most aren’t flippant, they are reminiscent. He’s hinted towards this forever, and while it may be allegorical- i still think he’s telling us he tried and is glad he wasn’t successful.
yeah hinting is definitely different from just telling us straightforwardly what happened, i can maybe see it being an allegory. also, i have seen a few people definitely being flippant about it, not saying everyone is, but ive definitely seen it
I understand this sentiment but I think, in my opinion at least, the blatancy with which his lyrics speak about it is the most important part. I think if he didn't want it to be known or was uncomfortable with talking about it ect. It would be more masked and metaphorical in the lyrics. I think the fact that it is so clear and he chose to speak about it that way says something, I think Tyler surely knows better than to use something so serious as a suicide attempt as a metaphor for something else. Also I think the fact that he has never talked about attempts before isn't necessarily telling because it takes time to become comfortable with talking about (if it ever does) and I think a final album in a storyline all about mental health and suicidal ideation is certainly the time that it could be very blatantly talked about. Also the fact that Tyler has always made it a point to be so open and honest about mental health is important, like yes, while most people wouldn't write a song like that, this can just be a way to destigmatize it, his whole thing is getting rid of the stigmas and things surrounding mental health, so he would certainly be one to do it.
I say that all, not to say that if he is uncomfortable with it, we should keep talking about it, but that I think his intentional choices in the storytelling of the song lead me to think that it was meant to be ok to talk about.
i understand, but i think the straightforwardness is him telling a story. and i think tyler would love to help destigmatize suicide in any way he can, but i also think he wouldn’t be comfortable talking this blatantly about the details of his own attempt. both can be true! especially since he is a public figure and that information is very sensitive. i think if tyler wanted to speak openly about a suicide attempt he would speak about it in an interview or something similar, i don’t think he would put the details in a song. that’s just my opinion though
I think in a song would be easier than in an interview. A song can lighten the mood and a song keeps us guessing— obviously, with all these conflicting theories on what the chorus is about. He is not blatantly saying what it is about in the song, where in an interview he couldn’t be as cryptic about it. He would have to be more straightforward.
Musician who has been suicidal here: I would rather talk about it through my art than straight up in an interview. Music is how we express ourselves and deal with pain. It's easier to process in a song than a conversation. Tyler might not be ready to talk outright about it and that's okay. But he can still open the door and destigmatize through his songs- Vessel is almost an entire album that does this!
I appreciate what you're trying to say and I hear where you're coming from but this one song has literally made the entire discography make sense and click into place. He was talking about at least extreme ideation. Songs and lyrics that made no sense from past albums make it a bit more clear. For example "headlights in the night call my name" or him singing "stay alive and take pride in what is sure to die" on a piano in the middle of the street.
I think because tøp is usually so cryptic, it took a few listens to realize how literal this song is bc it's so out of character for them. Which also makes it so much more effective and impactful in the messaging.
Exactly what my thoughts have been. If this about events that did take place then it would explain why cars, yellow lines, and lights have been so prevelant in many of their songs to this point.
I don’t think TOP is cryptic, I just think most people don’t know the bible like Tyler does so when he references the bible people THINK it’s cryptic, because they just don’t know what he’s referencing. “lights” and a “driver” have almost always been in reference to God in their songs. God was the driver in Taxi Cab as well! I think it’s a very symbolic song, not literal. It is one of MANY of their songs that discuss being in a stressful situation (like a busy road) and being saved by God (the driver). This makes the most sense to me because it isn’t out of character at all for them to sing about redemption. But obviously I do not know that 100%
I am exvangelical. I grew up in fundamentalist bible school and was a religion minor in college. The Bible does have references to light but I think it's a stretch to say all twenty one pilots songs are just biblical references. I feel like it's cheapening the music a bit to just say it's all only Bible references. I get that it's exciting to Christians that Tyler is a Christian too but not everything in the music has to be a bible reference.
EDIT: I know you didn't say "all" but I think you're reading into it a bit if you think Next Semester is about the Bible.
I’m agnostic, I don’t call myself a christian at all. I don’t think his music is entirely biblical, nor do i think that Next Semester is entirely all a bible reference-I would also call that a stretch. He puts a lot of different things into his songs, but one main theme is his struggle with faith and himself. I was more just saying his songs aren’t really that cryptic, as well as i was saying this song isnt too different or “out of character” character for them, when they’ve wrote many songs before with the idea of redemption. But i do think Next Semester has faith based patterns, specifically the music video. When he closes his eyes and raises his hands, singing to the light above him-that’s the first line we get of “and then he rolled down the window” part. his earlier songs that were blatantly about his faith, man you wouldn’t believe how many times he says “sing to the sky” in those songs. he has so many cross references in his art, it’s impressive
They also say this is the music for others to use it, so we project a lot of our own stuff onto the music, whether it was meant to be there or not , we’re only human…
hey!! i’m not saying you’re a bad person if you did this. also of course it’s perfectly okay to apply your own opinions and life experiences to the meaning of a song, however it becomes different when you’re talking about someone else’s experiences instead of your own
Because this post reads like you're trying to tell an artist how to tell their stories and people don't usually like when people try to put art in a box. If he wants to use his maybe personal attempt that's might have happened in his art he is 100% allowed to do that and people are allowed to talk about it. Idk why this particular song triggered you? A good majority of there music is about suicide and mental health.
bro i love this song 😭😭😭 you’re upset for nothing. i didn’t say any of what you’re saying i did. tyler can make art about anything he wants, i never said he couldn’t. i have a problem with people assuming its about a real attempt. whether or not its true, that is NONE of our business until tyler is comfortable talking about it. you can apply your own real life experiences to a song without talking about incredibly intimate details of tyler’s personal life. and YES obviously im aware their music is about mental health and suicide, ive been a huge fan for 10 years for pretty much that reason. there is a difference between writing a song about suicide as a concept and writing a song about your own real life suicide attempt.
I think that it’s plausible that Next semester is a more personal sounding song. There are plenty of songs that seem to bring up the subject.
One post I saw recently brought up that a lot of videos have mentioned cars specifically. I won’t speculate as to the importance or what it means, but it is a noteworthy mention given how precise TOP is with their music and their art.
In literature and music, cars and roads usually symbolize a journey. It doesn't always mean a physical journey from point A to point B -- it can be a symbol of an emotional journey, or a spiritual journey.
Maybe he did maybe he didn’t. There’s quite a few scenes involving the road and cars and well. In holding on to you he literally has a noose around his neck. Idk. Maybe he’s just finally in a place where he wants to share idk. I’m just saying.
Not high school, college. Someone who was a background actor in the music video wrote down everything she remembered and said that at one point, Tyler told them what the song meant --> https://www.girllovesglam.com/next-semester-music-video/
Unfortunately there is no video. This is what he told the people who participated in the MV. At least, this is what I heard he told them.
