naturalbornkitten
New Member
- Nov 24, 2023
- 1
"Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" was built upon arpeggios that sound like a circular movement, continuing uninterrupted throughout the entire song. To me, the song's themes are aligned with the sound of the arpeggios: a construction of anxiety in which the first, second, and third notes are repeated so many times that they lose their meaning. Thus, there is neither a beginning nor an end, but a perfect circle.
"In the deepest ocean
The bottom of the sea
Your eyes
They turn me"
The lyrical subject begins the song at the bottom of the ocean while simultaneously being in a presence outside of it, like a spectator looking at his reflection in the water. But here, observer and observed, physical body and specter, become one, since they are looking at each other in a mirror. Like the paradox of the spectator, the song already contains its ending within its beginning, since the lyrical subject's journey will lead him back to the same initial state: at the bottom of the ocean, looking outward.
"Why should I stay here?
Why should I stay?"
Yorke questions why he should remain at the bottom of the ocean. Why deny himself the opportunity to follow the specter that looks at his reflection from the edge of the sea? That specter is certainly living a much better life. In the song, the bottom of the sea represents precisely what one would imagine from such a setting: darkness, pressure, claustrophobia, shipwrecks, carcasses, strange fish. It is as if he were tied to a heavy stone, but for a moment, he asks himself: why should I stay here?
"Your eyes
They turn me
Turn me on to phantoms (way out)
I follow to the edge of the Earth (way out, way out)
And fall off"
Who is this person looking from the outside? In "Weird Fishes," the desire for a better life is represented by ghosts, which I associate with the spectral representations of the lyrical subject himself, the one who is sinking. These images are "hauntological," according to Mark Fisher; in other words, the character is haunted by ghosts of lost futures, of what was and what could have been. This haunting leads him to the surface, and he follows it, persevering until the literal end of the world. At the end of his purpose lies an abyss that takes him back to the bottom of the sea. Was it worth following his hauntings? "Everybody leaves (way out). If they get the chance (way out). And this is my chance (way out)."
Tyler Joseph, from twenty one pilots, is also haunted by his specters. "Taxi Cab," from the band's first album, begins with a confession: he is a divided soul.
"I wanna fall inside your ghost
And fill up every hole inside my mind
And I want everyone to know
That I am half a soul divided"
In the chorus, the phrase "Don't be afraid" is repeated, much like the words spoken by biblical angels when they appear to people, such as the angel Gabriel to Mary and to the women at Christ's tomb. Religious references are particularly prominent in Joseph's lyrics and cannot be overlooked when analyzing his songs. The ghost Tyler refers to is both his divided soul, torn between good and evil (a key theme in the band's main storyline, the battle between Clancy and the Bishops and between Tyler and Josh and Blurryface. In the lyrics, examples of this dichotomy can be found in "Polarize," from Blurryface, and "The Judge," from the same album: "I don't know if this song, Is a surrender or a revel, I don't know if this one, Is about me or the devil"), as well as a soul divided between faith and disbelief, much like Yorke in "Weird Fishes" and his questioning of whether or not to follow his ghost, a form of hope, even though in this case there is no explicit religious dimension.
"So the hearse ran out of gas
The passenger person grabbed a map
And the driver inside it contrived a new route to save the past
And checked his watch and grabbed a cab
A beautifully planned taxi cab"
If in "Weird Fishes" the lyrical subject was at the bottom of the sea, in "Taxi Cab" he is being carried in the back of a hearse—in other words, he is inside a coffin. Both are possible scenarios for people who have taken their own lives. The one carrying Joseph's lyrical subject's body is his divided soul, what remains of himself, which we discover in the third verse to be three men, potentially symbolizing the Holy Trinity.
"And then I cracked open my box
Someone must have picked the lock
A little light revealed the spot where my fingernails had fought
Then I pushed it open more, pushing up against the door
Then I sat up off the floor
And found the breath I was searchin' for
Then there were three men up front
All I saw were backs of heads
And then I asked, "Am I alive and well
Or am I dreaming dead?"
Then one turned around to say
"We're driving toward the morning, son
Where all your blood is washed away
And all you did will be undone""
In "Taxi Cab," the specters that lead Joseph out of his depressive state are taking him to a place where everything he has done will be undone. In this case, it is suggested that the main character has taken his own life and believes he is going to hell because of the sin he has committed. However, these three men rescue him from his sadness, by leading him toward suicide, and take him toward the sunrise, toward heaven, because only then would he be able to see another day.
