Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun form American electro-pop duo Twenty One Pilots. Formed in 2009 in Columbus, Ohio, the band originally included two former members Nick Thomas and Chris Salih. The band released a number of independently produced albums before being signed and producing their debut album Vessel in 2013. They were also chosen to record their song “Heathens” for the 2016 film based on Batman supervillains which made it onto the top 10 singles charts in the United States. The duo’s relatable lyrics in their tunes ultimately led to them earning their first Grammy award for their Pop Duo/Group Performance. The quotes below will give you a good idea of the heartwarming verses that punctuate the popular songs from Twenty One Pilots.
There’s always that fear of your own head and the things you’re going to think.
I ponder of something great, My lungs will fill and then deflate,They fill with fire, Exhale desire
No one looks up anymore ’cause you might get a raindrop in your eye. And heaven forbid, they see you cry as we fall in line.
After talking to people and meeting them every day, I realize that a song can be written from one perspective with an objective in mind. What is crazy about it is that many different people can take one song a totally different way. That is so cool, since music is a universal thing and a very personal thing.
There’s miles of land in front of us and we’re dying with every step we take. We’re dying with every breath we make and I’ll fall in line.
Just because I play the piano
Doesn’t mean I, I’m not willing to take you down
Doesn’t mean I, I’m not willing to take you down
Blurryface is this guy who represents everything I’m insecure about. Honestly, we all know that we’re insecure about certain things, but what we don’t totally understand is how those insecurities affect our day-to-day life. So it’s helped me give my insecurities a seat at the table, so I can stare across at him and give him a name and face and personality. I can kind of retaliate and I can see these insecurities for what they are, and so this guy named Blurryface is someone that I’m trying to understand — but also defeat every day.”
As he cranked out those dismal chords
And his four walls declared him insane
And his four walls declared him insane
I’m not sure I want to give you tools that can destroy my heart.
Nobody thinks what I think, Nobody dreams when they blink. Think things on the brink of blasphemy. I’m my own.
Am I the only one I know, waging my wars behind my face and above my throat.
I must’ve forgot, you can’t trust me,
I’m open a moment and close when you show it,
Before you know it, I’m lost at sea,
And now that I write and think about it,
And the story unfolds,
You should take my life,
You should take my soul.
I’m open a moment and close when you show it,
Before you know it, I’m lost at sea,
And now that I write and think about it,
And the story unfolds,
You should take my life,
You should take my soul.
He thinks that faith might be dead. Nothing kills a man faster than his own head. He used to see dreams at night. But now, he’s just watching the backs of his eyes.
We’ve made it this far kid.
Music can connect people on an intimate level. What Josh and I are trying to do is represent anyone who has some of the questions that we have.
I wanna strip myself a breath, a breathless piece of death I’ve made for you. A mortal writing piece of song will help me carry on.
A lot of things you do to cover up insecurities can be just as harmful to you as anything else.
You will hide from everyone, denying you need someone to exterminate your bones. Friend, please remove your hands from over your eyes for me. I know you want to leave but, friend, please don’t take your life away from me.
I don’t fall slow like I used to; I fall straight down. You’ve stolen my air catcher that kept me safe and sound.
It is true that if you hear our music described, it sounds unappealing. I used to laugh and agree with people when they said it didn’t make any sense.
That’s the philosophy that we have always had. Going and playing in front of people and leaving an impressive from that standpoint.
I won’t fall in love with fall in. I will try to avoid those eyes.
We come from a sensory-overload culture, and so we wonder if one guy on drums and one guy dancing around is enough. Adding guys was something we always were curious about. We decided for this run specifically to stay a two-piece. In the future, we definitely could add members.
Put out the glitter that your soul hides behind.
I remember the first time I ever showed my parents a song that I had written. The content may have been a little darker than they were used to, or really introspective in a way that may have been uncomfortable. I thought they’d retaliate with some kind of judgment or concern about whether I was feeling all right, but they were proud of it.
Growing up, money is important. And now I have a career where I’m making enough money to live. But I really want to give it to my parents, my family, charities, and people around me.
I don’t care what’s in your hair I just want to know what’s on your mind.
I’m screaming submission and I don’t know if I am dying or living ’cause I will save face for name’s sake. Abuse grace, take aim to obtain a new name and a newer place.
I was doing fine on my own and there wasn’t much I lacked. But you’ve stolen my air catcher, and I don’t know if I want it back.
If you’re one of them then you’re one of me. And you’d do almost anything just to feel free.
He thinks that faith might be dead. Nothing kills a man faster than his own head. He used to see dreams at night. But now, he’s just watching the backs of his eyes.
It’s a funny thing. I’ll be in my home town of Columbus at a restaurant or something, and the waiter maybe asks, ‘What do you do?’ and I say, ‘Oh, I’m in a band… Twenty One Pilots,’ and he’ll say, ‘Cool, I’ll check it out. I never heard of them.’ And then I say, ‘In September we’re playing the Schottenstein Center,’ and it’s like, ‘What?!’