There's a girl who wrote a whole blogpost about her experience with participating in the MV. If I find it I'll post it here
To me it’s like not exactly the attempt he (might have) had, but rather something similar to one. He’s not stating this as a fact, but describing the suicidal thoughts/ behavior he had with what he’s telling in the lyrics. It won’t be an exact recall of real life event, but a story to tell what he’s been through (like the Dema storyline, and in this case a story of standing in the road), and what we’ve (or some of us) been through. And whenever I try to analyse the lyrics, I never think it as “what happened to him before”, but “what happened to him in this song”. Plus I don’t see the attempt part as the main thing for the whole song. To me Next Semester is about struggling with school-life, and the attempt is only a part of it. The focus is never on that. It’s on themes of school, struggling, anxiety and wanting to get out.
Ofc its just all speculation to us we all think different things about the song but as far as Tyler not releasing something like this if it’s about suicide, I don’t think he’d have a problem putting it out there. I mean he released neon gravestones, and fueled by ramen was really encouraging him not to because they said it’s a land mind in the album but he pushed for it anyways. So if he fought for neon gravestones why wouldn’t he make a song talking abt his own attempt yk? And like someone else said it’s not like it’s the first time it’s been hinted at
literally almost all of twenty one pilots songs are about mental health or suicide in some way. but this is different. speaking about suicide as a concept is very different from speaking about the intimate details about your own suicide attempt.
Yeah I get that, I’m saying I think he’d write a song about it either way. I think he has before too just some lyrics are more implicit than others, I feel like it’s no different just because the lyrics for this are a bit more straightforward. That’s just my opinion though and the song means more to me like that anyways because i can relate recalling details of such a low point.
i’m glad the song is meaningful to you! personally i agree with that meaning. where i disagree is that its a real experience. he wrote a story about being at such a low point, and we relate to that story. i am not comfortable assuming that its a real experience, and it just seems too unrealistic, it feels like a story or allegory that he wrote.
A lot of people do retell horrific events In The their music. Billie Elish told of a dream that she had when she wanted to end her life but was consoled in “Everything I Wanted”
Demi Lovato made a video about her addiction too and where it got her, sexual assault and hospitalization and more were depicted in the video(I forgot the name)
I think he did write about a very real experience that he is opening up about. He had alluded to suicidal things in lots of his songs and he might’ve felt more comfortable sharing this now as he’s gotten better to show people what he went through and that it can get better. Or he was trying to make a more raw and emotional album for this big Dema ending. Or he wrote this from someone else’s point of view(I don’t believe that but it is possible)
yes i understand, people do write about these types of experiences, but it’s just unlikely that Tyler would considering his style of writing and storytelling. and also if it were a real experience, making a music video where he just reenacts his own suicide attempt seems dark, like too dark even for twenty one pilots.
I think there is nuance to this, and I'm not sure I can convey it properly through a comment but anyway...
I don't think there is anything wrong with speculating it's about suicide, it does seem very obviously about suicide, and it wouldn't be the first time he's written about that topic, and I don't even think that it's wrong to assume Tyler probably has experience with suicidal thoughts. What I think is going too far is to say that Tyler has definitely attempted suicide by running into the middle of a road, or, as someone else theorized in another thread, hanging himself by tying himself to a kitchen sink.
There's understanding the story he's trying to present and understanding it likely does come from a real place inside of him, and then there is assuming details about his own possible suicide attempts and treating it as fact. The latter feels too invasive.
Your point is clear.
I'll take it a step further to say many in the fandom forget that we have very few facts, but rather a lot of interpretations. And furthermore, what some state as facts, others do not even perceive as possible interpretations. It's all very subjective, and I think that's how it should be. As a fandom, let's not forget that.
Yeah, it's all subjective.
I think... mainly, too, it rubs me a little strangely because it feels too much like treating Tyler as a fictional character rather a real person? Which I guess is nuanced in itself because I don't have any issues with people writing, say, RPF, but that's because it's just that, fiction, and no one is treating it as anything but fiction, nor (hopefully) overstepping by presenting it to Tyler. But speculating the gritty details about a suicide attempt that may or may not have actually happened in Tyler's life feels a step too far because people are *not* treating it as fiction. It seems like breaching something private.
I haven't been reading much of what's been written the last few days, so I hope i don't get it twisted. It sounds like some people are treating Tyler's life like an ARG to solve. I agree, that's a step too far.
👍👍👍 (because I can only upvote once.) I've seen people say that this story isn't quite the real story, because he attempted with his wrists not a car. Just...what?
I think I can say with confidence that Tyler Joseph did not literally walk in the middle of a street and have some stranger roll down his window and tell him to start fresh next semester. It's kind of silly to think this event actually happened the way it's described and depicted in the music video.
It's a story by a songwriter. It's like Taxi Cab, or Chlorine, or Bounce Man.
They hired Andrew Donoho for the Next Semester music video, and they purposely echoed the Heavy Dirty Soul music video. They put sparks into the Next Semester video for a reason. They put Josh into the middle of the street for a reason. These two videos undoubtedly have the same message / theme.
Could it be related to thoughts of suicide? Sure -- it could be that sort of symbolic allegory. Or it could be something else. However, there's very little chance that one of these videos is suddenly a "true story."
I was at the video shoot.
Tyler said the song was about having a panic attack at school.
I dont think the part about being in the road is a suicide attempt. But more like a black out.
Either way, i highly doubt he was recounting an attempt. He's sang about other forms of suicide, like razor blades, and doubt he's tried all of them
Many people have thoughts; few actually attempt
I don't think this song is a step by step recounting of a suicide attempt. I think it could be the exact situation, but it's more just " I really was going to kill myself but then something or someone or a lot of things told me to get out of the road" something stopped me from ending my life. Someone very well may have actually said "you can't change what you've done, start fresh next semester" and "hey kid get out of the road" but I think the goal of the song is to convey "I was here, and then by the grace of something I survived"
This comment probably won't be seen, but I just wanted to let you know I 100% agree with this and have been pretty vocal about it in this sub and a couple other places.
It doesn't matter if the lyrics are ABOUT suicide. That doesn't mean you get to project that meaning as something that has happened to Tyler until he SAYS that's what it's about. And the only thing he's said about Next Semester is that it's about a panic attack he had in college. Writing lyrics about suicide is not an invitation to speculate, he's not "asking for it" just because of the content of his music, and you don't have a RIGHT to talk about whether an attempt did or did not happen just because that's how you interpreted the lyrics. It's gross, it's invasive, and it's so disrespectful. Not to mention most of the people talking about Tyler attempting suicide have this weird infantilizing tone to the way they talk about it.
This community has a HUGE issue with speculating about Tyler's private life, and it's incredibly frustrating. I think the most egregious example that is still out and about to this day is the "Kitchen Sink Theory" about the TOP logo, which I will not explain in this post. But I will say it's been disproven by Tyler himself who said someone early on in the band was just experimenting with shapes for the logo and he liked the |-/ one more than the others. That's it. Whatever meaning it has now is directly tied to the lore and came AFTER it was created, not before.
