“Enemy” by Imagine Dragons

Before summer break started, I found a small list of shows and movies that I would love to watch during the vacation. One of them was Arcane, which I started to watch last week.

I actually knew of the song before watching Arcane. I remember in 2021 to 2022, when the show first released, “Enemy” was remixed by people online repeatedly for memes, especially a violin version that plays when something cool happens in a video.

Now as I actually watch the show, I understand the lyrics and meanings of the song much better. In every episode of Arcane, an opening title shows statues and slow motions of characters while “Enemy” plays in the background. Many parts of the lyrics talk about survival and betrayal, like the line “Tell you you're the greatest, but once you turn, they hate us.” I thought this was about self-confidence, but it is actually about how people around are threats that would backstab you.

Some parts about the song’s design really inspired me. Many of the beats/bass are made to sync to the animations where the camera zooms in to different visual effects. Paired with the animation, “Enemy” gave a really dark and dystopian feel to the viewers.