《Radioactive》由梦想之龙乐队与制作人Alex Da Kid等人共同创作。在乐队准备伴奏乐器时，主唱丹·雷诺斯开始谱写乐曲的旋律和歌词。他们从和弦和旋律等基础方面开始录制，并在洛杉矶的Westlake Audio录音室录制完成了歌曲。乐队主唱丹·雷诺斯表示，歌曲引用了与“启示”相关联的词汇，但其所表达的含义并非仅停留在字面层次，是首关于振作、变得能够自我掌控，也是首关于他本人与抑郁、焦虑斗争的歌曲[7] 。
而混音版（与肯德里克·拉马尔合作）的说唱取自拉马尔的歌曲《m.A.A.d City》[3] 。
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh
I'm waking up to ash and dust
I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust
I'm breathing in the chemicals
I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus
This is it, the apocalypse
I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive
I raise my flags, don my clothes
It's a revolution, I suppose
We're painted red to fit right in