Twenty One Pilots Research Paper

It was late at night and I couldn’t sleep. I had had an awful day and some rather dark thoughts were running through my mind, but I knew what to do. I grabbed my headphones off the headboard and plugged them into my phone, then turned on the album Vessel by Twenty One Pilots. I slowly began to feel better and eventually dozed off. Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun’s music has always helped me through hard times. The subjects they write about, the significance of their songs, their absolute devotion to their fans, and the fact that they have literally saved my life is what makes them my heros. Twenty One Pilots was created by high school friends Tyler Joseph, Nick Thomas, and Chris Salih in 2009 in their hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Tyler was inspired to name the band Twenty One Pilots, after “All My Sons”, an Arthur Miller play he was studying at Ohio State. In the play, a war contractor sends out defective airplane parts during World War II. Afraid of losing his job, he does not admit his mistake and this
ends up with the death of twenty-one airplane pilots. The play spoke to Tyler, as he had recently rejected a basketball scholarship to fixate on music. He says, “I could relate to the fact that making the right decision in life sometimes takes more work. It takes more time, and it can feel like you're going backward." Tyler and Josh Dun, now the band’s drummer, sometimes caution each other if they are “sending out the parts” by taking the easy route. Throughout their career, they have declined record deals with signing bonuses, kept their small van rather than a touring bus, and turned down sponsorship offers for their 2016 tour (Greene). Not only does their band name have a significant meaning, their songs do as well. One could listen to every single song Tyler has written and not find a single one that does not have an important meaning. Tyler started writing music to deal with his own demons and when the band’s following grew larger, he starting writing music with the purpose of helping others too. This quote from a radio.com interview demonstrates this:
I guess when I first started writing music I really had no idea if anyone was ever going to hear what I was writing and almost no intention of people hearing it. So, it was kind of this journal. It was pretty unfiltered. And then when things started picking up, people started listening to the record, all of a sudden it’s all out there in the open. We were kind of scared about that at first. But then we realized that once you're honest and you say some of the things that you’re going through, you realize there’s a lot of people thinking the same thing. So, then it became this back and forth where people were saying, yeah, I agree with you or I resonate with what you’re saying, and it gave us more confidence to continue to try and tackle some of these big questions (Tilles).
They write every song with the intention of helping, and that they do. One of their most popular songs, Stressed Out, is about the stress of growing up, especially the transition from high school to college. Being a high school senior, I have been greatly stressed about everything I have to do to prepare for college. I have spoken to many people my age who have also been stressed about college and they have said that Stressed Out has made them feel better about their situation.
Personally, they have helped me through so much. In hard times, their music has shown me that I am not alone in feeling dismal. A majority of their songs deal with mental illness and the struggles that come with it. Their third album, Vessel, is mainly based on dealing with mental illness. Not many in the music industry are brave enough to sing or even talk about mental illness or suicide, but Twenty One Pilots is not afraid to bring attention to the apparently “taboo” subject, and for that I admire them greatly. I have largely dealt with mental illness in my family and with myself throughout my life, and their songs have helped me through the pain and have honestly saved my life. A certain lyric from one of their songs, Holding on to You, always comes into my head when I’m feeling down and never fails to help me feel stronger: “You think twice about your life/ It probably happens at night, right? Fight it, take the pain, ignite it. Tie a noose around your mind/ loose enough to breath fine and tie it/ to a tree tell it/ you belong to me, this ain't a noose/ this is a leash and I have news for you/ you must obey me” (Pilots). Today in the music industry, it is difficult to find artists that care for their fans as immensely as Tyler and Josh do.
Since the beginning of Twenty One Pilots, they have cared deeply for their fans. This affection is evident in the ways they refer to and treat their followers. They have always expressed how they don’t think of their followers are mere fans, but as friends. They have even fondly nicknamed their fan base The Clique and often referred to us as part of the band as well as them: at one of their concerts at Madison Square Garden, Tyler said to the audience, “We are Twenty One Pilots, and so are you.” Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun’s songs have saved so many people, including myself. Their undying love a devotion to their fans is almost unseen in the music industry. Their personal but relatable lyrics connect with and validate their fans. All these qualities make them my heros. As long as I can listen to their music, I know I will be
okay.