Take my hand, take my whole life too
If I can’t help falling in love with you
If I can’t help falling in love with you
There was a lot of pressure to find a genre and stick to it. People would tell me all the time, ‘You can’t be all things to everyone.’ I would say, ‘I’m not trying to be! I’m being what I want to be for myself.’
There’s miles of land in front of us and we’re dying with every step we take. We’re dying with every breath we make and I’ll fall in line.
Though I’m weak and beaten down,
I’ll slip away into this sound,
The ghost of you is close to me,
I’m inside-out, you’re underneath.
I’ll slip away into this sound,
The ghost of you is close to me,
I’m inside-out, you’re underneath.
Josh is the guy in the band who’s just so friendly and super, wanting to walk up to you and say, ‘Hey, I’m Josh. I drum in this band, and I’m a big fan of you, and I really appreciate what you do.’ Josh has all these great friends in the industry now.
They say, “Stay in your lane, boy, lane, boy”
But we go where we want to
They think this thing is a highway, highway
But will they be alive tomorrow?
But we go where we want to
They think this thing is a highway, highway
But will they be alive tomorrow?
I will make you queen of everything you see.
I think throughout the day; there are always lines or certain words, and I’ll just keep notes in my phone. It might just be one or two words, and then that could inspire a whole song, lyrically.
Twenty One Pilots’ is a play by Arthur Miller, who also wrote ‘All My Sons.’ It’s about a guy who’s creating and developing parts for airplanes in war time, when it comes to his attention that some of these parts were faulty.
Death inspires me like a dog inspires a rabbit.
I’ve been thinking too much. Help me.
I know where you stand
Silent in the trees
And that’s where I am
Silent in the trees
Silent in the trees
And that’s where I am
Silent in the trees
You are out of my mind, oh
You aren’t seeing my side, oh
You waste all of this time trying to get to me
But you are out of my mind
You aren’t seeing my side, oh
You waste all of this time trying to get to me
But you are out of my mind
You will hide from everyone, denying you need someone to exterminate your bones. Friend, please remove your hands from over your eyes for me. I know you want to leave but, friend, please don’t take your life away from me.
When you play a show or festival, people know what they’re getting; they want it. Then you’re thrown onto a show where people are watching TV in their houses, and whether they ask for it or not, we’re being played in front of them. There’s a lot of negative feedback.
Don’t forget about me even when I doubt you, I’m no good without you.
Hello, I’ve been traveling in the deserts of my mind. And I haven’t found a drop of life.
You can close your eyes if you want. Sometimes things are less scary.
It’s hard to be in the limelight and write songs that cater to fans that have expectations of you. We just want to write songs that we love, but all the different people with different ideas coming in make it difficult. We have to ask ourselves if we’re writing for the most important people: the fans.
For me to drive away with, I began to understand why God died.
Know this: you can start over, each morning.
I wanna strip myself a breath, a breathless piece of death I’ve made for you. A mortal writing piece of song will help me carry on.
Peace will win and fear will lose.
One day I said to my dad, ‘Are you disappointed that I’m working a minimum-wage job and I didn’t go to college?’ I’ll never forget his response. He said, ‘It’s not about how much money you make or what your job is, but it’s more about your character. For that, I’m proud of you.’
It’s not like we grew up hanging around in church every day. We’ll always stick to what we feel is right for us to do, and I don’t think either of us have had a hard time saying, ‘This is who I am, and I’m fine with it.’
We get colder as we grow older. We will walk so much slower.
There are times when we look back and think, ‘Do you remember when we had to lug a piano downstairs to a basement of some venue to play for five people?’ We do a lot of reminiscing. It helps us keep our heads on straight.
If you’re one of them then you’re one of me. And you’d do almost anything just to feel free.
When you write music that expresses doubt or concern, or talks about some of the darker things that a developing human goes through, people will come out of the woodwork to listen to someone else say it out loud.
You kind of have to celebrate the moment that you get to create something that you love that falls into the parameters of a 3-minute-and-20-second song, to try to be creative inside of those parameters.
My friends and I, we got a lot of problems.
I didn’t know that there were many rules in music when I first started writing.
I try desperately to run through the sand
As I hold the water
In the palm of my hand
Cause it’s all that I have
As I hold the water
In the palm of my hand
Cause it’s all that I have
Living like a ghost, you walk by everyone you know. You say that you’re fine but you have lost your sway and glow. So I stopped by to let you know. Friend, please remove your hands from over your eyes for me. I know you want to leave but, friend, please don’t take your life away from me.
Sometimes you gotta bleed to know
That you’re alive and have a soul
But it takes someone to come around
To show you how
That you’re alive and have a soul
But it takes someone to come around
To show you how
Music seems to hold everything together. It seems to make things not so chaotic sometimes. It seems to make things make more sense sometimes.
There’s been many times when a producer will say, ‘I don’t think you want to say that.’ We were told we shouldn’t be so brutally honest about songwriting or radio or the industry.
I wanted to be a better brother, better son,
Wanted to be a better adversary to the evil I have done,
I have none to show to the one I love,
But deny, deny, denial.