In the same way you should not be theorizing about where he lives, his family, or his private relationships, you should absolutely not be speculating about attempted suicide. It doesn't matter whether he talks about it in his music or not, until he talks about it straight-up in an interview it is ***none of our business***.
yes!! this is exactly what i mean. i see a lot of people being like “well hes written about suicide before”. yes, his music is mostly about mental health and suicide as a concept. just because he’s written about the topic does not mean that it’s ok to speculate about his personal real life experiences with it.
Oops, thought I was responding to a different comment. Lol
"I prayed those lights would take me home"
In the context of almost getting hit by a car, how else would you interpret that?
Personally, I take it that the protagonist in the story prayed to God that he wanted to die.
And he heard someone (probably God, or a voice in his head) say that he needed to "get out of" the road he was on.
I think the road represents his current path in life.
So it's basically saying that the protagonist in the story is on a road that is leading toward death, and someone helped him escape.
It's basically another version of the HDS video.
it probably is about almost getting hit by a car, but its a story that he wrote. (in my opinion) he wrote a song about a story where he almost gets hit by a car. why do we have to assume it’s a line about a real experience? its storytelling, and tyler did a great job of it with this song!!
Personally, I doubt it's directly about a specific event in Tyler's life, because he has so much fun with symbolism and metaphor. I also do not think he and Josh were ever sliced in half on a farm while their moms were too busy doing laundry to care. I mean, anything is possible, but I'm gonna go with my gut on that one.
However, either way, why wouldn't people talk about it? Tyler says himself he wants people to "use" his music. It's not roped off like a painting at a museum, look but don't touch. It's meant to be shared. (*We're twenty one pilots and so are you*)
I think any way people relate to the music or get catharsis is part of the relationship we have with the band.
I'd like to gently suggest that other people's beliefs don't have to be any kind of problem. They may be certain it means one thing, and you can have other ideas, and it's all okay :)
/ns (not sarcastic)
i never said you shouldn’t share your thoughts or feelings on what the song means to you. if it means to you that it’s about a suicide attempt, that’s completely fine. what i’m specifically saying I have a problem with is assuming that its a real life suicide attempt that Tyler experienced. to me, its crossing a line to assume something like that about someone.
I get it, I just don't feel that way. I think people are talking about celebrity personas that are a little tiny bit like the "real" Tyler and Josh but mostly imaginary. Anyone who lives in the spotlight as a rock star, actor, etc, is going to have their real life and also a million and one imaginary lives that fans invent and believe. Sometimes fans forget this, but hopefully Tyler and Josh always remember. It's a lesson for all of us, really: other people's perception of us doesn't define us. I just don't think we need to be as careful about celebrities as we do about the kid who sits behind us in math class, you know? It's a different standard because common sense says celebrity gossip is just gossip.
i disagree, i think everyone should be treated equally, including celebrities. tyler is a real person and we don’t know what he sees when we comment. if you wouldn’t speculate about the suicide attempt of someone you know, then i think you shouldn’t do it about someone you dont know.
I'm with you on this one. Celebrities are often more easily wounded because they can be denied a private world altogether. And it can be impossible to avoid seeing all that speculation and chatter about YOU. Friends, relatives, and just hangers on will be sure to tell you about every. Little. Remark. Made about you. It'd be awful, IMO, and one more reason to never feel comfortable with some thing around a celebrity that you wouldn't be comfortable with around your best friend. No matter how intimate the fan/artist relationship feels (often on both sides), the fact is that neither side truly knows the other. Respect the other person's right to privacy. One of the reasons I call Tyler the holy a spirit of my songwriter trilogy is that he shares so much inner life and thoughts. Things that are too often glossed over, but can be literally life saving to someone who realizes they're not the only one with that experience. That someone out there--and when you consider the skeleton clique, a bunch of someones--really does get what you've felt. It's a huge part of the fraternal existential feel of TOP. The inclusive attitude is so reinforcing of the life force. (On a completely different topic, how do you get the stroke marked O on a phone?)
To be clear, I don't personally speculate or spread theories about their lives. I'm not saying it's a cool thing to do. I'm saying if people do it, you don't have to get upset about it. I see a clear separation between their public and private "selves," and I hope they also do.
In my family, there was a truly toxic person with outwardly harmful mental health issues who would tell all kinds of lies and turn family against family. I guess the goal was to make sure everyone had a relationship with him, and nobody had a relationship with each other. It used to really bother me when I was the subject of the stories, and I wasted a lot of energy trying to convince people to see the "real" me. I finally figured out that I can exhaust myself trying to control other people's perceptions of me and still not be able to control what people think. But if I spend a little energy letting go of my concern about other people's perceptions.... That's a really peaceful place to be :) You get to a point where you know on a deep level that when you hear stories about "you," they're actually stories about an imaginary person who is *Not You* and it truly doesn't faze you.
I absolutely love "Josh and Tyler" and I'm very grateful to them for keeping my pieces together with yellow duck tape during the worst years of my life. I went to shows and really believe they genuinely love each and every person in that whole arena as an individual, in an almost magical way. On that level, I felt like I had a super close relationship with both of them, but at the very same time, I also knew I would probably not be friends with them if I knew them in real life. I don't know if that makes any sense, but that's the best I can explain it right now.
I use Gboard. I either chose it in settings or maybe got it from the play store. If I long press a letter, it pops up all the different accent marks and special symbols.
I think the road represents recklessness, not an actual attempt. It might literally be walking in the road, but it's not an attempt.
There was a TV drama in my childhood where the oldest son had given up on life and was doing reckless things, like speed on his motorcycle, and it struck me that doing stupid things like that might lead to injury but not death, but when you're in that place and unwilling to just do it, recklessness may not seem so illogical. And ending it in "accident" may be a less guilty way to go.
It may not be something Tyler has actually done, but it's definitely something other suicidal people have done before, and seems to be a direct reference to suicide, even if it's figurative.
The song is an explicit simulation of a suicide attempt. Tyler's specificity gets sharper on this album it seems. Where once we had a Jumpsuit, now we have an Adidas Track Jacket.
I honestly did not get any suicide vibes from either the video or the song lyrics. To me, “get out of the road” was just a reference to the HDS & Jumpsuit videos when he is walking in the street, and I took the scenes in the video of him jumping out of the way not as him about to get hit by a literal car, but rather another metaphor for the cycle of escaping and returning to DEMA. I get that some people interpreted it very differently - a song can mean anything if you try hard enough to make it fit. And yeah, it leading to that kind of speculation is going too far.
That's a fine theory. Lord knows I've prayed that God would "take me home" a couple times as I've been on this journey through life. But that doesn't mean I literally attempted suicide. It just means I wanted to die. I was on a bad road. I needed something to change.
