Twenty one pilots is easily one of my favorite bands. I love the creativity in their songs and instrument choices and they are super fun to watch live. (X Games, Aspen concert was incredible even though it was freezing!) While they are great performers and interesting musically, my favorite aspect of their music is their profound, thought-provoking lyrics. So here are, in my opinion, the Top Ten Best Twenty One Pilots Lyrics
10. As a walking denial/ My trial was filed as a crazy Suicidal head case/ But you specialize in dying/ You hear me screaming Father/ And I’m lying here just crying/ So wash me with your water. (“Addict with a pen” from Twenty one pilots, 2009)
We all have moments in life where we feel in over our heads or where life is weighing down on us, causing us to dislike the life we live. Josh writes about being suicidal in quite a few of his songs, which is brave, raw, and vulnerable, but this is one of the most upfront quotes. He also knows he can find comfort from the Father. His water will wash us clean and make us peaceful.
9. We all know somebody who knows somebody who’s doing great/ I know some people who know people who are flying straight/ But I’ll kindly enter into rooms of depression/ While ceiling fans and idle hands will take my life again. (“Glowing Eyes” from Regional at Best, 2011)
This is simply true. We all know people who are well-off and have it made. We know people who have figured it out. But we often gravitate toward the people we find similarity in.
8. I’ll pray that one day you see/ The only difference between life and dying is one is trying/ that’s all we’re going to do/ So try to love me and I’ll try to save you. (“Lovely” from Regional at Best, 2011)
Any one of us could be dead but we all remain alive because of our willpower to do so. We are trying, we are fighting to stay afloat and continue finding meaning in this life. As humans we must love and try to point each other toward freedom.
7. Why it’s got to be like this/ Is this living free?/ I don’t want to be the one/ be the one who has the sun’s blood on my hands/ I’ll tell the moon, take this weapon forged in darkness/ Some see a pen, I see a harpoon. (“Ode to Sleep” from Regional at Best, 2011)
Josh often feels gripped by depression and loneliness. He doesn’t want to kill the happiness (“the sun”) and cause others to be unhappy but he cannot find solace in his own depravity either. I feel we all get this way sometimes, where we just wish everyone would be as miserable as we are. Some see life differently. Some see it as a way of being creative and useful (“the pen”). Others see life as something that destroys us and sucks us dry (“the harpoon”).
6. Fight it, Take the pain, ignite it/ Tie a noose around your mind/ Loose enough to breathe fine and tie it to a tree/ Tell it, “You belong to me/This ain’t a noose, this is a leash/ And I have news for you: you must obey me.” (“Holding on to you” from Regional at Best, 2011)
Our minds are powerful machines and they can often run wild with negative, destructive thoughts. We become the master of these machines when we tie up our minds and direct them to think positively and encouragingly. We mustn’t choke our minds. We cannot force thought. But we can allow and disallow certain negativity and fight such barriers.
5. I don’t know if this song is a surrender or a revel/ I don’t know if this one is about me or the devil. (“The Judge” from Blurryface, 2015)
This phrase just flows so well in the song and as the music behind it gets louder and more dramatic, the words become a cry, almost an anthem. Sometimes the evil inside us drowns us and we do not know whether to surrender to that negativity or revel in it.
4. My flow’s not great, okay, I conversate with people who know if I flow on a song I’ll get no radio play. While you’re doing fine, there’s some people and I who have a really tough time getting through this life so excuse us while we sing to the sky. (“Screen” from Vessel, 2013)
Josh writes quite a few songs about having a different kind of music that will never be good enough on the radio. He expresses feeling inadequate in today’s music world but is desperate to make music anyway so he will continue to “sing to the sky.”
3. Out of student loans and treehouse homes we all would take the latter. (“Stressed Out” from Blurryface, 2015)
As a college student with buckets of loans, I deeply identify with this one! Our world puts so much stress on money and what we are supposed to do with it. Loans, mortgages, savings accounts, etc. and this causes us to forget the simple joys in life like tree houses.
2. “I’d die for you,” that’s easy to say/ We have a list of people that we would take/ A bullet for them, a bullet for you/ A bullet for everybody in this room/ But I don’t see many bullets coming through/Metaphorically, I’m the man/ But literally, I don’t know what I’d do/ “I’d live for you,” and that’s hard to do/ Even harder to say when you know it’s not true. (“Ride” from Blurryface, 2015)
It is much easier to be dead than alive. It would be much easier to take a bullet for someone than to live the life they live. I forget other people’s struggles and know that I would much rather die for someone I care about than continue on their legacy, no matter how great their life was. Let’s live for each other and lift each other up while we have the chance.
1. Are you searching for purpose? Then write something, yah it might be worthless/ Then paint something, then, it might be wordless/ Pointless curses, nonsense verses/ You’ll see purpose start to surface/ No one else is dealing with your demons/ Meaning maybe defeating them/ Could be the beginning of your meaning, friend. (“Kitchen Sink” from Regional at Best, 2011)
This is my favorite TOP quote. We all have, or should have, creative outlets. Artists must create and humans were made to be artists. No one else can see and feel the emotions we possess so we must express them the best way we can. Expressing them releases them from their power over us. Expressing our emotions may kick start our discovery of our self-purpose.
These lyrics are profound and make me think and I hope they do so for you too.
