Classic childhood songs like “stressed out” by Twenty-One Pilots are the type of songs that you relate to later in life. Once it was a song you sang because it was catchy, now its reality. But what are the messages in Twenty-One Pilots’ songs? Are there more behind the lyrics than you once thought? What is the lore?
Blurryface, a 52-minute album released on May 17, 2015, is the album that set off Twenty-Pilots musical career. Hit singles like “stressed out” and “ride” which reached the top five on the US Billboard Hot 100 boosted their music worldwide and made unforgettable musical history for gen Z. Although it was their fourth studio album that initially pushed their alternative music out, they still have hits in earlier albums like The Vessel and Migraine, The Vessel setting their first milestone of music in the industry.
“I first heard the song “stressed out” on the radio when I was a kid, and it was my favorite song for all of 2016, but more recently I’ve gotten more into them because my friend Ireland Sanchez is a big fan,” sophomore Nora Baugh said.
The mask behind Twenty-One Pilots, Tyler Joseph, often talks about mental health, insecurity, doubt, and religion within his songs, but who is his right-hand man? Initially, he had two other band mates, Nick Thomas and Chris Salih, who departed in 2011 due to personal reasons. That’s when drummer Josh Dun joined and helped Tyler with drumming and backing vocals.
Twenty-One Pilots has impacted many people’s lives and continues to do so today. Each new detail that comes from them keeps fans on the edge of their seats, and that’s what makes them so lovable.
“Twenty-One Pilots means a lot to me, there’s a very tight knit community that has been build around them and what they stand for, I’ve met so many cool people through this band. Their music has theme of grief, anxiety, fear, and religious insecurity which I think me and a lot of people can relate to,” sophomore Ireland Sanchez said.
In the song “stressed out”, the lyrics talk about a character called “Blurryface” who, to Tyler Joseph, is an alternate version of himself, and this is figured out when in the song “Goner”, also in the stressed-out album recalls the lyrics “I’ve got two faces Blurry’s the one I’m not”. This tells us about the character that Tyler Joseph portrays. This not only unravels a decade’s worth of history, but it unlocks many more characters to come.
“All the hard work and patience that has gotten them where they are today is always aspiring, their live performances are insane, it’s crazy to see so many people coming together to celebrate life and the power of live music,” Sanchez said.
Now, Blurryface, who we find out is a different character from Tyler, is a character related to doubt, mental health, insecurity and religion themes. Through music videos we see a story start to evolve, and more characters are revealed. A majority of the story line is theories that fans have made, and Twenty-One Pilots have played into. Some things that date all the way back to 2015 to their most recent album, Clancy, are all theories fans have made, and although it could mean nothing, Twenty-One Pilots manage to sneak in the tiniest details.
Now their fifth studio album, Trench, is really when we find out more about each of these characters. Torchbearer, who is played by drummer Josh Dun, is a character that is on the land Dema in Continent Trench, which is the name of the album. Clancy, who is played by Tyler Joseph, is led to Dema by Torchbearer who is a leader of Bandito’s, a community of people are rebelling against the bishops who are characters from Blurryface, and this is figured out by the dots on the album cover with a different pattern in each of them. These dots represent each bishop, all with names that are mentioned in each song. The most important bishop, Nico, the leader, tries to take Clancy from Trench, and the reason why is unknown.
“I’m hoping for either a Blurryface anniversary tour, second leg Clancy tour or double album in addition to Clancy coming soon,” Sanchez said.
The bishops have antlers from creatures called Ned’s, who the bishops use to control people of their choice. The bishops were originally the only ones who could use the antlers, but it was discovered that Clancy can also use it when he befriends the Ned’s. Clancy uses the antlers to take control of Keon, another bishop who betrayed the other members. We see this happen in the music video “The Outside” in the album “Scaled and Icy”.
“The backstory that goes behind their music is very interesting, and I think it’s something that people should learn about to help get them more into their music,” Sophomore Rylie Hanson said.
Scaled and Icy is an album that kind of contradicted Twenty-One Pilots usual genre, and fans had figured out about it through the Christmas single “Christmas saves the year,” that was released in 2021, eight months after scaled icy. In the background of the cover, it reads “S.A.I. is propaganda” which is referring to the album and it was targeting a more mainstream essences, compared to the usual alternative vibe.
“People kind of assume Twenty-One Pilots fans are like, emo or just weird, but top fans are so many different groups and there isn’t really one type of top fan,” Baugh said.
A quick rundown of Twenty-One Pilots still leaves many questions afloat, and spots are filled in by theories and past details that could be relevant to current parts in the storyline.
“I have not thought about what they might do in the future, but I’d enjoy whatever they decide to do,” Hanson said.