with English hip-hop producer ...

'' on October 27, 2014. The band's network debut performing the track occurred at the

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Pro ...

(2014), where they received the award for Favorite Alternative Artist.

Composition

Themes

Lead singer

has stated that the song is about his relationship with his parents and explained that while "at times it's been strained and difficult... in the end, 'I Bet My Life' celebrates the bond that we still hold on to."

Music video

On December 12, 2014, Imagine Dragons released the official music video for "I Bet My Life". The video was directed by Jodeb and features actors

Dane DeHaan Dane William DeHaan ( ; born February 6, 1986) is an American actor known for his roles as Andrew Detmer in ''Chronicle'' (2012), Lucien Carr in '' Kill Your Darlings'' (2013), Harry Osborn / Green Goblin in ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' (2014), ...

and

Alex Neustaedter Alexander Francis Neustaedter (born March 29, 1998) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Bram Bowman in ''Colony''. Career In 2009, Neustaedter debuted in the film ''Albino Farm'', playing Samuel. In 2010, he starred as Caleb Johnso ...

. Footage from the video featured in advertising by American automobile manufacturer Jeep at the American Music Awards, prior to the release of the video.

Synopsis

The beginning and end of the video take place at the Salt River in Arizona. A car is shown driving to the river. The cast are the members of Imagine Dragons, and their relatives and friends. Somewhere else at the river, a boy in a shirt (DeHaan) and a boy in overalls (Neustaedter) are fighting at the waterbed. While walking away, Neustaedter eventually pushes DeHaan into the river, and it is implied that DeHaan swims away, while the former stares in shock. DeHaan is pulled towards a dam, in which he is sucked in. He lands in a house, and looks out the window and finds everything underwater. He finds a bed and goes to sleep. The next morning, DeHaan finds himself in a sailboat, and takes control of it. He tries unsuccessfully to avoid a waterfall, but ends up flying over the land in the boat when he goes over the waterfall. While looking over the boat, he decides to flip it over. He falls into a city, and a crowd is shown carrying him. They toss and turn him, until he realizes it was a vision and he was knocked unconscious in the dam. He is pulled back up to the surface by Neustaedter, and survives. The last shot of the video zooms out from the point where DeHaan is picked up, and the video ends.

Reception

Carolyn Menyes of Music Times called the song "Another

magine Dragons Magine TV was a cloud-based TV platform that allows broadcasters to deliver live and time-shifted content to users, as well as catch-up and on demand programming, across all devices, including tablets, phones, Smart TVs and computers. The service ...

strong armed rolling anthem." James Grebey of www.spin.com called it "Bombastic" and USA Today named it "Song of the week" during October 27-November 4.

Track listing

Remixes

Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stor ...

, Alex Adair,

Lost Kings Lost Kings are an American DJ duo consisting of Robert Abisi and Nick Shanholtz, based in Los Angeles. The duo gained popularity beginning in 2014 through their official remixes for artists such as Imagine Dragons, Krewella, Halsey, Vance Joy, ...

, Imagine Dragons, and Riot Games have all released remixes.

Personnel

Imagine Dragons *

– lead vocals, songwriting, production *

– guitar, songwriting, production *

– bass guitar, songwriting, production *

– drums, percussion, songwriting, production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Accolades

Release history

References

External links

Imagine Dragons official website
{{authority control 2014 singles 2014 songs Imagine Dragons songs Kidinakorner singles Interscope Records singles Universal Music Group singles Songs written by Wayne Sermon Songs written by Dan Reynolds (musician) Songs written by Daniel Platzman Songs written by Ben McKee American folk rock songs Songs about parenthood