Enemy

Album

Mercury – Act 1

Label

Kidinakorner

Genre

Stage & Screen

Composer(s)

Justin Tranter;Ben McKee;Dan Reynold;Daniel Platzman;Mattias Larsson;Robin Fredriksson;Wayne Sermon

Entered Chart

Dec 4, 2021

Peak Date

Apr 9, 2022

Released

October 28, 2021

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Kid in a Corner

"Enemy" finds Imagine Dragons teaming up with American rapper JID to address divisive people. The first two-thirds find Imagine Dragons' lead singer Dan Reynolds explaining how people tell him to his face he's "the greatest," but as soon as he slips up, they turn on him. JID delivers a trademark speedy flow on the third verse. His boisterous rhymes are about focused and not letting the hate get to him. JID wrote his verse back in the late 2010s. Initially, the opening lines were from a song he started with Mac Miller. He switched them when the late rapper told him they would fit better with his rhymes for this song. Imagine Dragons and JID recorded "Enemy" for the Netflix series Arcane, which is set in the League of Legends video game's universe. The band previously recorded the song "Warriors" for the 2014 League of Legends World Championship. According to Reynolds, the song is "about reconciling internal conflict in a world where sometimes it feels impossible to trust even yourself." He added the song reflects Arcane's story of conflict between two sisters, leading to a division that threatens to tear a city apart. "Like the series," Reynolds said, "the song is meant to be both personal and a critique of a society that seems intent on creating division." Imagine Dragons and JID wrote the song with pop songwriter Justin Tranter and the Swedish production duo Mattman & Robin. Tranter and Mattman & Robin also collaborated with Imagine Dragons on their hit song "Believer."

(Look out for yourself)

I wake up to the sounds of the silence that allows
For my mind to run around with my ear up to the ground
I'm searching to behold the stories that are told
When my back is to the world that was smiling when I turned

Tell you you're the greatest
But once you turn, they hate us

Oh, the misery
Everybody wants to be my enemy
Spare the sympathy
Everybody wants to be my enemy
(Look out for yourself)
My enemy (look, look, look, look)
(Look out for yourself)
But I'm ready

Your words up on the wall as you're praying for my fall
And the laughter in the halls and the names that I've been called
I stack it in my mind and I'm waiting for the time
When I show you what it's like to be words spit in a mic

Tell you you're the greatest
But once you turn, they hate us (huh)

Oh, the misery
Everybody wants to be my enemy
Spare the sympathy
Everybody wants to be
My enemy (look, look, look, look)
(Look out for yourself)
My enemy (look, look, look, look)
(Look out for yourself)

They say pray it away
I swear, that I'll never be a saint, no way
A chair in the corner is my place I stay
I shake and I think about the powers at play, the powers at play
And the kids in the dark that were doomed from the start
The child in the basement, face to the pavement
Oh, what a statement, love is embracement
Love is a constant, love is a basis
He cannot be, she cannot be, they cannot be changed
But keep on praying
Goodbye

Oh, the misery
Everybody wants to be my enemy
Spare the sympathy
Everybody wants to be
My enemy

Oh, the misery
Everybody wants to be my enemy
Spare the sympathy
Everybody wants to be my enemy

Pray it away, I swear
I'll never be a saint, no way
My enemy
Pray it away, I swear
I'll never be a saint

(Look out for yourself)