In "Car Radio," from Vessel, it is possible to glimpse what Joseph's life was like when he was the one driving: "I find it hard to hide it, My pride is no longer inside, It's on my sleeve, my skin will scream, Reminding me of who I killed inside my dream, I hate this car that I'm driving, There's no hiding for me, I'm forced to deal with what I feel, There is no distraction to mask what is real, I could pull the steering wheel"), he was in such a deep state of sadness that it seemed to seep through his skin, through wounds and injuries, leaving him with nowhere to hide and nothing to distract him from his dark thoughts. It is because of this situation that the three men take control of his path, falling into the abyss of "Weird Fishes" so that he can see another day. Everybody leaves when they get the chance. And this is my chance.
Tyler has also been submerged before, this time at the bottom of a swimming pool in "Backslide" (from Clancy).
"I don't wanna backslide to where I've started from
There's no chance I will shake this again
'Cause I feel the pull, water's over my head
Strength enough for one more time
Reach my hand above the tide
I'll take anything you have if you could throw me a line
I should've loved you better
Do you think that now's the time you should let go?
It's over my head"
The strength to do so once again reminds me of the impulse that the character in "Weird Fishes" had to untie the stone that was binding him to the bottom of the ocean, to a very deep depression. It is theorized that the "you" Joseph refers to is God, as is often the case in twenty one pilots' lyrics. Considering the Trinity and the concept of the Holy Spirit, within this God there is a part of his own faith and humanity, acting as a ghost of himself. Tyler does not want to fall back into the sadness he once felt, into this vicious cycle, but it seems that it will happen once again and that it will not stop. So, would this be the moment to let go of the hand?
The feeling that depression is a cycle we will never overcome, yet we continue trying anyway, summarizes the entire extensive story of twenty one pilots, beginning with "Goner" and continuing all the way to "City Walls." I like to draw a parallel with Radiohead, who also explores this theme in "Weird Fishes," as well as in "Nude," "Exit Music," "No Surprises," and others, although with a much greater absence of faith, since Yorke does not think about seeing another day in heaven or hell, but only about disappearing completely.
It is important to discuss the process of coming out of a depressive state, since very few people portray just how ugly this journey can be. It is as if you had been conditioned to live within one culture, only to be placed in a completely different one and expected to adapt immediately. And on top of that, people still expect beautiful results from you at the very moment when you are at your ugliest.
It is frightening to try to get better while knowing that bad things are going to happen again. Tyler Joseph writes about this in "Snap Back" (Clancy): "Got a bad feeling that I'm about to break, Been a good streak, but the pressure's overweight, Is it even good, for my head to keep track?, If I'm gonna snap necks, then I gotta snap back". If I'm going to snap necks, then I'll snap back.
"In the deepest ocean
The bottom of the sea
Your eyes
They turn me"
The lyrical subject begins the song at the bottom of the ocean while simultaneously being in a presence outside of it, like a spectator looking at his reflection in the water. But here, observer and observed, physical body and specter, become one, since they are looking at each other in a mirror. Like the paradox of the spectator, the song already contains its ending within its beginning, since the lyrical subject's journey will lead him back to the same initial state: at the bottom of the ocean, looking outward.
"Why should I stay here?
Why should I stay?"
Yorke questions why he should remain at the bottom of the ocean. Why deny himself the opportunity to follow the specter that looks at his reflection from the edge of the sea? That specter is certainly living a much better life. In the song, the bottom of the sea represents precisely what one would imagine from such a setting: darkness, pressure, claustrophobia, shipwrecks, carcasses, strange fish. It is as if he were tied to a heavy stone, but for a moment, he asks himself: why should I stay here?
"Your eyes
They turn me
Turn me on to phantoms (way out)
I follow to the edge of the Earth (way out, way out)
And fall off"
Who is this person looking from the outside? In "Weird Fishes," the desire for a better life is represented by ghosts, which I associate with the spectral representations of the lyrical subject himself, the one who is sinking. These images are "hauntological," according to Mark Fisher; in other words, the character is haunted by ghosts of lost futures, of what was and what could have been. This haunting leads him to the surface, and he follows it, persevering until the literal end of the world. At the end of his purpose lies an abyss that takes him back to the bottom of the sea. Was it worth following his hauntings? "Everybody leaves (way out). If they get the chance (way out). And this is my chance (way out)."
Tyler Joseph, from twenty one pilots, is also haunted by his specters. "Taxi Cab," from the band's first album, begins with a confession: he is a divided soul.
