Although I was sort of late on the whole "TOP" fad, in the past two years, thanks to a few of my closest friends, I've learned to rap and sing almost every one of Twenty One Pilot's songs. Now that I've weeded through the overplayed and found what I like to call their "holes in the wall," I've compiled a list of my all-time favorite lyrics. Appropriately, twenty-one of them. Not only do they question our society, but also controversial topics like mental health, religion, love, and so much more. Their songwriting and lyrics are possibly some of the most poetic and beautifully crafted sentences I've yet to see from an artist so popular. That being said, here they are in all their glory:
1. "You like to sleep alone. It's colder than you know. 'Cause your skin is so used to colder bones. It's warmer in the morning. Than what it is at night. Your bones are held together. By your nightmares and your frights." -The Pantaloon
2. "I began to understand why god died." -A Car, A Torch, A Death
The first time I heard this statement I had about three existential crisis's. Twenty One Pilots question religion, history, daily life, and everything in between and relate it to human existence in the best way possible. It's kind of incredible.
3. "Look in the mirror and ask your soul if you're alright. Put on the glitter that your soul hides behind." -Before You Start Your Day
4. "But 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." -Isle Of Flightless Birds
5. "We've turned our hands to guns, trade in our thumbs for ammunition." -Guns For Hands
Gun control anyone?
6. "I ponder of something terrifying. 'Cause this time there's no sound to hide behind. I find over the course of our human existence. One thing consists of consistence. And it's that we're all battling fear." -Car Radio
7. "I have these thoughts so often I ought to replace that slot with what I once bought. 'Cause somebody stole my car radio. And now I just sit in silence." -Car Radio
Yes I love this song so much I needed two sets of lyrics.
8. "And since we know that dreams are dead, And life turns plans up on their head. I will plan to be a bum. So I just might become someone." -House of Gold
9. “I don't care what's in your hair. I just want to know what's on your mind. I used to say I want to die before I'm old, but because of you I might think twice.” -We Don't Believe What's on TV
I can't be the only one to think this is both really depressing and really cute.
10. "Night falls with gravity. The earth turns from sanity. Taking my only friend I know. He leaves a lot, his name is "Hope"." -Semi-Automatic
Writer to writer, that personification though!
11. "We're broken. We're broken people." -Screen
I know this is a really short lyric and probably anyone could write it, but there's something about it that's always struck me.
12. "This is not rap, this is not hip-hop, Just another attempt to make the voices stop. Rapping to prove nothing, just writing to say something. 'Cause I wasn't the only one who wasn't rushing to say nothing. This doesn't mean I lost my dream. It's just right now I got a really crazy mind to clean." -Heavy Dirty Soul
13. "If I didn't know better I'd guess you're all already dead. Mindless zombies walking around with a limp and a hunch. Saying stuff like, "You only live once."" -Heavy Dirty Soul
Again, really love this song. At the end of the day we are kind of like mindless zombies, damn.
14. "Used to dream of outer space but now they're laughing at our face. Saying, "Wake up, you need to make money."" -Stressed Out
Yay capitalism.
15. "All these questions they're for real. Like "Who would you live for?", "Who would you die for?"And "Would you ever kill?" -Ride
Don't we all ask ourselves those questions on the daily?
16. "Sometimes you've got to bleed to know. That you're alive and have a soul. But it takes someone to come around to show you how." -Tear In My Heart
17. "You fell asleep in my car. I drove the whole time. But that's ok, I'll just avoid the holes so you sleep fine. I'm driving here I sit, cursing my government. For not using my taxes to fill holes with more cement." -Tear In My Heart
I will forever scream these lines in my car with all the windows down.
18. "He must've forgot to close his door. As he cranked out those dismal chords. And his four walls declared him insane." -The Judge
Twenty One Pilots has the best descriptions especially that of mental health. Whether it's depression, anxiety, or in this case my next best guess is schizophrenia, they've got it.
19. "Gnawing on the bishops, claw our way up their system. Repeating simple phrases, someone holy insisted. I want the markings made on my skin. To mean something to me again." -Doubt
20. "You don't know my brain the way you know my name. You don't know my heart the way you know my face." -Message Man
*Cue mic drop*
21. "I don't know why. I just feel I'm better off. Staying in the same room I was born in. I look outside, and see a whole world better off. Without me in it trying to transform it." -Not Today
For all the teenagers out there going through depression, anxiety, or anything in between these lyrics probably hit slightly close to home. I hope despite these hard hitting words, you know this world would never be better off without you in it trying to transform it. But Twenty One Pilots summarizes years and years of emotions perfectly into thirty seven words and a three minutes song.
Thanks for existing TOP, keep doing your thing.
