Falling in the Trenches of Twenty One Pilots

Twenty One Pilots is infamous for their two songs “Stressed  Out” and “Ride” both from their BlurryFace album. This two-piece band from Ohio started in 2009 as they went on tour for the first time ever. First stop--Park Ridge, IL. Tyler Joseph, the singer for twenty one pilots, had previously written an album in his basement called No Phun Intended. However, it wasn’t until the second album Regional At Best that him and drummer Josh Dun started touring and using songs off of that record instead. If you want to learn more about these two humble kids starting out I highly recommend watching their Regional At Best: The Web Series as you see how they grew from about 11 people in their crowd to 27,000 and more. Now onto Vessel, I believe Vessel was really the catalyst for their huge success even though their following grew very quickly. “Car Radio”, also in their Regional at Best album, was re-released for their new album Vessel and the masses quickly ate it up. It still leaves an impact at over 200 million views on YouTube years after (as of 2018). Then came the album Blurryface. This new album brought in a completely different side of the band. Previous songs on other albums had shown Tyler’s underlying pains through carefully placed lyrics but this whole album revolved around Tyler’s insecurities and even giving it a name and body calling it blurryface. Tyler also put black paint on his hands and neck to make a physical representation of his insecurities. Most of the bands music videos were dark and didn’t show much hope with their ending song on the album being called “Goner”. But they weren’t gone, not at all. The success of their last album before Trench led them to be at the top of the music industry and be given countless opportunities however, with all this coming so rapidly, twenty one pilots didn’t know what they were going to do next.

After the Blurryface album they took a hiatus from everything. Absolutely everything. No twitter or instagram posts and no pictures seen of them with fans for a whole year. That is until the band sent to everyone on the fan list “ARE YOU STILL SLEEPING?” to which every fan from the skeleton clique, another word for Twenty One Pilots devoted fans, went nuts over. Shortly after that message, Twenty One Pilots awoke from what seemed like an endless year and shared with everyone their Bandito Tour off of their new album, Trench. But they didn’t stop there. They also released two new songs “Jumpsuit” and “Nico and The Niners” along with a music video for “Jumpsuit”. In the typical Twenty One Pilots fashion, hidden messages in the music video were strewed about giving fans, myself included, a taste of the new era. The dark greens and subtle hints of yellow exude a different emotion than that of the Blurryface album but still show us the comfortable construct of previous arrangements from the band.

Now, let us dive into Trench. “Neon Gravestones” on this album is arguably one of the saddest and most carefully thought out lyrically because of the gravity of the words. In previous albums, Tyler has discussed thoughts of death even from his first album, No Phun Intended. However, every single one is different in meaning and delivery. With “Neon Gravestones”, Tyler addresses his personal thoughts on suicide. He states that he understands that thoughts of suicide is nothing short of miserable but that he wants anyone to fight it if they are having thoughts about it. The biggest driving point is this---suicide is nothing to praise or be glorified. One of the first lines says, “Communicating, further engraving an earlier grave is optional way…no.”, with this he makes it clear on his stance. Many people admire Twenty One Pilots for their lyrics and not shying away from something as taboo as death and thoughts of it. However, not everyone is like that. Some people think that they embed those thoughts in minds that hadn’t thought of it before and are encouraging it. Based on this song, interviews, and previous albums this couldn’t be far from the truth. This song exemplifies the bands stance and wants you to remember that you can live and fight this fight. They encourage everyone to grab someone older and thank them because “to life they were dedicated, now that should be celebrated”.

Let us explore the brilliance of  “My Blood”. The music video for this song was quite a surprise.  It shows two brothers going through typical teen antics with one particular brother being a little more adventurous yet less cautious than the other brother. With any good angsty video, there are bullies. They pick on the two brothers in multiple situations but the final straw happens at a Halloween party. The two brothers are dressed in skeleton costumes (quick shout out to the skeleton clique); once the bullies realize they are at the same party they push one of the brothers around. The other brother, the quiet one, runs in the house and grabs a bat to protect his brother. The bullies run away and you would think that all is good. But, it turns out the brother is just a figment of his imagination and is his way of coping from family trauma. I think what Twenty One Pilots are trying to say is that you don’t have to face this world alone. Someone will always be there. The title “My Blood” could also have to do with Tyler and his bloodline or, in other words, his family. Like any good Twenty One Pilots music video, the purpose of that video is up for you to decide.

It is clear that Trench is an interesting and completely different entity than Blurryface and is definitely something to listen to for yourself. If you have only listened to “Ride” and ‘Stressed Out” on the radio I strongly encourage delving deeper into Twenty One Pilots discography. Nothing is wrong with those songs, for they are also carefully and thoughtfully written, but people tend to have preconceived thoughts about the band before they really listen to what they are about. What are Twenty One Pilots intentions you ask? Well, one of the main points Twenty One Pilots have driven through many interviews is this---you should make your own interpretations and your own meanings about the band. From the logo to the lyrics, Twenty One Pilots remains a mystery that every fan continues to solve for themselves.