Analysis

Austin Hafner

English 1100

Analysis  Paper

Finding Yourself in “The Immortals”

Life is full of people who are true visionaries when it comes to songwriting. Every song you hear carries a message that the writer, or writers, want to convey to their audience. Some writers layer their songs with hidden meanings, or subliminal messages that only a selected few individuals would be able to understand. However, some of the greatest songs in the world carry a universal message that anyone can relate to. The song, “The Immortals,” written by the band Kings of Leon, is no exception to this category of songwriting. There are three specific lines, or phrases, throughout this literature that provide evidence to the overall meaning of this song. The first phrase is, “The open road, the path of greatness is at your fingers. Go be the one that keeps on fighting. Go be the stranger.” The second phrase is, “The windows are the perfect picture, they’re always changing. Go on get lost, jump in the waters when they are raging.” The third and final phrase is the chorus of the song, which reads, “Spill out on the streets of stars and ride away. Find out what you are face to face.” All three of these segments in the song depict the overall message, which is to live your life and make sure you love those around you.

The song’s first lyrical line starts out with the words, “The open road, the path of greatness is at your fingers” (Kings of Leon). This is a good lyric to open up the song because it gives the listener an image to picture in his or her mind. The words, “The open road” (Kings of Leon), provide an image of endless opportunity, kind of how when a painter starts out with a white canvas; he or she is limitless to the possibilities of what the painting could be. Then, as the vocalist, Caleb Followill, sings on, he reveals that it is not just any open road, but a road that has varying paths, greatness being one of them. Now it becomes a choice, to whoever the song is written to, for them to decide if they want the path of greatness or take a lesser route. However, since the path of greatness, “is at your fingers” (Kings of Leon), this means that although it is a choice for the listener to take this path, it is still a road that is made available and can be traveled through. The next part of the phrase reads, “Go be the one that keeps on fighting. Go be the stranger” (Kings of Leon). The point being made by the writer here is that he does not want his intended audience to take the easy way out. Before, he was singing how the path of greatness is a choice for us, but that it can be attained. However, he did not specify if that road would be an easy route to travel on. It may require us to fight for greatness in order to become great. Therefore, the writer now wants his audience to choose the path of greatness, to keep fighting for the chance to become great people. It may require that we go against some norms in our society and appear strange to the general public, but at the same time, great people are not normal people because of how great they are in their achievements or accomplishments. This first phrase in the song represent the overall message of the song because when we are living out the lives we want for ourselves, we are achieving a level of greatness within ourselves. Although it may appear strange to others, it is because one’s own path to greatness is different from the rest of the world.

The second phrase starts out with the words, “The windows are the perfect picture, they’re always changing” (Kings of Leon). This is probably one of the best, if not, the best line in the whole song because it uses a window as a metaphor for change in people’s lives. Whatever you see outside your bedroom window today will probably not be what you see ten years from now. The writer is using this metaphor to show his audience that life is too short to be standing in one place forever. No matter where life takes you, there will always be windows around to capture the changes in your life. Then, the writer follows up this great line with another equally good line, which reads, “Go on get lost, jump in the waters when they are raging” (Kings of Leon). Here, the writer is almost asking his audience what they will do. Are you going to stay in one place your whole life, or are you going to get out and explore what life has to offer? Will you jump in the raging waters of life, when times are tough, holding out for the moment when greatness comes your way? Overall, it is up to the listener to make that choice, but the writer is encouraging us throughout the song to not settle for a normal life, but to live out the lives we want for ourselves. This phrase lends itself to the message behind the song because it uses metaphors and symbolism to try and encourage the listener to fulfill the lives we were born to lead.

The final phrase, or the chorus of the song, says, “Spill out on the streets of stars and ride away. Find out what you are face to face” (Kings of Leon). It is evident here that the words “streets of stars” means almost the same thing as “path of greatness.” However, the use of  “streets of stars” (Kings of Leon) carries more significance here because, as a songwriter, you want to portray something bright and hopeful in the most significant section of the song. The chorus needs to be powerful, strong, and sum up the general idea, which this chorus does in a flawless manner. The whole concept of being spilled out on a roadway of stars, riding off into your own world of endless opportunity (Kings of Leon) provides beautiful imagery and texture to the song. Adding in the line, “Find out what you are face to face” (Kings of Leon), certainly ties the whole idea together because if we are going to live the lives we want and fully love those around us, we need to know ourselves, inside and out, and be willing to jump headfirst into life’s raging waters.

“The Immortals” is one of those songs that takes the listener through a soul-searching journey. It is all about finding oneself, searching for one’s own definition of greatness. When the going gets tough and life continues to act like a raging sea, this song is telling us to battle through it because they will aid in our own paths to greatness. Even though life can be harsh, it is  up to us to make our own lives what we want them to be. We are in charge of turning our dreams into a reality and “The Immortals” encourages us to follow them. 

Kings of Leon. "The Immortals." Come Around Sundown. RCA Records, 2010. CD