SONG REVIEW: NOT TODAY (2016)
Written by: Mike Daly, Wayne Sermon, Daniel Reynolds, Daniel Platzman, Benjamin McKee and Imagine Dragons.
Performed by: Imagine Dragons from the album “Evolve” (2017) and the “Me Before You” soundtrack (2016)
“Not Today” is a beautiful, poignant ballad and is one of the most memorable songs I have heard from the new batch of music nowadays. Seldom do I get impressed with new songs. It became an instant personal favorite when I heard it being played at the end part of the love story “Me Before You” which was based on the novel by Jojo Moyes.
The song celebrates the love which has unexpectedly blossomed between a wealthy businessman, Will Traynor (played by Sam Claflin), who is hit and paralyzed in a motorcycle accident, and a bubbly, perky and beautiful caregiver, Louisa Clark (played by Emilia Clarke), who takes care of him and gives him some fleeting happiness and hope in life despite his condition.
However, the movie’s ending contradicts the essence of life and hope that the movie was pushing for when the main character decides to end his pain and suffering through euthanasia which had long been his wish before meeting his new love. And the song’s title aptly says it all in the end “Not Today.”
With such a hauntingly beautiful melody, apt lyrics and simple arrangement, the song is perfectly interpreted by lead singer Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons (an American rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada) and is able to capture the lingering sadness of the main character who is given a new but temporary lease on his perceived hopeless existence.
