Top 5- Twenty One Pilots

Head count!

So, we have:

• Two Tylers (Glenn and Joseph)
• Brendon and Brandon (Close enough)
• Three Daniels (all from Imagine Dragons)

Anyway, welcome back! Today’s post guest stars Ajax and Hedera. Ajax’s comments will be in italics, and Hedera’s will be in bold. Apart from that, this is gonna be normal.

Well, as normal as this ever gets.

As predicted, Twenty One Pilots won by a landslide, with no votes for Midnight Oil. I feel bad for them, but you all have to put up with my rants next week.

Okay, enough of that.

Today’s focus is Twenty One Pilots, which I haven’t really listened to all that much.

I have. I’ve listened to them a lot.

I love them. They’re amazing.

Same. *laughs maniacally*

Shut up, you two.

When I did a Top 5 for these guys before, I got about as far as Heathens, but that’s because I had stuff to do. So hopefully we’ll do a little better this time.

Today’s song list goes: Stressed Out, Heathens, Ride, Tear In My Heart, and Heavydirtysoul. (that is all one word.)

So, let’s get started!

As always, the songs are linked to the titles, so if you want you can listen while you read.

I would recommend it.

LISTEN TO THEM. (please)

And after those wise words from Ajax and Hedera, we’re ready. So, buckle up, boys and girls. It’s time.

Stressed Out

Aren’t we all?

From the beginning, this song has a beat that gets you moving. It’s good for a Monday morning. Maybe that should be a post.

When the lyrics start, you think ‘Is he complaining about writing the song?’ Yes, yes he is.

I think he’s complaining, but that’s just my opinion. And my opinion is amazing.

Then, we get to a point where he talks about insecurity, saying ‘My name is Blurryface and I care what you think’.

And we hit the chorus, and… the beat stops. Given that he’s wishing to ‘turn back time’, it’s a cool effect. Because the beat is present up to that point, it makes you stop and think. Background music affects your perception of a song’s meaning more than you might realise, and Twenty One Pilots use this really well. The lyrics talk about wanting to return to when life was easier, about when ‘we used to play pretend’ and when things were simpler, but ‘now we’re stressed out’.

The verses seem to center on what life is like now, about how writing songs is hard and wishing that things weren’t as hard. It then talks about remembering when he was young, and about his brother.

We then have the Blurryface prechorus. While I don’t have a theory, Ajax and Hedera do, and they’re convinced it’s a physical representation of his depression. Which does make sense.

However, the beat stops and we have the ‘turn back time’. This almost literally turns back time, talking about when he was a kid and when things were better.

Overall, this song is about how things were easier when you were young, and how adult life is hard. It’s a well-written, well composed song that is most definitely worth a listen, and deserves its place on the Top 5 list.

Heathens

You’re thinking, where have I heard this song? I’m saying, it’s from Suicide Squad.

While the movie sucked, the song doesn’t.

THE MOVIE WAS GREAT I LOVED IT NOT ONLY DID IT HAVE AN AMAZING SOUNDTRACK IT HAD AMAZING EVERYTHING.

I do like the movie, but it’s DC, so…

Well, I’m not DC-ist, so…

I am.

So am I. Now shut it.

As opposed to Stressed Out, which starts with a steady beat, this song has a slow build to the lyrics. It also starts with the chorus, which is interesting.

This song is pretty unsettling, with both the lyrics and the music. If you listen carefully to the vocals, underneath the singer’s voice, there’s at least one echo, which appears again later in the song, but is present throughout. It’s more often a higher version, but in the second repeat of the chorus at the beginning it’s a deeper, more ominous sounding one. This is the same voice (I think) saying ‘Watch it’ later on while the higher one sings the first two lines of the chorus. (Apparently, according to Genius, the deep vocal is supposed to be Blurryface. This whole thing may end up being another post, because I don’t want to go into too much detail about the few theories I (and Ajax and Hedera) have about this, but I will probably revisit this)

This makes it even more unsettling, even though it’s not necessarily noticed at first. It’s reminding you that things aren’t always what they seem, and the lyrics do this as well, by saying things like ‘You don’t know the half of the abuse’, ‘You’re lovin’ on the psychopath sitting next to you’, ‘You’re lovin’ on the murderer sitting next to you’. It’s continually revisiting the idea of not knowing the full extent of what people have experienced, and not judging them by first, or even second or third impressions.

By far, my favourite part of this song is the very end. Particularly, the last line, which goes a little like this:

‘It looks like you might be one of us’

The way this ends, with no outro music, is pretty much perfect. It leaves you on (almost) a cliffhanger (not quite Infinity War level but up there). It does an excellent job of leaving you with something to think about, by leaving the story unfinished. Once again, it’s returning to the theme of not knowing the full story.

Damn, I’m starting to like these people more and more.

Onwards!

Ride

Well, guys. Past this point, I have no idea what to expect.

So, this’ll be fun!

Well, I was not expecting that. This seems like an oddly upbeat intro, but hey, I’m not complaining. It’s good.