Wanted to be a better adversary to the evil I have done,
I have none to show to the one I love,
But deny, deny, denial.
I’ll stay awake, Cause the dark’s not taking prisoners tonight.
There’s miles of land in front of us and we’re dying with every step we take. We’re dying with every breath we make and I’ll fall in line.
Like who would you live for? Who would you die for?
And would you ever kill?
And would you ever kill?
Take me out and finish this waste of a life.
We should take a moment and hold it and know that life has a hopeful undertone.
If anything, I think Josh and I learned when we were traveling the world during the last album cycle that everyone’s the same, everyone feels the same issues. So it’s kind of a way of getting on the same level as these people and telling them, in a sense, we understand what you’re going through.
You hear about our conservative background and know that we’re Christian guys, but we’re not timid at all. I will take anyone on when it comes to outworking them or putting on a better show or standing up for people who are being put down.
I scream, you scream, we all scream
‘Cause we’re terrified of what’s around the corner
‘Cause we’re terrified of what’s around the corner
Keep your friends close, and your enemies on the guest list.
Sometimes we will die and sometimes we will fly away. Either way you’re by my side until my dying days.
No one else is dealing with your demons, meaning maybe defeating them could be the beginning of your meaning, friend.
I begin to assemble what weapons I can find. Cause sometimes to stay alive you gotta kill your mind
Sometimes a certain smell will take me back to when I was young. How come I’m never able to identify where it’s coming from? I’d make a candle out of it if I ever found it.
I’m thinking about starting a solo project. But it will feature Tyler on all the songs. We’ll call it something like ‘Two Music Boys.’
The world around us is burning, but we’re so cold.
I feel for you but when did you believe you were alone?
It ain’t the speakers that bump hearts. It’s our hearts that make the beat
We’ve turned our hands to guns, trade in our thumbs for ammunition,
I must forewarn you of my disorder, or my condition
I must forewarn you of my disorder, or my condition
Blurryface is a fictional character and a reference to insecurities, which I think all people have.
You are tired. You are hurt. A moth ate through your favorite shirt and all your friends fertilize the ground you walk. Lose your mind.
You don’t know what I’ve done, I’m wanted and on the run, So, I’m taking this moment to live in the future.
I’m dying and trying but believe me I’m fine. But I’m lying I’m so very far from fine.
I wanna fall inside your ghost and fill up every hole inside my mind. And I want everyone to know that I am half a soul divided.
The really cool thing about festivals is that you’re getting to play in front of a whole lot of people who have never heard of us before. That’s exciting. At the same time, it’s a little bit of a challenge to capture the attention of people who have already seen a lot of bands.
Every time I feel selfish, ambition is taking my vision and my crime is my sentence. Repentance is taking commission, it’s taking a toll on my soul.
We were friends for a year before we started playing music together. We both think it’s pretty important. Tyler’s my friend before he’s a guy in my band, and when we talk to each other about things, it comes from a friend standpoint, not just a business standpoint.
We’re always trying to outdo ourselves, trying to do better, trying to write better songs. I think we want to inspire other people as well, so that’s what we’ll try to do through future songs.
I don’t wanna fall, fall away. I’ll keep the lights on in this place ’cause I don’t wanna fall, fall away…
No one looks up anymore ’cause you might get a raindrop in your eye. And heaven forbid, they see you cry as we fall in line.
Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days, When our momma sang us to sleep but now we’re stressed out
The songs on the radio are okay. But my taste in music is your face.
It doesn’t sound that cool to say it, but I still get nervous for any show. But it’s different degrees – playing a small basement of a club versus playing a festival like Firefly or Bonnaroo. The feeling is, ‘Crap, I’m about to be blasted in the face,’ and once you get started, then it’s like, ‘OK, I’ve done this before. I know what I’m doing.’
Sometimes to stay alive, you gotta kill your mind.
Hello! We haven’t talked in quite some time. I know I haven’t been the best of sons. Hello, I’ve been traveling in the desert of my mind and I haven’t found a drop of life, I haven’t found a drop of you, I haven’t found a drop of water.
Open the slits in your face and start your day. You don’t have much time to make your slits look just right. I’m in your mind. I’m singing. I’m in your mind. I’m singing la-da la-da la-da la-da la-da la-da da.
I like candles. It helps cover up for the fact that I have four male roommates.
You are tired. You are hurt. A moth ate through your favorite shirt and all your friends fertilize the ground you walk. Lose your mind.
I don’t love the way I look. Nobody does, and if they do, I don’t want to be that person’s friend. But we all know what we’re insecure about. The question I had as I was writing was, ‘How are these things affecting the way I live? How am I compensating because I don’t like this about myself? What do I do to cover it up?’
I can’t see past my own nose, I’m seeing everything in slo-mo
So excuse us while we sing to the sky
As I’ve told Tyler, there’s not a really easy place between being single and being married for us now. We’re just so busy that the logistics of our career make dating impossible. I think I’ll find a girl at some point that makes all of the extra work and effort that needs to be put into it worth it. But for right now, I just date my drums.
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 nightmare and your frights.
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