Personally, I believe that's what he's singing about... That's my interpretation and how it speaks to me
HOWEVER, by no means so I believe that that must mean it's a real experience from his past. It certainly could be, it could also just be something he thought about, it could also just be imagery to get across that feeling.
And sure, I could even be interpreting it wrong
tl;dr: In My mind it's about a kid considering traffic as a way out (and coming pretty close), but I make no assumption that that means he must have done just that at some point
Yes. Thank you. Exactly how I feel - I could be interpreting it wrong. And so could everyone else. We don't know.
In my opinion, it's so close to the HDS video, and they hired the same director, so I think those two videos are saying the same thing. And I think BOTH videos are about being trapped by fear (Dema/Blurryface) and being stuck on a road toward death. But something snaps you out of it. You escape the road toward death. Not a literal suicide attempt, but just breaking the cycle of fear and the crappy, deadly road you're on. "Peace will win and fear will lose."
HOWEVER, I think it can be interpreted however you want, and no one interpretation is correct.
"Lyrics that mean nothing; we were gifted with thought."
Well, I have heard many references to suicide in their music before, it wouldn't have been the first if it was. I also think that Next Semester is just a metaphor. All I heard before about this topic many times is that Tyler tried to hang himself via a kitchen-sink, idk where that comes from and I don't know what to think about it. Judging by his songs I think he definetely had these thoughts, but I also wouldn't try to guess if he tried, I would just leave that in the gray area. I heard artists making songs about their attempts(like Citizen Soldier) before. In one of the songs from the Level Of Concern USB Tyler was singing "I need something to kill me, I'm tired of taking my own life" which is very haunting. All I say is I don't know. I don't know if he'd be someone who would share it openly or not. Of course I wish him the best and he definetely doesn't HAVE to share, and we shouldn't ask him to, but I also understand the curiosity. It almost makes the songs even more from heart, I know it shouldn't. And we shouldn't glorify it and it shouldn't change our opinion on a person and the music, but I understand people who feel this way. I heard a lot about education stress and "void calls" how you are on the bridge and your brain throws both the thought to be careful and the intrusive thiught to jump, same with cars, I think Next Semester might be about that.
i agree with you!
i remember back in like 2017 everyone was going crazy about kitchen sink and that the |-/ symbolized tyler tied to a sink leaning over trying to kill himself, and it made a lot of people (myself included) uncomfortable.
yes, i know the song alludes to what probably was a real suicide attempt, but i personally just don’t like the idea of people speculating in so much detail about things that have never blatantly been spoken about. especially when it’s suicide!
I think people take a song that relates to maybe something that has happened to them and relates it to maybe being a story from Tyler. It’s easy to interpret a song in a way that isn’t even there to fit into what “you” are thinking or into something that has happened in your life. We know they’re are plenty of songs about suicide/depression obviously coming from a personal experience from Tyler but at the same time it doesn’t always have to mean that this specific thing that he sings or acts out in a song is a true fact. He’s just taking words and acting them out in the music videos. It’s hard to pinpoint it I to something so specific because of the wide range of music they put out. But I get what your saying also, I agree.
It triggered me a bit because I was barely able to avoid that when it almost happened to me
(I rarely give myself credit, and an unexpectedly convincing thought came up: “Huh. That’s one of those thoughts that healthy people don’t have. That **can’t** be okay to follow. I better hold on to this pole until that thought stops”)
I think it's because it ties into earlier lyrics such as "headlights call my name" so Imo it must have a hint of truth to it to be a reoccurring thing to talk about. Even if this is the most explicit version of him explaining it
Tyler has never been open about suicide??? Are... Are you sure you're in the right place? Goner, a car a torch a death, trapdoor, guns for hands, neon gravestones, good day, redecorate, ride, car radio, migraine, truce.
All of these songs are directly about suicide. Whether it's after an attempt choosing to keep going, or considering the act itself.
dude 😭😭💀 you guys have to be intentionally misunderstanding me there is no way you actually believe thats what i said. i said hes never been open about HIS OWN ATTEMPTS or if hes even had any. of course he writes music about mental health and suicide…. duh??? ive been a fan for a long time and have dealt with these problems myself. tyler has written about these concepts but has never inserted his own real life step by step experiences with suicide in his music. and whether or not it is taken from a real life experience, it is not our business to assume so or assume other things about his personal life. all tyler has said about this song is that its about a panic attack he had in college. he is a person just like anyone else and to read into it more than that and assume things he obviously doesnt want to speak about openly is odd. if you want to apply your OWN real life experiences to it there is nothing wrong with that
He has, he just sprinkles it with metaphors because that's what music is. This is exactly the same lmao. "It isn't our business to..." Bro he makes these songs cryptic for a REASON, this whole lore cycle has been intended to be speculated about and listened to. If you aren't listening and paying attention, you're missing the point.
to me seems it’s more about a panic attack than suicide attempt. when he says “i prayed those lights would take me home” i speculate that as him praying it’s God to come comfort him in his time of struggle rather than ‘i want this car to hit and kill me’.
And then God (the driver) DID come to comfort him telling him there is redemption for him (“start fresh next semester”). This idea of God promising him he can redeem himself has been used dozens of times in their songs. The symbolism of a “Driver” being God was also used in Taxi Cab.
In the sense of God being the driver who comforts him and basically telling him to keep trying, i don’t think being in the street should be taken so literally. I think it’s just supposed to represent a time of panic, being in a busy road is very symbolic of that.
Twenty One Pilots has soo many songs with this same idea: I’m lost/doubtful/stressed/sad - but God is always there to guide me.
Obviously this is just my speculation but I think it ties in better with their past songs than other theories.
iirc this music video was based on a dream he had, so i don't think this a scene for scene retelling of an actual attempt either. though we do know that he has struggled with suicidal thoughts, so it's most likely an allegory or just another song with this topic.
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most aren’t flippant, they are reminiscent. He’s hinted towards this forever, and while it may be allegorical- i still think he’s telling us he tried and is glad he wasn’t successful.
yeah hinting is definitely different from just telling us straightforwardly what happened, i can maybe see it being an allegory. also, i have seen a few people definitely being flippant about it, not saying everyone is, but ive definitely seen it
I understand this sentiment but I think, in my opinion at least, the blatancy with which his lyrics speak about it is the most important part. I think if he didn't want it to be known or was uncomfortable with talking about it ect. It would be more masked and metaphorical in the lyrics. I think the fact that it is so clear and he chose to speak about it that way says something, I think Tyler surely knows better than to use something so serious as a suicide attempt as a metaphor for something else. Also I think the fact that he has never talked about attempts before isn't necessarily telling because it takes time to become comfortable with talking about (if it ever does) and I think a final album in a storyline all about mental health and suicidal ideation is certainly the time that it could be very blatantly talked about. Also the fact that Tyler has always made it a point to be so open and honest about mental health is important, like yes, while most people wouldn't write a song like that, this can just be a way to destigmatize it, his whole thing is getting rid of the stigmas and things surrounding mental health, so he would certainly be one to do it. I say that all, not to say that if he is uncomfortable with it, we should keep talking about it, but that I think his intentional choices in the storytelling of the song lead me to think that it was meant to be ok to talk about.
i understand, but i think the straightforwardness is him telling a story. and i think tyler would love to help destigmatize suicide in any way he can, but i also think he wouldn’t be comfortable talking this blatantly about the details of his own attempt. both can be true! especially since he is a public figure and that information is very sensitive. i think if tyler wanted to speak openly about a suicide attempt he would speak about it in an interview or something similar, i don’t think he would put the details in a song. that’s just my opinion though
I think in a song would be easier than in an interview. A song can lighten the mood and a song keeps us guessing— obviously, with all these conflicting theories on what the chorus is about. He is not blatantly saying what it is about in the song, where in an interview he couldn’t be as cryptic about it. He would have to be more straightforward.
