Tyler Joseph might wish he had a better voice that sang some better words, but his verbiage is more than good enough for the world, hence why his band twenty one pilots have sold *counts on fingers* …er, an absolute shit-load of records.
Obviously, Tyler’s words equate to more than record sales, though, and even casual enjoyment. They’ve created an entire community – the Skeleton Clique – and given fans something to belong to. In putting his own experiences with mental health struggles into song, the musician’s former scribbles have offered comfort and hope, and at times, actively tried to discourage self-harm and suicide.
It’s powerful stuff. And since twenty one pilots just put out two new songs for us to dissect, and attach our own meanings to - Jumpsuit and Nico And The Niners - we thought we’d flick back through the album booklets and pick our favourite lyrics Tyler’s written so far…
10. ‘I USED TO SAY, “I WANNA DIE BEFORE I’M OLD”, BUT BECAUSE OF YOU I MIGHT THINK TWICE’ – WE DON’T BELIEVE WHAT’S ON TV
There’s been much sub-Reddit forum debate about who We Don’t Believe What’s On TV is about: Josh Dun (not likely), God, the Clique, or Tyler’s wife Jenna. Most people would put their money on one of the latter two, but regardless, it’s a sweet and powerful ukulele-backed lyric, that quite simply sees someone who had no desire to venture into old age, find a reason to stick around. We’ll raise a cup of Tetley and a Rich Tea biscuit to that.