Almost two years ago, my boyfriend's brother introduced me to Twenty One Pilots, made up of Tyler Joseph as lead singer, pianist, ukulele player and Josh Dun on drums and the trumpet. The first song I heard by the duo was “Car Radio” and I instantly became addicted. I was now a "fangirl", something I thought I would never be. I even traveled 3,000 miles to see them.
Their music genre is one of its own and is often described as screamo, ukulele rap or schizophrenic pop.
Tyler Joseph writes all of their songs himself with minimal help. In his songs, he talks about the struggles of mental illness, finding purpose in life and the hardships of life and growing up, all things that many people, like myself, wrestle with.
Screen
This is my all-time favorite song. He raps 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. Here he brings us together to fight for happiness and positivity.
This is definitely my favorite lyric and anyone who has ever looked at my dashboard in my car has seen the sticky note with this lyric that I use as a reminder that I am not alone in what I feel and to keep moving forward.
Kitchen Sink
This song comes off Regional at Best, an album not officially released. You don’t know what that means, because a kitchen sink to you, is not a kitchen sink to me.There’s a lot of speculation as to what the kitchen sink is. My belief is the kitchen sink represents the realization of your purpose and what you’re meant to do in life.
My friend once said to me, “You’ll find your kitchen sink one day”.
Another line from this song is, Nobody else is dealing with your demons, meaning maybe defeating them could be the beginning of your meaning, friend. This line definitely helped in encouraging me to fight on to find my purpose and what drives me. Tyler said in an interview, that we all have a unique, different purpose that we create.
Lovely and Truce
The song “Lovely” has the line, Won’t you stay alive and the song “Truce” begs Stay alive, stay alive for me. When I hear these lyrics when I’m feeling down, I feel stronger. “Stay Alive” has become my mantra.
Stressed Out
The newly popular song is relatable in more ways than one. I have found myself wishing I could go back to being a kid before having to work, pay bills and having responsibilities and people depending on me. I don’t think I’ve met one college student who hasn’t wished to turn back time to the good old days and talk about how now we’re stressed out.
Holding On To You
This song is in my top five and means a lot to me. When I was going through a tough time, someone sent to me the second verse:
Fight it, take the pain, ignite it
Tie a noose around your mind
Loose enough to breath 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
And when I saw them in concert and he performed this song, I couldn't help but cry.
He’s telling you that you control your mind, your mind doesn’t control you. The ruminations and the negative thoughts do not have power over you. And when the darkness starts to evade my mind, I think of this and it really helps set me at ease.
They Could Change Your Life, Too.
If I hadn’t listened to this band, I feel like I wouldn’t be where I am today. Twenty One Pilots motivates me and they have helped me through so much already. I know that I’m not the only person who has been greatly impacted by this band and I really hope that more people listen to them and the messages they’re spreading.
Stay alive. I-/
