I'm Clifford Stumme, and I use literary analysis and research to explain the deeper meanings of pop songs. Feel free to leave a comment or to email me at clifford@popsongprofessor.com with questions or ideas!
All in twenty one pilots
After the small victory celebrated in "Not Today," it would seem that Twenty One Pilots frontman Tyler Joseph's Blurryface has come back. This last song on the band's new album Blurryface is a prayer to God. Tyler needs ultimately powerful help to rid himself of darkness and depression, and he's seeking it from a supernatural source.
Only two songs left on Twenty One Pilots' Blurryface, and this one's "Not Today." The song is clever and quick and engaging. Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun are forecasting the end of their album with a climactic fight against Tyler's alter-ego Blurryface, the darker part of him. The song is a powerful tell-off to a tendency that tries to compel him to recede into himself and to stay dark.
Twenty One Pilots released its album Blurryface a little early. They told everyone they planned to let it out on the 19th, but the Skeleton Clique woke up to Blurryfacefor sale this morning. The album had already been leaked last week, so some fans had it, but now everyone's purchasing and listening to it like mad. And for good reason. Blurryface is a strong album with an underlying theme threading its way through the entire thing, connecting song to song, developing conflicts and resolutions. One of the notable resolution songs is "Hometown."
Apparently, now it's time for Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun of Twenty-One Pilots to take on the entire music industry. In "Lane Boy," the two attempt to explain a musical style that seems to change with every Blurryface single that they release. The songs are intense and interesting, and this one, musically especially, is supercharged, a good match for the aggressive lyrics. The song describes the band's break from the direction of the music industry as well as a commitment to an entrepreneurship that doesn't focus on money.
"Message Man" has a hint of a reggae beat to it, but most of the song is full of intense bass drum and organ focused on Tyler's chanting and rapping verses and choruses that warn audiences that "[t]hese lyrics aren't for everyone" and that "these are just triplets"; "[y]ou don't know my brain / The way you know my name." Whatever Tyler truly hopes the audience to get out of "Message Man," he wants them to recognize the differences between song, artist, and meaning as well as the difference between understanding lyrics and just hearing them.
It's wonderful when a singer says exactly what you've been thinking, and I experienced that twice while listening to "We Don't Believe What's on T.V." Tyler Joseph has a real talent for being "in tune" with other members of his generation, and Twenty One Pilots' tenth song on Blurryface is a fun, ukulele driven example of that.
My first strategy to discover "Polarize's" meaning was to find a source that explained polarization. A lot of people wear polarized sunglasses, and they're advertised as something special, but do any of us know what "polarize" actually means? Of course, then I realized that reading the lyrics first would have been more helpful. The lead singer, Tyler Joseph, defines the word in one of the verses, so I needn't have wasted the time. But my search was worth it, and the information learned will come in handy later as we explore the meaning of Twenty One Pilots' ninth song on Blurryface, "Polarize."
It may be suggestive of what this song is about that I almost titled it "What does 'Doubt' by Blurryface mean?" "Doubt" by Twenty One Pilots seems as though it actually could have written by Tyler Joseph's alter-ego Blurryface as it recounts several of his fears and begs God to not "forget about me." The song is slow and methodical and iconic of the fears and anxieties that Tyler is dealing with in this album.
Since even Tyler Joseph doesn't know exactly what "The Judge" is about, explaining it may be more difficult than usual. He sings, "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." While that seems like something he should have sorted out by now, with a little help from the rest of the song, listeners will be able to forge their own way through what is actually a very beautiful seventh song on Twenty One Pilots' new album Blurryface.
Blurryface was leaked on May 11th when Tyler Joseph's alter ego, Blurryface, tweeted, "drip drip drip"; Twitter-intensity ensued with thousands of tweets coming from thousands of Twenty One Pilots followers asking thousands of questions. Where'd it leak? Who leaked it? How can I get a copy? Personally, I spent hours looking, but could only find spam and personal information farms. The album had been leaked through Ghost Tunes, but when I visited, it was locked up tight-only the singles were for sale.
"Stressed Out" is about the transition from childhood to adulthood. The music is intense and varied with a wide array of styles being mashed into the only 3:45 long, also-unique music video, in which Tyler and Josh revisit their childhood homes and families to ride kid's three wheelers and perform in their old bedrooms. But most interesting of all, the lyrics of "Stressed Out" are perhaps even deeper than those of the previous two songs from Blurryface, though they are a bit less symbolic and more sincerely clear.
Twenty One Pilots just came out with their next single from Blurryface, “Tear in My Heart,” and it’s a departure for them. Few of their songs are quite this upbeat or positive musically, and the lyrics are interesting because, in them, Tyler uses fairly dark imagery to suggest a positive meaning. Overall, the song’s really something special, especially for Twenty One Pilots to be creating. I think you’re going to like it.
“Fairly Local,” a single from Blurryface, was released last week, and it’s really good. While I’m afraid that it lacks a little bit of the lyrical depth of other Twenty One Pilots songs, the music is intense and interesting. I’m looking forward to seeing whether this is a precursor to a likewise album, or if they released it first because of it’s blood-pumping, energizing feel, and decided to save the even better stuff for later.
