| Twenty One Pilots – A Car, a Torch, a Death Lyrics | 6 years ago |
|
This is my interpretation of the song lyrics for what it is worth. I just want to say that that I believe those who think this is a love song or something about a relationship ending or gone wrong are definitely incorrect. In many of the Twenty One Pilots songs there is a clear reference to God taken from the Bible and it is not a coincidence or my attempt to make them seem like a religious band. However, TOP are religious given their continuous mentioning of God and that us a fact. Below I will breakdown the song one verse at a time: The air begins to feel a little thin As I start the car, and then I begin To add the miles piled up behind me I barely feel a smile deep inside me And I begin to envy the headlights driving south I want to crack the door so I can just fall out - The above lines address the life of the character in the song and reflects how many people feel in that they are driving down the road of life (driving being used here to give the impression of life going by quickly and the person driving as not paying much attention to life and perhaps living the easy life without thinking about God as part of life. The person is going in the correct/right direction thus doing what he feels is right. He is down/depressed and wishes he was heading south like everyone else (South here indicating the wrong direction and direction to death). So this verse gives the picture of someone who is trying to do what is right throughout life but life is passing him by and he is not happy in any way. But then I remember when you packed my car You reached in the back and buckled up your heart For me to drive away with I began to understand why God died - These two lines address the reason he does not jump out of the car and head south as God has placed his own heart to ride along with the individual in the song (representing us all). The interesting thing here is that the person refers to God as having packed his car and thus placing what he needs for the journey in the car in addition to God's heart (the most valuable thing to God and us). Another interesting thing is that God "Buckled up" his heart and thus placing his own heart in the safety of the car and to some degree in the safety of the driver but overall the car is what protects God's heart and thus the heart being buckled up places no real responsibility on the driver to protect the heart and/or cherish it. Also, I believe that he references God's heart in the backseat as if it is away from his view and more of something he knows in the back of his heart or mind but does not think about it much or care for it as much as he should. Here TOP states for the first time that the individual understands why God died (in reference of Jesus Christ dying for us to save us from hell which is an act of sacrifice on our behalf). So in this verse the individual understands that God sacrificed himself for us and by this have given us his heart to carry. The demons sat there waiting on her porch It was a little dark so we held a makeshift torch And when my car was far out of sight He crept in her room and stayed there for the night - This is a reference to the devil or evil creeping into someone's life (not the individual in the song as he is more of an observer as this point). He notes that the "car is out of sight" thus placing the individual present to see this without the protection of his car and also it is not a glimpse but something he is standing there and seeing as the car is out of sight. In addition, this evil had a "makeshift torch" which the torch signifies light and truth but the torch is not a real one (thus a make shift torch) which looks like it carries light and truth but in reality it has no foundation and is not the truth but more of a mimic of the truth. This is the beginning of the most important verse in the song, perhaps the hallmark of the song/story. And then I felt chills in my bones The breath I saw was not my own I knew my skin that wrapped my frame Wasn't made to play this game - these four lines explain what the individual was seeing as he observed the demons creep into the room. He states he felt "chills" which is a sign of fear and then goes on to see a "breath that was not my own" in other words seeing the demon up close and near by him and he notices that the body he has is not equipped for fight this evil. This is inline in what Christians believe and that is why we rely on God to protect us from evil and the devil as he alone is able to fight evil (what is referenced here as "play the game" And then I saw him, torch in hand He laid it out, what he had planned And then I said I'll take the grave Please just send them all my way - Here the individual sees God/Christ who has a true torch in his hand which carries true light and truth. God goes on to lay out his plan on how to defeat the evil but the individual in the song asks God to let him fight the evil instead despite knowing his body is not made to fight such a fight and knows that if he has to fight, he will surely die. So the individual asks God to just send the evil his way even though he knows he will die. This verse signifies that even if we want to fight evil alone and are willing to die, we can not as this is only accomplished by God himself as our bodies are not made to fight this type of fight. However, as we know, Christ fought death and evil as a human and died and thus the individual in the song realizes how much of a sacrifice Christ made for us and did it while in a human body which would feel the pain and death like us. And then I felt chills in my bones The breath I saw was not my own I knew my skin that wrapped my frame Wasn't made to play this game And then I saw him, torch in hand He laid it out, what he had planned And then I said I'll take the grave Please just send them all my way - This is the only verse in the song which is repeated and I believe this was done to highlight its importance and significance given the comments above I began to understand why God died - Again here, he individual realizes that Christ's fight and defeat of evil was done in a human form and thus was not easy or painless. It was the thing that only Christ could do to be crucified to save us all. The air begins to feel a little thin As we're waiting for the morning to begin - Here the individual is waiting for a new day to begin and despite Christ defeating evil and death, evil is still present as he notes "the air feels thin" which is mentioned previously in the verse when evil was present. This is to highlight that despite Christ's victory over evil, evil still remains in our lives even if we believe in Christ. But for now you told me to hold this jar And when I looked inside I saw it held your heart For me to walk away with - here the individual is starting a new day but not alone for Christ has left his heart with him. The individual's journey will now be harder as he does not have a car and has Christ's heart in a glass jar (something that is fragile unlike the being buckled up in the car) so it is up to the individual to protect the heart and thus cherish it as he walks slowly down the road of life where he was traveling before but now more slowly (without a car) and with Christ's heart not in the backseat but in front of him as he carries it walking forward. I began to understand why God died |
|
| alt-J – Matilda Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Not realizing the song refers to the movie the Professional, I still thought of Matilda from the Movie as that is the only character I know with that name..weird it does actually refer to the movie based on other's comments. :) | |
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.