2012 single by Imagine Dragons
"It's Time " is the debut single by Americanrock bandImagine Dragons , released on February 6, 2012, as the lead single from the band's first major label EP,Continued Silence Night Visions It's Time YouTube since 2010.[ 4]
The song's production was handled byBrandon Darner , and its lyrics describe the narrator's resistance to change in the face of great turmoil. The single was created withoutDaniel Platzman , who joined the group later, and it includes contributions from early band membersAndrew and Brittany Tolman.
After "It's Time" was covered onGlee Billboard Hot 100Alternative Airplay ,[ 5] Adult Alternative Airplay ,[ 6] Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. Lasting 32 weeks, it had the longest run on the Alternative Songs Top 10 in 2012.[ 7] Austria (number 6),Czech Republic (number 10),Ireland (number 9),India (number 17)Japan (number 7),Billboard Pop SongsPortugal (number 6) and peaked at number 23 in the United Kingdom. It was certified Platinum by theRIAA andCRIA , and Platinum by theARIA . It was also nominated forBest Rock Video at the2012 MTV Video Music Awards .[ 8]
In February 2021, for the 25th anniversary of Adult Alternative Airplay,Billboard ranked "It's Time" at number 7 on its list of the 100 most successful songs in the chart's history;[ 9] [ 10] [ 11] [ 12]
Dan Reynolds toldThe Huffington Post
There's so many times you wake up at 3 a.m., grab a recorder on theiPhone and say something—a lyrical idea or melody—and then you lay it out inLogic later on and sometimes it makes no sense. We sat with 'It's Time' for a year or year-and-a-half. Sometimes you just have to let a song sit for a while. There's just something really special about it. I wrote it during a very hard time in my life. I had dropped out of college, and I was just sitting down at my computer, and I came up with this rhythm. And the words just wrote themselves. I knew I had something special coming. When a song is most honest and most raw that's when you know you're doing something right. A lot of my favorite artists are able to be in touch with their problems and put it through melodies. It happens all the time with bands."[ 13]
The music video debuted on April 17, 2012, on allMTV affiliates and the band was named PUSH Artist of the Week and later featured on PUSH Live.[ 14] [ 15] Yahoo Music 's Top Videos.[ 16]
The video starts with the band walking through a barren wasteland beneath a dark, cloudy sky. The sky begins to grow more turbulent as the band walks past old flags, boat wreckage, a destroyed bridge, and dead trees. BassistBen McKee opens a box he has been carrying and a pale light glows from within. The band removes a pebble-sized, glowing orb from the box. They dig a hole for it with their hands, and then drop the orb into the ground. Lead singerDan Reynolds then shouts, and in the next scene the band members are shown running away from their dig site. A large explosion throws Reynolds into the air where he seems to levitate (similarly to theContinued Silence
The music video was produced by Todd Makurath and directed by Anthony Leonardi III. Ian Clemmer, who created some of thevisual effects , wrote on his website that he "was asked to create big, large scale smoke explosions in a short amount of time, these are the end shots of the video ...."[ 17]
About two months after the original music video, another one was created for the Jailbreaks remix.[ 18]
On July 16, 2012, Imagine Dragons performed "It's Time" onThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno [ 27] [ 28] Jimmy Kimmel Live! Conan Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Hurricane Sandy . As a result, they performed the song to an empty audience, with only the cast and crew of Late Night being present. The band also performed and singer Dan Reynolds was interviewed on Norwegian and Swedish television showSkavlan [ 29]
Imagine Dragons plays "It's Time" at its live concerts, and although it's a "bigger single", the band plays it early in theirset list rather than last, as might be expected.[ 30]
On December 5, 2014, the group played an acoustic version at the end ofThe Game Awards (the inaugural ceremonies of said award show ), with Nintendo composerKoji Kondo playing on the piano as part of a medley of music fromThe Legend of Zelda
Maxi digital downloadNo. Title Producer(s) Length 1. "It's Time" Reynolds, Sermon, McKee, Platzman, Darner 4:00 2. "It's Time" (Passion Pit Remix) Reynolds, Sermon, McKee, Platzman, Darner,Michael Angelakos , Ian Hultquist, Jeff Apruzzese, Xander Singh 4:30 3. "It's Time" (Jailbreaks Remix) Reynolds, Sermon, McKee, Platzman, Darner, Jailbreaks 4:26 4. "Round and Round " (written by Reynolds, Sermon, McKee, Platzman,Alex da Kid ) Reynolds, Sermon, McKee, Platzman, Kid 3:17 Total length: 16:23
Remixes EPNo. Title Length 1. "It's Time" (Penguin Prison remix) 4:23 2. "It's Time" (Kat Krazy Remix) 3:28 3. "It's Time" (Jailbreaks Remix) 4:26 4. "It's Time" (StunGun and Jailbreaks Remix) 5:06
Decade-end chart performance for "It's Time" Chart (2010–2019) Position US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard )[ 75] 20
Certifications and sales for "It's Time" Region Certification Certified units /salesAustralia (ARIA )[ 76] 2× Platinum 140,000^ Austria (IFPI Austria)[ 77] Gold 15,000* Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil )[ 78] Diamond 250,000‡ Canada (Music Canada )[ 79] 3× Platinum 240,000‡ Germany (BVMI )[ 80] Platinum 300,000‡ Italy (FIMI )[ 81] Platinum 50,000‡ Mexico (AMPROFON )[ 82] Gold 30,000* New Zealand (RMNZ )[ 83] 2× Platinum 60,000‡ Spain (PROMUSICAE )[ 84] Platinum 60,000‡ Sweden (GLF )[ 85] Platinum 40,000‡ Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[ 86] Gold 15,000^ United Kingdom (BPI )[ 87] Platinum 600,000‡ United States (RIAA )[ 88] 7× Platinum 7,000,000‡ Streaming Denmark (IFPI Danmark )[ 89] Platinum 1,800,000† * Sales figures based on certification alone.^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.† Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.
Publication Country Accolade Year Rank Z100 United States Most Played Tracks of 2013[ 90] 2013 9
Release dates for "It's Time" Country Date Format Label United States[ 91] [ 92] February 6, 2012 Submodern rock radioInterscope Records February 20, 2012 Modern rock radioCanada[ 93] September 2, 2012 Digital download (Cherry Cherry Boom Boom remix) United States[ 94] United States[ 95] September 18, 2012 Contemporary hit radio Interscope Records Canada[ 96] October 2, 2012 Digital download(Passion Pit remix) Interscope Records KIDinaKORNER United States[ 97] Australia[ 98] November 9, 2012 Digital download Brazil[ 99] France[ 100] Italy[ 101] New Zealand[ 102] Philippines[ 103] Russia[ 104] South Africa[ 105] Spain[ 106] Switzerland[ 107] Mexico[ 108] November 13, 2012 Germany[ 109] December 7, 2012 Italy[ 110] January 11, 2013 Contemporary hit radio Universal Music United Kingdom[ 111] August 2, 2013 Digital download Interscope Records KIDinaKORNER
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