To Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun,
So, I've never met either of you, but I just want to let you both know that your music has changed my life. See, this is mostly a letter of thankfulness. To people like me, you're more than just a band or a few radio hits on local pop stations. Your music is the tangible evidence of the battle between good and evil within every one of us, the reassurance that none of us are ever alone and the hope of the dawn that will break through our darkest nights.
Sometimes, it's so easy for us to feel alienated from the rest of the world, when we've been thinking too much, when we're the few, the proud, the emotional, when we move our feet to an introspective beat. But just when we feel like we're drowning in our own darkness, we hold onto the words that your music has given us.
When I want to fall away because I'm so very far from fine, I remember to stay awake, cause the dark's not taking prisoners tonight. When I fall in line with the world around me, lost in insignificance and mundaneness, I listen for a voice inside my head: "follow me instead." I will never forget that when life seems hopeless, the clouds above will hold me, the clouds above will sing. When shadows will scream that I'm alone, I can still hold onto the fact that peace will win and fear will lose. When there's an infestation in my mind's imagination, I tell myself, your soul knows good and evil, your soul knows both sides. I've picked my battle because of your music. You've told me, "no one else is dealing with your demons, meaning maybe defeating them could be the beginning of your meaning, friend."
Some of my friends and I at the Twenty One Pilots concert in Atlanta, on October 6th, 2015
I know that I'm never alone in the fight against evil, because my friends and I, we got a lot of problems. Yes, my friends and I have all been very impacted by your music; we know that these lyrics aren't for everyone, only few understand. The lyrics and melodies of your songs are our past, present and future. Your music is a reminder of the concerts we've been to and the times we've spent together with your songs, singing "Holding Onto You" at the top of our lungs while walking down a street or picking out the intro to "Addict with a Pen" on a piano. We may be older now, but you still remind us of when we used to play pretend, give each other different names, we would build a rocket ship and then we'd fly it far away, used to dream of outer space but now they're laughing at our face, saying, "Wake up, you need to make money." All the same, you remind us that as we get older, we have a reason for being in the world, that because we each have our unique perspectives and talents, the people around us will always say, "we all need you now."
We know who we are now. We've learned that we don't believe what's on TV, that our redemption won't grow stale, that every day, the sun will rise and we will try again.
Twenty One Pilots music has changed me for the better. It's true that we're broken people, but you have always reminded us that if we wake up every morning and decide what we believe, we can take apart our very heart and the Light will set us free.
From a fren and a proud member of the skeleton clique,
Alisa
All italicized text is directly quoted from the following songs by Twenty One Pilots: "Ride", "Fairly Local", "Holding Onto You", "Fall Away", "Ode to Sleep", "March to the Sea", "Before You Start Your Day", "Migraine", "Car Radio", "HeavyDirtySoul", "Isle of Flightless Birds", "Kitchen Sink", "Polarize", "Message Man", "Stressed Out", "Johnny Boy", "We Don't Believe What's On TV", "Lovely", "Truce", "Screen"
from www.azlyrics.com