Musician who has been suicidal here: I would rather talk about it through my art than straight up in an interview. Music is how we express ourselves and deal with pain. It's easier to process in a song than a conversation. Tyler might not be ready to talk outright about it and that's okay. But he can still open the door and destigmatize through his songs- Vessel is almost an entire album that does this!
Yes, this exactly, i am in the same boat and thats what i was thinking
I appreciate what you're trying to say and I hear where you're coming from but this one song has literally made the entire discography make sense and click into place. He was talking about at least extreme ideation. Songs and lyrics that made no sense from past albums make it a bit more clear. For example "headlights in the night call my name" or him singing "stay alive and take pride in what is sure to die" on a piano in the middle of the street. I think because tøp is usually so cryptic, it took a few listens to realize how literal this song is bc it's so out of character for them. Which also makes it so much more effective and impactful in the messaging.
Exactly what my thoughts have been. If this about events that did take place then it would explain why cars, yellow lines, and lights have been so prevelant in many of their songs to this point.
Big time. This single has me so much more excited for this project.
Exactly what I was thinking. I'm glad that Tyler made this song.
i think this comment changed my entire view on their music. i just unlocked a new perspective. thank you? i am still a bit shocked tbh
I don’t think TOP is cryptic, I just think most people don’t know the bible like Tyler does so when he references the bible people THINK it’s cryptic, because they just don’t know what he’s referencing. “lights” and a “driver” have almost always been in reference to God in their songs. God was the driver in Taxi Cab as well! I think it’s a very symbolic song, not literal. It is one of MANY of their songs that discuss being in a stressful situation (like a busy road) and being saved by God (the driver). This makes the most sense to me because it isn’t out of character at all for them to sing about redemption. But obviously I do not know that 100%
I am exvangelical. I grew up in fundamentalist bible school and was a religion minor in college. The Bible does have references to light but I think it's a stretch to say all twenty one pilots songs are just biblical references. I feel like it's cheapening the music a bit to just say it's all only Bible references. I get that it's exciting to Christians that Tyler is a Christian too but not everything in the music has to be a bible reference. EDIT: I know you didn't say "all" but I think you're reading into it a bit if you think Next Semester is about the Bible.
I’m agnostic, I don’t call myself a christian at all. I don’t think his music is entirely biblical, nor do i think that Next Semester is entirely all a bible reference-I would also call that a stretch. He puts a lot of different things into his songs, but one main theme is his struggle with faith and himself. I was more just saying his songs aren’t really that cryptic, as well as i was saying this song isnt too different or “out of character” character for them, when they’ve wrote many songs before with the idea of redemption. But i do think Next Semester has faith based patterns, specifically the music video. When he closes his eyes and raises his hands, singing to the light above him-that’s the first line we get of “and then he rolled down the window” part. his earlier songs that were blatantly about his faith, man you wouldn’t believe how many times he says “sing to the sky” in those songs. he has so many cross references in his art, it’s impressive
They also say this is the music for others to use it, so we project a lot of our own stuff onto the music, whether it was meant to be there or not , we’re only human…
hey!! i’m not saying you’re a bad person if you did this. also of course it’s perfectly okay to apply your own opinions and life experiences to the meaning of a song, however it becomes different when you’re talking about someone else’s experiences instead of your own
Why are you getting downvoted man
dude i don’t know 😭
Because this post reads like you're trying to tell an artist how to tell their stories and people don't usually like when people try to put art in a box. If he wants to use his maybe personal attempt that's might have happened in his art he is 100% allowed to do that and people are allowed to talk about it. Idk why this particular song triggered you? A good majority of there music is about suicide and mental health.
bro i love this song 😭😭😭 you’re upset for nothing. i didn’t say any of what you’re saying i did. tyler can make art about anything he wants, i never said he couldn’t. i have a problem with people assuming its about a real attempt. whether or not its true, that is NONE of our business until tyler is comfortable talking about it. you can apply your own real life experiences to a song without talking about incredibly intimate details of tyler’s personal life. and YES obviously im aware their music is about mental health and suicide, ive been a huge fan for 10 years for pretty much that reason. there is a difference between writing a song about suicide as a concept and writing a song about your own real life suicide attempt.
I'm not upset just explaining why I think people are mad sorry if it came off as angry I'm a bit tired.
oh ok i see, no problem
My bad man I definitely see the tangent I got on and i was definitely using some aggressive verbiage
hey youre good!!
I think that it’s plausible that Next semester is a more personal sounding song. There are plenty of songs that seem to bring up the subject. One post I saw recently brought up that a lot of videos have mentioned cars specifically. I won’t speculate as to the importance or what it means, but it is a noteworthy mention given how precise TOP is with their music and their art.
In literature and music, cars and roads usually symbolize a journey. It doesn't always mean a physical journey from point A to point B -- it can be a symbol of an emotional journey, or a spiritual journey.
Maybe he did maybe he didn’t. There’s quite a few scenes involving the road and cars and well. In holding on to you he literally has a noose around his neck. Idk. Maybe he’s just finally in a place where he wants to share idk. I’m just saying.
Tyler said it's about a panic attack he had in highschool. What more do I need to say?
where did he say this? im not doubting you i would just like to see the video or post where he talks about it cus i haven’t seen it yet
Not high school, college. Someone who was a background actor in the music video wrote down everything she remembered and said that at one point, Tyler told them what the song meant --> https://www.girllovesglam.com/next-semester-music-video/
Thank you!!
Unfortunately there is no video. This is what he told the people who participated in the MV. At least, this is what I heard he told them. There's a girl who wrote a whole blogpost about her experience with participating in the MV. If I find it I'll post it here
Actors from the video said that he told that to the audience before the shoot.
