Music Notes

Hopeless Opus, by ID

By the time this blog post goes up, Reflections, the Imagine Dragons album full of demos from the 2015 Smoke + Mirrors era vault, will be available. My choice, then, is an appropriate one, a deep cut off the original album: Hopeless Opus.

The title is a twist on the idea of a "magnum opus," or something you've given your entire life to, your biggest and proudest creation.

The cover art provided by surrealist oil painter Tim Cantor   (Note to self: make sure that link still works, his site is under construction with the Reflections release) Anyway, his art piece for this song shows us a medieval thinker, sitting at a desk while his perfect mask slips away, revealing a troubled face.

Sound:
Hopeless Opus is a track which defines the uniquely messy sonic style of Smoke + Mirrors: fuzzy reverb, vocal stacking, distant shouts—"Jason!"—fluting notes, guitars, drums, and distortions piled on top of the kitchen sink like dirty dishes, pretty much. At several points you may question the integrity of your headphones. Trust me, that's the way it's supposed to sound.

Theme:
This song deals with an overwhelming sense of failure in the face of apparent success. It looks towards mysterious figures who are supposed to have some kind of control (the postman delivering checks, the "Fate Man," the umpire) asking them for a favor, another chance to make things right and finally succeed.

It even toys with the idea of "I could fake my own death," a hint at a desperate longing for a fresh start and a feeling of having made a disaster of one's life.

"It's not a picture perfect life, not what I had in mind/ let me write my own line…" sums up the song in words which need no explanation.

Dan Reynolds was going through severe depression and battling Ankylosing Spondylitis when he wrote this. The explosive success of ID's 2012 breakout album Night Visions proved to be nearly too much for him to handle. Thus, much of the moodiness, heaviness and searching on their sophomore album.

Significance:
Hopeless Opus is a song which has always spoken deeply to me. I identify strongly with Dan's feelings of failure and being trapped in a life full of poor decisions.

One of the incredible things about this song is how it taught me to sing. I had not sang a single note since I was a young child, and I've always struggled with my perception of my own voice. As I learned about pop music in my adult years, I didn't want to try singing because I was afraid my voice would sound like Adele!

The evening I discovered Hopeless Opus, I had it on repeat ad infinitum, analyzing it, memorizing it, and feeling completely at one with the words. At some point, I put aside the earbuds and blasted the song as loud as I could.

Suddenly, as Hopeless Opus became my song, I started singing along with Dan on the chorus. And just like that, my voice was released. (I don't sound like Adele when I sing; I sound like a cross between a teenage boy and a duck.)

I've since tried singing nearly every one of the songs I love, and I've discovered Dan Reynolds writes some of the easiest possible melodies. He focuses on rhyme, rhythm and poetic structures rather than delicate vocal melisma, resulting in simple, catchy, repeatable songs I've often compared to nursery rhymes.

One might call them "sturdy" songs. One might also hearken back to Dan's appreciation for and influence by 90's hip-hop such as Tupac. Dan says it's his childhood classical music training and liking for old-fashioned pop radio singles.

Hopeless Opus is a favorite of mine for many reasons, inspiring several art pieces and following me through different stages of my life as I deal with my deeply dualistic nature.

Words: 630.