The basic idea of the song “Thunder” by Imagine Dragons is that lead singer Dan Reynolds is taking us back to when he was a child and a dreamer. He dreamed of the amazing things he wanted to do and didn’t let people keep him back. The idea of the title of “Thunder” is based on when he was a kid, he was the “lightning before the thunder.” He was dreaming there was that flash of light but the rumbling thunder of success was coming.

In the song, he tells them they are always “riding in the back seat,” but because he didn’t “take it easy,” he’s “smiling from the stage” while they can’t even afford good seats to his shows and have to sit “clapping in the nosebleeds.”

The meaning of this song is all about the success that comes after the “lightning of wanting to be somewhere else.” That thunder rolls in, washes over everything. Everyone forgets the lightning and can only experience the thunder as long as it lasts. That’s what ‘thunder” is really about.