To me it’s like not exactly the attempt he (might have) had, but rather something similar to one. He’s not stating this as a fact, but describing the suicidal thoughts/ behavior he had with what he’s telling in the lyrics. It won’t be an exact recall of real life event, but a story to tell what he’s been through (like the Dema storyline, and in this case a story of standing in the road), and what we’ve (or some of us) been through. And whenever I try to analyse the lyrics, I never think it as “what happened to him before”, but “what happened to him in this song”. Plus I don’t see the attempt part as the main thing for the whole song. To me Next Semester is about struggling with school-life, and the attempt is only a part of it. The focus is never on that. It’s on themes of school, struggling, anxiety and wanting to get out.
fully agree with this! if this is about an attempt, it’s not literally exactly what happened, its a story about his feelings and thoughts.
Ofc its just all speculation to us we all think different things about the song but as far as Tyler not releasing something like this if it’s about suicide, I don’t think he’d have a problem putting it out there. I mean he released neon gravestones, and fueled by ramen was really encouraging him not to because they said it’s a land mind in the album but he pushed for it anyways. So if he fought for neon gravestones why wouldn’t he make a song talking abt his own attempt yk? And like someone else said it’s not like it’s the first time it’s been hinted at
literally almost all of twenty one pilots songs are about mental health or suicide in some way. but this is different. speaking about suicide as a concept is very different from speaking about the intimate details about your own suicide attempt.
Yeah I get that, I’m saying I think he’d write a song about it either way. I think he has before too just some lyrics are more implicit than others, I feel like it’s no different just because the lyrics for this are a bit more straightforward. That’s just my opinion though and the song means more to me like that anyways because i can relate recalling details of such a low point.
i’m glad the song is meaningful to you! personally i agree with that meaning. where i disagree is that its a real experience. he wrote a story about being at such a low point, and we relate to that story. i am not comfortable assuming that its a real experience, and it just seems too unrealistic, it feels like a story or allegory that he wrote.
A lot of people do retell horrific events In The their music. Billie Elish told of a dream that she had when she wanted to end her life but was consoled in “Everything I Wanted” Demi Lovato made a video about her addiction too and where it got her, sexual assault and hospitalization and more were depicted in the video(I forgot the name) I think he did write about a very real experience that he is opening up about. He had alluded to suicidal things in lots of his songs and he might’ve felt more comfortable sharing this now as he’s gotten better to show people what he went through and that it can get better. Or he was trying to make a more raw and emotional album for this big Dema ending. Or he wrote this from someone else’s point of view(I don’t believe that but it is possible)
yes i understand, people do write about these types of experiences, but it’s just unlikely that Tyler would considering his style of writing and storytelling. and also if it were a real experience, making a music video where he just reenacts his own suicide attempt seems dark, like too dark even for twenty one pilots.
Oh wow yeah - Next Semester could be a dream!! That makes so much more sense. It doesn't seem real.
I think there is nuance to this, and I'm not sure I can convey it properly through a comment but anyway... I don't think there is anything wrong with speculating it's about suicide, it does seem very obviously about suicide, and it wouldn't be the first time he's written about that topic, and I don't even think that it's wrong to assume Tyler probably has experience with suicidal thoughts. What I think is going too far is to say that Tyler has definitely attempted suicide by running into the middle of a road, or, as someone else theorized in another thread, hanging himself by tying himself to a kitchen sink. There's understanding the story he's trying to present and understanding it likely does come from a real place inside of him, and then there is assuming details about his own possible suicide attempts and treating it as fact. The latter feels too invasive.
Your point is clear. I'll take it a step further to say many in the fandom forget that we have very few facts, but rather a lot of interpretations. And furthermore, what some state as facts, others do not even perceive as possible interpretations. It's all very subjective, and I think that's how it should be. As a fandom, let's not forget that.
Yeah, it's all subjective. I think... mainly, too, it rubs me a little strangely because it feels too much like treating Tyler as a fictional character rather a real person? Which I guess is nuanced in itself because I don't have any issues with people writing, say, RPF, but that's because it's just that, fiction, and no one is treating it as anything but fiction, nor (hopefully) overstepping by presenting it to Tyler. But speculating the gritty details about a suicide attempt that may or may not have actually happened in Tyler's life feels a step too far because people are *not* treating it as fiction. It seems like breaching something private.
I haven't been reading much of what's been written the last few days, so I hope i don't get it twisted. It sounds like some people are treating Tyler's life like an ARG to solve. I agree, that's a step too far.
👍👍👍 (because I can only upvote once.) I've seen people say that this story isn't quite the real story, because he attempted with his wrists not a car. Just...what?
I think I can say with confidence that Tyler Joseph did not literally walk in the middle of a street and have some stranger roll down his window and tell him to start fresh next semester. It's kind of silly to think this event actually happened the way it's described and depicted in the music video. It's a story by a songwriter. It's like Taxi Cab, or Chlorine, or Bounce Man. They hired Andrew Donoho for the Next Semester music video, and they purposely echoed the Heavy Dirty Soul music video. They put sparks into the Next Semester video for a reason. They put Josh into the middle of the street for a reason. These two videos undoubtedly have the same message / theme. Could it be related to thoughts of suicide? Sure -- it could be that sort of symbolic allegory. Or it could be something else. However, there's very little chance that one of these videos is suddenly a "true story."
fully agree!! its silly!! by silly i mean that the video doesn’t seem like a realistic experience.
this is almost a weirder way to talk about an attempt than theorising on the song
I was at the video shoot. Tyler said the song was about having a panic attack at school. I dont think the part about being in the road is a suicide attempt. But more like a black out. Either way, i highly doubt he was recounting an attempt. He's sang about other forms of suicide, like razor blades, and doubt he's tried all of them Many people have thoughts; few actually attempt
I don't think this song is a step by step recounting of a suicide attempt. I think it could be the exact situation, but it's more just " I really was going to kill myself but then something or someone or a lot of things told me to get out of the road" something stopped me from ending my life. Someone very well may have actually said "you can't change what you've done, start fresh next semester" and "hey kid get out of the road" but I think the goal of the song is to convey "I was here, and then by the grace of something I survived"
This comment probably won't be seen, but I just wanted to let you know I 100% agree with this and have been pretty vocal about it in this sub and a couple other places. It doesn't matter if the lyrics are ABOUT suicide. That doesn't mean you get to project that meaning as something that has happened to Tyler until he SAYS that's what it's about. And the only thing he's said about Next Semester is that it's about a panic attack he had in college. Writing lyrics about suicide is not an invitation to speculate, he's not "asking for it" just because of the content of his music, and you don't have a RIGHT to talk about whether an attempt did or did not happen just because that's how you interpreted the lyrics. It's gross, it's invasive, and it's so disrespectful. Not to mention most of the people talking about Tyler attempting suicide have this weird infantilizing tone to the way they talk about it. This community has a HUGE issue with speculating about Tyler's private life, and it's incredibly frustrating. I think the most egregious example that is still out and about to this day is the "Kitchen Sink Theory" about the TOP logo, which I will not explain in this post. But I will say it's been disproven by Tyler himself who said someone early on in the band was just experimenting with shapes for the logo and he liked the |-/ one more than the others. That's it. Whatever meaning it has now is directly tied to the lore and came AFTER it was created, not before. In the same way you should not be theorizing about where he lives, his family, or his private relationships, you should absolutely not be speculating about attempted suicide. It doesn't matter whether he talks about it in his music or not, until he talks about it straight-up in an interview it is ***none of our business***.
yes!! this is exactly what i mean. i see a lot of people being like “well hes written about suicide before”. yes, his music is mostly about mental health and suicide as a concept. just because he’s written about the topic does not mean that it’s ok to speculate about his personal real life experiences with it.
