Ode to Sleep

I think in order to truly understand Ode to Sleep, you need to look not just at the lyrics, but the song itself. The title "Ode to Sleep" may represent how Tyler's mind is not at rest. The melody frequently changes throughout the song, and that may represent how rapidly Tyler thinks and how many thoughts he can have in his mind because he is such a deep and thoughtful person. I wake up fine and dandy But by the time I find it handy To rip my heart apart and start Planning my crash landing I go up to the ceiling And I feel my soul start leaving Like an old mans hair receding I think this stanza could be interpreted in a few different ways. One way is that he wakes up fine, but then the "demons" get to him and he begins to feel suicidal (hence: ripping his heart apart and planning his crash landing) but then God saves him from the demons. However, I think ripping his heart apart and planning his crash landing could also mean simply writing a song. I know it may sound odd but hear me out on this. "Ripping his heart apart" may mean exposing his heart and showing it in songs he writes, and planning his crash landing may be the effects of spending too much time thinking negatively, (letting the demons in). When he talks about going up to the ceiling and feeling his soul leaving, that may refer to writer's block because so much of his music expresses how he feels agonized by the demons in his mind and if he does not feel agonized, he can't really write about it, and feeling his soul leaving may be about how he fears he may lose his depth and ability to write so deeply. This song, in a way, is an internal fight inside of Tyler's mind about how he feels he must choose between happiness and fulfillment (his ability to write music the way he does). I'm pleading "Please, oh, please." On my knees repeatedly asking Why it's got to be like this Is this living free? I don't wanna be the one To have the sons blood on my hands I'll tell the moon Take this weapon, forged in darkness Some see a pen, I see a harpoon In addition to being an internal fight, this song is also, in my opinion, a prayer. He is telling God that he does not think he is cut out for the plans God has for him to write music about the darkness in people's lives and attempt to bring them out of it, and that he doesn't want to have so much of God's faith, because that makes him a target to the demons, who in Christian faith attack anyone they find threatening to them (represented by his agonizing thoughts). It is also a contradiction to what he said at first about how he feels his soul leaving. I'll stay awake Cause the dark's not taking prisoners tonight Why am I not scared in the morning? I don't hear those voices calling I must have kicked them out Another contradiction. Now he feels happy and free again. I swear I heard demons yelling Those crazy words they were spelling They told me I was gone Now, looking back, fear may be beginning to creep back into his mind again. Another contradiction. I tell 'em Why won't you let me go? Do I threaten all your plans? I'm insignificant Now, he feels that he would rather truly be insignificant than have to suffer through being tortured by the demons. He tries to tell the demons that he is not a threat to them so that they might leave him alone. Please tell them You have no plans for me I will set my soul on fire What have I become? I'll tell 'em At the beginning of this stanza, Tyler is talking to God, begging Him to tell the demons to leave him alone by saying he is not a threat. At this point of the song, Tyler is saying that he would be willing to destroy his soul (the part of him that allows him to make the music he does) just so the demons will leave him alone. The last two lines are him talking to himself. He asks himself what he has become, what the demons and songwriting have caused him to become. When he says "I'll tell 'em", he's become impatient with God, so he wants to take matters into his own hands. On the eve of a day that's forgotten and fake As the trees, they await and clouds anticipate The start of a day when we put on our face, A mask that portrays that we don't need grace, On the eve of a day that is bigger than us, But we open our eyes 'cause we're told that we must, And the trees wave their arms and the clouds try to plead, Desperately yelling there's something we need, I'm not free, I asked forgiveness three times, Same amount that I denied, I three-time mvp'ed this crime, I'm afraid to tell you who I adore, won't tell you who I'm singing towards, Metaphorically I'm a whore, and that's denial number four. The "day" may be referring to Good Friday (the day in Christian faith where Jesus died on the cross for everyone's sin) because he is talking about how the "masks" we're an attempt to hide the fact that Christian people felt lost without Jesus, and nature is begging for Him back. I think he felt it necessary to add this to the song because that may be how he currently felt, lost and alone and he felt that God was not by his side. Then, he begins talking about his own faith, and how he asked for forgiveness three times but also denied his faith three times, that may be an explanation for why he feels he is not as powerful against the demons as he could be. However, he also says he does not want to recognize God as the person he is singing about in his songs. I think when he says he's a whore, he means that he is not willing to show his faith, because a whore can mean someone who does not show loyalty or faith to anyone in particular, and because he calls that another denial of his faith. What have I become? I'm sorry. At the end of the song, Tyler figures that he may also be to blame for what he feels, and his apology may be to himself, to God, or to anyone he knows. He is sorry because he let the demons change him so much that he may have lost sight of who he was before. Ode to Sleep is personally one of my favorite songs by Twenty Øne Piløts because of how clever it is all around.