"I wanna fall inside your ghost
And fill up every hole inside my mind
And I want everyone to know
That I am half a soul divided"
In the chorus, the phrase "Don't be afraid" is repeated, much like the words spoken by biblical angels when they appear to people, such as the angel Gabriel to Mary and to the women at Christ's tomb. Religious references are particularly prominent in Joseph's lyrics and cannot be overlooked when analyzing his songs. The ghost Tyler refers to is both his divided soul, torn between good and evil (a key theme in the band's main storyline, the battle between Clancy and the Bishops and between Tyler and Josh and Blurryface. In the lyrics, examples of this dichotomy can be found in "Polarize," from Blurryface, and "The Judge," from the same album: "I don't know if this song, Is a surrender or a revel, I don't know if this one, Is about me or the devil"), as well as a soul divided between faith and disbelief, much like Yorke in "Weird Fishes" and his questioning of whether or not to follow his ghost, a form of hope, even though in this case there is no explicit religious dimension.
"So the hearse ran out of gas
The passenger person grabbed a map
And the driver inside it contrived a new route to save the past
And checked his watch and grabbed a cab
A beautifully planned taxi cab"
If in "Weird Fishes" the lyrical subject was at the bottom of the sea, in "Taxi Cab" he is being carried in the back of a hearse—in other words, he is inside a coffin. Both are possible scenarios for people who have taken their own lives. The one carrying Joseph's lyrical subject's body is his divided soul, what remains of himself, which we discover in the third verse to be three men, potentially symbolizing the Holy Trinity.
"And then I cracked open my box
Someone must have picked the lock
A little light revealed the spot where my fingernails had fought
Then I pushed it open more, pushing up against the door
Then I sat up off the floor
And found the breath I was searchin' for
Then there were three men up front
All I saw were backs of heads
And then I asked, "Am I alive and well
Or am I dreaming dead?"
Then one turned around to say
"We're driving toward the morning, son
Where all your blood is washed away
And all you did will be undone""
In "Taxi Cab," the specters that lead Joseph out of his depressive state are taking him to a place where everything he has done will be undone. In this case, it is suggested that the main character has taken his own life and believes he is going to hell because of the sin he has committed. However, these three men rescue him from his sadness, by leading him toward suicide, and take him toward the sunrise, toward heaven, because only then would he be able to see another day.
In "Car Radio," from Vessel, it is possible to glimpse what Joseph's life was like when he was the one driving: "I find it hard to hide it, My pride is no longer inside, It's on my sleeve, my skin will scream, Reminding me of who I killed inside my dream, I hate this car that I'm driving, There's no hiding for me, I'm forced to deal with what I feel, There is no distraction to mask what is real, I could pull the steering wheel"), he was in such a deep state of sadness that it seemed to seep through his skin, through wounds and injuries, leaving him with nowhere to hide and nothing to distract him from his dark thoughts. It is because of this situation that the three men take control of his path, falling into the abyss of "Weird Fishes" so that he can see another day. Everybody leaves when they get the chance. And this is my chance.
Tyler has also been submerged before, this time at the bottom of a swimming pool in "Backslide" (from Clancy).
"I don't wanna backslide to where I've started from
There's no chance I will shake this again
'Cause I feel the pull, water's over my head
Strength enough for one more time
Reach my hand above the tide
I'll take anything you have if you could throw me a line
I should've loved you better
Do you think that now's the time you should let go?
It's over my head"
The strength to do so once again reminds me of the impulse that the character in "Weird Fishes" had to untie the stone that was binding him to the bottom of the ocean, to a very deep depression. It is theorized that the "you" Joseph refers to is God, as is often the case in twenty one pilots' lyrics. Considering the Trinity and the concept of the Holy Spirit, within this God there is a part of his own faith and humanity, acting as a ghost of himself. Tyler does not want to fall back into the sadness he once felt, into this vicious cycle, but it seems that it will happen once again and that it will not stop. So, would this be the moment to let go of the hand?
The feeling that depression is a cycle we will never overcome, yet we continue trying anyway, summarizes the entire extensive story of twenty one pilots, beginning with "Goner" and continuing all the way to "City Walls." I like to draw a parallel with Radiohead, who also explores this theme in "Weird Fishes," as well as in "Nude," "Exit Music," "No Surprises," and others, although with a much greater absence of faith, since Yorke does not think about seeing another day in heaven or hell, but only about disappearing completely.
It is important to discuss the process of coming out of a depressive state, since very few people portray just how ugly this journey can be. It is as if you had been conditioned to live within one culture, only to be placed in a completely different one and expected to adapt immediately. And on top of that, people still expect beautiful results from you at the very moment when you are at your ugliest.
It is frightening to try to get better while knowing that bad things are going to happen again. Tyler Joseph writes about this in "Snap Back" (Clancy): "Got a bad feeling that I'm about to break, Been a good streak, but the pressure's overweight, Is it even good, for my head to keep track?, If I'm gonna snap necks, then I gotta snap back". If I'm going to snap necks, then I'll snap back.