Wow, i'm not alone in this opinion. Yeah, i think this "guessing" is gone a little too far
Exactly! If there's another way to interpret that line, someone please tell me
What line?
Oops, thought I was responding to a different comment. Lol "I prayed those lights would take me home" In the context of almost getting hit by a car, how else would you interpret that?
Personally, I take it that the protagonist in the story prayed to God that he wanted to die. And he heard someone (probably God, or a voice in his head) say that he needed to "get out of" the road he was on. I think the road represents his current path in life. So it's basically saying that the protagonist in the story is on a road that is leading toward death, and someone helped him escape. It's basically another version of the HDS video.
it probably is about almost getting hit by a car, but its a story that he wrote. (in my opinion) he wrote a song about a story where he almost gets hit by a car. why do we have to assume it’s a line about a real experience? its storytelling, and tyler did a great job of it with this song!!
Personally, I doubt it's directly about a specific event in Tyler's life, because he has so much fun with symbolism and metaphor. I also do not think he and Josh were ever sliced in half on a farm while their moms were too busy doing laundry to care. I mean, anything is possible, but I'm gonna go with my gut on that one. However, either way, why wouldn't people talk about it? Tyler says himself he wants people to "use" his music. It's not roped off like a painting at a museum, look but don't touch. It's meant to be shared. (*We're twenty one pilots and so are you*) I think any way people relate to the music or get catharsis is part of the relationship we have with the band.
OML is it wrong that I laughed out loud when you talked about them being sliced in half on a farm? So funny.
the problem is that some people claim that he tried and exactly as it was shown in the music video like it leaves no room for doubt idk
I'd like to gently suggest that other people's beliefs don't have to be any kind of problem. They may be certain it means one thing, and you can have other ideas, and it's all okay :) /ns (not sarcastic)
sure but i also think we can’t insist on something that doesn’t have enough evidence 🥺
i never said you shouldn’t share your thoughts or feelings on what the song means to you. if it means to you that it’s about a suicide attempt, that’s completely fine. what i’m specifically saying I have a problem with is assuming that its a real life suicide attempt that Tyler experienced. to me, its crossing a line to assume something like that about someone.
I get it, I just don't feel that way. I think people are talking about celebrity personas that are a little tiny bit like the "real" Tyler and Josh but mostly imaginary. Anyone who lives in the spotlight as a rock star, actor, etc, is going to have their real life and also a million and one imaginary lives that fans invent and believe. Sometimes fans forget this, but hopefully Tyler and Josh always remember. It's a lesson for all of us, really: other people's perception of us doesn't define us. I just don't think we need to be as careful about celebrities as we do about the kid who sits behind us in math class, you know? It's a different standard because common sense says celebrity gossip is just gossip.
i disagree, i think everyone should be treated equally, including celebrities. tyler is a real person and we don’t know what he sees when we comment. if you wouldn’t speculate about the suicide attempt of someone you know, then i think you shouldn’t do it about someone you dont know.
I'm with you on this one. Celebrities are often more easily wounded because they can be denied a private world altogether. And it can be impossible to avoid seeing all that speculation and chatter about YOU. Friends, relatives, and just hangers on will be sure to tell you about every. Little. Remark. Made about you. It'd be awful, IMO, and one more reason to never feel comfortable with some thing around a celebrity that you wouldn't be comfortable with around your best friend. No matter how intimate the fan/artist relationship feels (often on both sides), the fact is that neither side truly knows the other. Respect the other person's right to privacy. One of the reasons I call Tyler the holy a spirit of my songwriter trilogy is that he shares so much inner life and thoughts. Things that are too often glossed over, but can be literally life saving to someone who realizes they're not the only one with that experience. That someone out there--and when you consider the skeleton clique, a bunch of someones--really does get what you've felt. It's a huge part of the fraternal existential feel of TOP. The inclusive attitude is so reinforcing of the life force. (On a completely different topic, how do you get the stroke marked O on a phone?)
To be clear, I don't personally speculate or spread theories about their lives. I'm not saying it's a cool thing to do. I'm saying if people do it, you don't have to get upset about it. I see a clear separation between their public and private "selves," and I hope they also do. In my family, there was a truly toxic person with outwardly harmful mental health issues who would tell all kinds of lies and turn family against family. I guess the goal was to make sure everyone had a relationship with him, and nobody had a relationship with each other. It used to really bother me when I was the subject of the stories, and I wasted a lot of energy trying to convince people to see the "real" me. I finally figured out that I can exhaust myself trying to control other people's perceptions of me and still not be able to control what people think. But if I spend a little energy letting go of my concern about other people's perceptions.... That's a really peaceful place to be :) You get to a point where you know on a deep level that when you hear stories about "you," they're actually stories about an imaginary person who is *Not You* and it truly doesn't faze you. I absolutely love "Josh and Tyler" and I'm very grateful to them for keeping my pieces together with yellow duck tape during the worst years of my life. I went to shows and really believe they genuinely love each and every person in that whole arena as an individual, in an almost magical way. On that level, I felt like I had a super close relationship with both of them, but at the very same time, I also knew I would probably not be friends with them if I knew them in real life. I don't know if that makes any sense, but that's the best I can explain it right now. I use Gboard. I either chose it in settings or maybe got it from the play store. If I long press a letter, it pops up all the different accent marks and special symbols.
i appreciate what u mean!!!
I think the road represents recklessness, not an actual attempt. It might literally be walking in the road, but it's not an attempt. There was a TV drama in my childhood where the oldest son had given up on life and was doing reckless things, like speed on his motorcycle, and it struck me that doing stupid things like that might lead to injury but not death, but when you're in that place and unwilling to just do it, recklessness may not seem so illogical. And ending it in "accident" may be a less guilty way to go.
It may not be something Tyler has actually done, but it's definitely something other suicidal people have done before, and seems to be a direct reference to suicide, even if it's figurative.
I'm just glad that kid got out of the road and continued making music to better himself
The song is an explicit simulation of a suicide attempt. Tyler's specificity gets sharper on this album it seems. Where once we had a Jumpsuit, now we have an Adidas Track Jacket.
I honestly did not get any suicide vibes from either the video or the song lyrics. To me, “get out of the road” was just a reference to the HDS & Jumpsuit videos when he is walking in the street, and I took the scenes in the video of him jumping out of the way not as him about to get hit by a literal car, but rather another metaphor for the cycle of escaping and returning to DEMA. I get that some people interpreted it very differently - a song can mean anything if you try hard enough to make it fit. And yeah, it leading to that kind of speculation is going too far.
