American alternative pop rock band Imagine Dragons released their ‘Birds’ animated music video this morning, and it’s beautiful and sad.
But it also promotes a beautiful life message — Be yourself. Fly high. Love will never die.
‘Birds’ is from the just-released Deluxe Edition of Origins, the band’s 2018 fourth studio album. An extended version of the hit album that adds ‘Birds’, ‘Burn Out’ and ‘Real Life‘ to the original release.
The international Deluxe Version also adds a fourth new track — ‘Born To Be Your’s’ feat. Kygo.
The Imagine Dragons ‘Birds‘ animated music video tells the story of a young boy who goes out with his mother one day, and suddenly learns he is from a family of people that can grow feathers and wings and fly.
After he and his mother have spent time together flying, his mother gives him a pendant of bird.
Soon after, he starts school but, as he rushes to show his bird pendant to a group of girls who are playing with their dolls, he trips and falls. Feathers and wings immediately sprout from his body, and everyone in the school points and laughs.
From then on, he doesn’t ever want to admit he has wings or can fly, so he puts his pendant away. But throughout his school life, he is still made fun of and he doesn’t have any friends.
One day, his mother, seeing how unhappy he always is, finds his pendant and tries to give it back to him. But the boy, who is now a teenager, gets angry and runs away, growing wings and flying off at speed into a lightning storm.
His mother, worried about his safety, chases after him and catches him as the storm damages his wings. But, as she is lowering him gently to the ground, lightning strikes, hitting her and killing her.
We then see the boy sitting in his kitchen. Alone. Crying.
The video does have a happy ending, however, because years later when he is a young man, as he is holding the pendant, it changes into a ball of light and flies away.
The man grows his wings and flies off after it until, high up in the sky, the ball of light changes into his mother who smiles down on him lovingly.
The Imagine Dragons ‘Birds‘ animated video was drawn and directed by American filmmaker, director and animator Zac Wong.
Watch it below. It’s beautiful.
And remember — Be yourself. Fly high. Love will never die.
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