I feel like this song is about smoking heroin, from waking up sweating and aching in your bones to having to inhale chemicals to feel normal and good. Breaking in, shaping up and checking out on a prison bus could be reference to stealing for the habit, trying to get better, then getting in trouble while in a haze... or breaking in could refer to doing the drug, shaping up could refer to getting well, and checking out can be about nodding off on the drug. The music video seems like its about a bunch of drug dealers making and betting money on their beast (which is the drug), while the addicts are imprisoned below them because the drug is too powerful for them to beat. The girl that comes and saves them has a strong soul and power to finally conquer the monster and throw the drug kingpin into his own hell, while releasing the addicts from their prison cells and back into the world above ground.

This song is about being on heroin, when you start out the day you are freezing cold till you see your dealer - who is the only person you care about seeing, who seems like a saint coming to save you from being sick, and they are all about getting your gold, serving the gold, they seem golden when they finally show up, and they are stacking the gold due to the person's addiction. When a heroin addict gets high their body gets warm and their pupils turn pinpoint so you can look in their eyes and feel the heat off their body and see the demons they are hiding. "Chasing the dragon" is a reference to doing heroin so I always assumed Imagine Dragons were singing about their past struggles with drugs. All their lyrics seem like someone or all of them had an addiction or was dealing drugs in the past and ended up starting over at some point and starting a new chapter down a healthier and more successful road in life.