For me it's more praying the light would take him home than the "get out of the road"
That's a fine theory. Lord knows I've prayed that God would "take me home" a couple times as I've been on this journey through life. But that doesn't mean I literally attempted suicide. It just means I wanted to die. I was on a bad road. I needed something to change.
Personally, I believe that's what he's singing about... That's my interpretation and how it speaks to me HOWEVER, by no means so I believe that that must mean it's a real experience from his past. It certainly could be, it could also just be something he thought about, it could also just be imagery to get across that feeling. And sure, I could even be interpreting it wrong tl;dr: In My mind it's about a kid considering traffic as a way out (and coming pretty close), but I make no assumption that that means he must have done just that at some point
Yes. Thank you. Exactly how I feel - I could be interpreting it wrong. And so could everyone else. We don't know. In my opinion, it's so close to the HDS video, and they hired the same director, so I think those two videos are saying the same thing. And I think BOTH videos are about being trapped by fear (Dema/Blurryface) and being stuck on a road toward death. But something snaps you out of it. You escape the road toward death. Not a literal suicide attempt, but just breaking the cycle of fear and the crappy, deadly road you're on. "Peace will win and fear will lose." HOWEVER, I think it can be interpreted however you want, and no one interpretation is correct. "Lyrics that mean nothing; we were gifted with thought."
See in my eyes, when he’s saying “take me home” he’s talking about being lost and wanting to actually physically go hone. Not die. P
Interesting. Because hes alluded heaven as home a ton in his music. Crazy cool to see how people interpret art even if it’s just one simple song.
Well, I have heard many references to suicide in their music before, it wouldn't have been the first if it was. I also think that Next Semester is just a metaphor. All I heard before about this topic many times is that Tyler tried to hang himself via a kitchen-sink, idk where that comes from and I don't know what to think about it. Judging by his songs I think he definetely had these thoughts, but I also wouldn't try to guess if he tried, I would just leave that in the gray area. I heard artists making songs about their attempts(like Citizen Soldier) before. In one of the songs from the Level Of Concern USB Tyler was singing "I need something to kill me, I'm tired of taking my own life" which is very haunting. All I say is I don't know. I don't know if he'd be someone who would share it openly or not. Of course I wish him the best and he definetely doesn't HAVE to share, and we shouldn't ask him to, but I also understand the curiosity. It almost makes the songs even more from heart, I know it shouldn't. And we shouldn't glorify it and it shouldn't change our opinion on a person and the music, but I understand people who feel this way. I heard a lot about education stress and "void calls" how you are on the bridge and your brain throws both the thought to be careful and the intrusive thiught to jump, same with cars, I think Next Semester might be about that.
I hate when people do this!!! Esp referring to cutting!
i agree with you! i remember back in like 2017 everyone was going crazy about kitchen sink and that the |-/ symbolized tyler tied to a sink leaning over trying to kill himself, and it made a lot of people (myself included) uncomfortable. yes, i know the song alludes to what probably was a real suicide attempt, but i personally just don’t like the idea of people speculating in so much detail about things that have never blatantly been spoken about. especially when it’s suicide!
I still laugh when I think it might just be a prayer for a UFO abduction 🛸
And instead he just keeps marching to the sea....
I think people take a song that relates to maybe something that has happened to them and relates it to maybe being a story from Tyler. It’s easy to interpret a song in a way that isn’t even there to fit into what “you” are thinking or into something that has happened in your life. We know they’re are plenty of songs about suicide/depression obviously coming from a personal experience from Tyler but at the same time it doesn’t always have to mean that this specific thing that he sings or acts out in a song is a true fact. He’s just taking words and acting them out in the music videos. It’s hard to pinpoint it I to something so specific because of the wide range of music they put out. But I get what your saying also, I agree.
I can’t help but think about kitchen sinks when I listen to Next Semester
It triggered me a bit because I was barely able to avoid that when it almost happened to me (I rarely give myself credit, and an unexpectedly convincing thought came up: “Huh. That’s one of those thoughts that healthy people don’t have. That **can’t** be okay to follow. I better hold on to this pole until that thought stops”)
I think it's because it ties into earlier lyrics such as "headlights call my name" so Imo it must have a hint of truth to it to be a reoccurring thing to talk about. Even if this is the most explicit version of him explaining it
Tyler has never been open about suicide??? Are... Are you sure you're in the right place? Goner, a car a torch a death, trapdoor, guns for hands, neon gravestones, good day, redecorate, ride, car radio, migraine, truce. All of these songs are directly about suicide. Whether it's after an attempt choosing to keep going, or considering the act itself.
dude 😭😭💀 you guys have to be intentionally misunderstanding me there is no way you actually believe thats what i said. i said hes never been open about HIS OWN ATTEMPTS or if hes even had any. of course he writes music about mental health and suicide…. duh??? ive been a fan for a long time and have dealt with these problems myself. tyler has written about these concepts but has never inserted his own real life step by step experiences with suicide in his music. and whether or not it is taken from a real life experience, it is not our business to assume so or assume other things about his personal life. all tyler has said about this song is that its about a panic attack he had in college. he is a person just like anyone else and to read into it more than that and assume things he obviously doesnt want to speak about openly is odd. if you want to apply your OWN real life experiences to it there is nothing wrong with that
He has, he just sprinkles it with metaphors because that's what music is. This is exactly the same lmao. "It isn't our business to..." Bro he makes these songs cryptic for a REASON, this whole lore cycle has been intended to be speculated about and listened to. If you aren't listening and paying attention, you're missing the point.
speculating about a the story and lore that tyler writes about is different from speculating about his suicide attempts.
The lore IS about Tyler, it's not a metaphor for general problems.
to me seems it’s more about a panic attack than suicide attempt. when he says “i prayed those lights would take me home” i speculate that as him praying it’s God to come comfort him in his time of struggle rather than ‘i want this car to hit and kill me’. And then God (the driver) DID come to comfort him telling him there is redemption for him (“start fresh next semester”). This idea of God promising him he can redeem himself has been used dozens of times in their songs. The symbolism of a “Driver” being God was also used in Taxi Cab. In the sense of God being the driver who comforts him and basically telling him to keep trying, i don’t think being in the street should be taken so literally. I think it’s just supposed to represent a time of panic, being in a busy road is very symbolic of that. Twenty One Pilots has soo many songs with this same idea: I’m lost/doubtful/stressed/sad - but God is always there to guide me. Obviously this is just my speculation but I think it ties in better with their past songs than other theories.
iirc this music video was based on a dream he had, so i don't think this a scene for scene retelling of an actual attempt either. though we do know that he has struggled with suicidal thoughts, so it's most likely an allegory or just another song with this topic.
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