As the huge music fan I am, I find it hard not to draw connections between lyrics, and God. My favorite band is Twenty One Pilots. TØP (as they are often abbreviated) is a duo from Columbus Ohio, that specialize in a genre of music sometimes categorized as Alt HipHop/Alt Rock/Electronic Pop/Rap/Schizoid Pop/Indie...you get the idea. Though not advertised as a Christian band, both members were raised in Christians households. Their lyrics reflect stories of journeys, pain, love, friendship, and death. It gets deep.

One of the first songs I completely dissected is called Car Radio. On the surface, it is a story of a guy, who has the radio inside of his car stolen. He struggles to fill the space that music has taken inside of his car. He becomes uncomfortable in his car with the lack of sound. He lastly determines that he will have to just sit in silence. That's on the surface. But the second I heard this song I thought of something different. What if that spot was something else, a metaphor? Maybe you see where I am going...Maybe not. If not, that's cool, I'll break it down right now.

So the song opens:

I ponder of something great/ My lungs will fill and then deflate

This was one of the first things that stuck out to me. It may not seem obvious, but this is an important opening to a song. This opening is a big breath in, and out. Ironically (Or maybe not so ironic) this is how I begin a prayer. I must have picked that up at some point through confirmation, but without fail, before I pray, I breathe in and out deeply. So to me, the rest of the song can be seen as a prayer, or a response to an unanswered one (We will get to that soon, stay with me).

There is nothing worse being a Christian than when you pray to God and there is no answer. Or it is not the answer you were hoping for. In this song, God is the radio. And radios are something that is in every car. The only difference is how people use their radios. Some people have the windows down, radio turned way up playing happy feel-good music. Others keep the windows up, and listen to talk radio, about sports, news, or politics. Some people have their radio, but choose not to use it. This is the same with God. God is in everyone's life, some people show it everywhere they go, some just use the conversations or readings, and some do nothing. The only problem is when you are used to blasting and proclaiming God all the time, is when things go quiet, it gets weird. It gets uncomfortable.

For some people they lose their safety blanket. They lose the thing that they can stand behind.

Sometimes quiet is violent I find it hard to hide it/ My pride is no longer inside/ It's on my sleeve/ My skin will scream/ Reminding me of/ Who I killed inside my dream I hate this car that I'm driving/ There's no hiding for me I'm forced to deal with what I feel/ There is no distraction to mask what is real/ I could pull the steering wheel

When God doesn't answer you feel naked, you feel alone. This causes over thinking, like the song says. You feel like you have to do everything on your own. But the last verse in the above section is the most important. "I could pull the steering wheel." That's how you turn, that's how you move, YOU are still in control of the car. No matter how alone you feel, the car still moves, and you can still determine the direction you go.

The over thinking continues:

Oh dear, I don't know if we know why we're here /Oh my, /Too deep /Please stop thinking /I liked it better when my car had sound

A radio in a car does something else too. The loud music keeps us awake, physically.

There's faith and there's sleep/We need to pick one please because/Faith is to be awake/And to be awake is for us to think /And for us to think is to be alive

When God is slow to respond it is common to try to replace that feeling with something else.

I have these thoughts /So often I ought /To replace that slot /With what I once bought

But nothing can replace God. Nothing can fit into the spot in the car. Your heart.

So the story goes: There is a guy who prayed to God. He needs guidance and help. He prays, but there is only silence. This drives him crazy. He becomes mad, mad at God, mad at himself, mad at the world. His thoughts eat him away and he feels helpless. He thinks of ways to replace God, but nothing will do. He falls asleep, but in the sleep he can only dream of God, not get any real help, so he forces himself to stay away to show his true commitment to God. He discovers that he can still control his life. He is in charge. But still he waits. He sits. Waiting for God.

Or maybe someone really broke into his car and took his radio...