Once again, we have the background music supporting the lyrics and the meaning. The chorus says ‘I’m falling, so I’m taking my time on my ride’. At first glance, it seems like the music is in contrast to it, but after thinking about it, it’s not. What I think he’s saying is that he’s enjoying the ‘downward spiral’, so to say. (if you get that reference, you’re my new best friend). If you’re ‘falling’, figuratively, then why not enjoy the ride, if you can’t stop it? It’s talking about letting yourself go, about going with the flow.

Another thing: the second chorus talks about dying being easier than living. For example ‘I’d die for you, that’s easy to say’, ‘I’d live for you, that’s hard to do/Even harder to say when you know it’s not true’, ‘Who would you live for? Who would you die for?/ And would you ever kill?’

It’s struggling with the idea that promises people make to each other don’t always mean what they sound like. It also touches on the idea of overthinking in the bridge and outro, quite literally saying ‘I’ve been thinking too much (help me)’

There’s so much to think about with this song, and it’s worth listening to and seeing if you get the same conclusions, or completely different ones.

And with that, we move on. Before I get sucked into an endless stream of analysis.

It has happened before.

Tear In My Heart

I’m a little nervous about this, because the title sounds like it’s gonna be sad. And we all know how good I am with sad songs. (I cry.) *cough, cough* SongsICan’tListenTo *cough, cough* HereWithMe *cough, cough* Wow, some cold going around recently.

That’s not quite what I expected, but good. It doesn’t come across as particularly depressing, but we haven’t gotten into the analysis.

Yet.

It’s different to the others on this list so far, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. As we all know, Variety Is Fun™.

I want to say that this is a love song, albeit not a typical one, but I also know from my limited experience with Twenty One Pilots that nothing is as it seems. But we’re going to take it as that, after a quick trip to Genius, which is pointing out that this is the only song not to have Blurryface. Was Blurryface in Ride? I didn’t notice, but apparently.

It’s also inspired by his wife, so that’s good. Those songs tend to be the best, just because. I do have evidence to support this statement.

I want to draw attention to a certain line, which goes like this:

‘My heart is my armor/ She’s the tear in my heart’.

Why this line, you ask? Well. Let’s start with the first one. He’s comparing his heart to armor. Now, this makes me think that this person is someone who doesn’t open up easily. Am I right?

Now, the ‘tear in my heart’ part. At first, I thought that this meant that this person was the cause of pain. But no. If his heart is armor, then she’s the tear in the armor, the person he lets in. She’s the tear, the one who can get past the defenses.

*cue tears for the next week*

Heavydirtysoul

Okay. I feel like this might be the sad one. Either that, or I need to stop trying to judge songs by their titles.

Disclaimer: I am reading the lyrics off Genius. This is because I have the multitasking capability of a small fish, and therefore don’t have the ability to write and concentrate on the words. They’re too fast for my small fish brain.

Now that we have that out of the way, there’s a lot to go into with this song, so let’s get going.

First point: As in Stressed Out, he’s almost ‘breaking the fourth wall’, as it were. (I know that’s not the right phrase. I just can’t think of a different one. Small fish brain, remember?). He’s talking about the song. ‘This is not rap, this is not hip hop/ just another attempt to make the voices stop’. He’s using the music as a release, a way to form his thoughts. I feel like everyone does this somehow, whether it’s music in some form, writing, drawing, dance, sport, whatever. We all need something, however it might not be to make the voices stop, as it’s explained in the song.

Second point: You knew it was coming to this. ‘Can you save my heavy, dirty soul?’ This could be interpreted in a few ways. He could be asking the music, the ‘release’, if it can save him. My opinion is that it’s a general call for help to whoever’s listening. Later on, he also says ‘Sing it with me if you know what I’m talking about’, which makes me think that this song is directed specifically at the listener. It makes for an interesting effect.

Third point: This one was brought to my attention by Genius, which has quickly become my new favourite website. It says that it’s talking about how people look up to him, but ‘he’s not a hero’. I think that’s honestly an interesting idea, and it makes sense. When you think of your idol, or your role model, you think of a person with no flaws, and people then have to live up to this expectation.

So, there are my three main points. Once again, there’s so much that could be taken from this song, and it’s worth listening to it and coming up with your own ideas.

Conclusion

This post has been fun to write. Rarely do I get songs like this with so much meaning to them, and so much to analyse. I think I’m getting better, actually.

Probably not, but oh well.

It’s definitely worth a shot, and I will probably do some more investigating into Blurryface and do a post on that. You know, after I get through the list.

Honourable mention: Heathens

This is one of my favourites, because it’s reminding you that things aren’t what they seem. Also, I just think it’s awesome.

Thank you to Ajax and Hedera, for introducing me to Twenty One Pilots, and helping with my analysis of Stressed Out and Heathens. They did disappear after that, but I’m sure one or both of them will appear in the comments.

Anyway, speaking of comments, I want to know what you guys think. Did I miss anything? Probably. Feel free to point out things I missed and give me your interpretations.

Next week, this small fish brain will be back, with Midnight Oil and a whole lot more terrible jokes. More than in this post, anyway.

In the wise words of Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vanucci:

We hope you enjoyed your stay. It’s good to have you with us, even if it’s just for the day.

See ya!