Monday, June 20, 2016

Heathens - Twenty One Pilots Song Review

One of my current favorite bands recently released a new song and everyone in the fandom is super excited about it! I was both super excited and VERY surprised. I did not expect Twenty One Pilots to release new music until 2017 at the earliest but I'm so glad we got something new!

So today I will be discussing Twenty One Pilot's new song Heathens which they created for the Suicide Squad soundtrack.

Emo Tyler Joseph


I think this song is phenomenal. It's creepy like a song on the Suicide Squad album should be. I like how behind Tyler's voice you hear maybe a small child's voice echoing. Which, not to go overly deep, could mean that the 'crazy' part of ourselves is the inner child trying to come out. (sorry maybe this is a stretch I like to be very extra analyzing music/poetry).

The first thing I learned about the new song was that it was titled, "Heathens." And I was like woah. Knowing that Tyler and Josh are devote Christians, I was like what could this song possibly mean? Are they doing what they said they would never do - explicitly talk about their beliefs to their fans? But now I know they used the word not to refer to those who don't believe in a major faith, but to refer to people who are outsiders.

I have read many different interpretations of this song. My interpretation is that Tyler is talking to the new fans. This wasn't always clear to me. It became clear recently when I finally understood what the last few lines of the song were saying.

"Why'd you come, you knew you should have stayed
I tried to warn you just to stay away
And now they're outside ready to bust
It looks like you might be one of us"

It looks like Tyler is welcoming the newer fans into the clique. It's not fun to be a person who thinks too much and questions their life and faith constantly so that's why he said that they should have stayed away. "And now they're outside ready to bust," makes me think of all the deep/negative thoughts coming to get them now that they have accepted a life where they think too deeply. This is what makes the new fans 'one of us' - that they are willing to accept and question and think about those thoughts.

"All my friends are heathens, take it slow
Wait for them to ask you who you know
Please don't make any sudden moves
You don't know the half of the abuse"

These lyrics are telling the newer fans to be cautious when they are interacting with older fans because the older fans have already thought about the deep haunting questions. The new fans need to be careful not to be overwhelmed by the questions TOP songs bring.

Orlando Shooting & this song

"You'll never know the psychopath sitting next to you 
You'll never know the murderer sitting next to you"

When I first heard these lyrics, I was like...this may be an unfortunate time to release this song. At first I was a little offended - are they calling their fans possible murderers?!?!?! Then I realized, wait - no, they are just using potential murderers as an example of how you don't know what is going on inside a person's heard. You shouldn't judge the new fans because you don't know what is going on in their heads and they might just be as deep/troubled as you are.

"Just because we check the guns at the door
Doesn't mean our brains will change from hand grenades."

I am a huge supporter of gun control. I can't help thinking back to the TOP debate video where one of the ads says, "Tyler Joseph has a view on gun control that Josh Dun doesn't agree with - do you really want to vote for somebody who has a view on gun control that Josh Dun doesn't agree with." 

The thing about these lyrics is that they do sound like an argument gun-lovers like to make. You can take away our guns but crazy people will still kill and harm. 

Of course, I know that Tyler probably didn't write those lyrics in relation to the gun control argument. But like I said...this may be an unfortunate time to release this song. I know that Tyler was probably alluding to Guns for Hands...that even though we made our guns into a fist that our mental state might still be troubled.

Regardless, I would like to conclude this post by telling you my favorite lyrics from this song.

"You'll think "How did I get here, sitting next to you?"

You don't want to believe that you have a troubled mind. But these songs brought you to a fandom where everyone has a troubled mind. So now you know that you are just like them.

Rating: 5/5. Fabulous job, Twenty One Pilots.

Let me know what you think in the comments!

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