Alright folks, time to analyze my favorite song ever! All of Twenty One Pilots' songs are not only catchy, but extremely thoughtful. None of the songs are what they appear to be... this being said, Lane Boy is certainly not about a dude driving a car.
This song, my friends, is a middle finger to the haters who think that TOP is a band who is too musically scattered to survive in the music industry. Tyler knows that music is music, and heck, he can do what he wants! HE is the artist; whether he writes pop, rap, alternative, techno, etc., each piece of music he writes stands for itself and should not be pushed towards a "category" like some other generic songs and albums out there. TOP is a band of variation, not a band that fits into one single category! Hurrah! Now, let's get into the nitty gritty... how did I come to this conclusion?
Tyler kicks off the song with these lyrics:
"They say, 'Stay in your lane, boy, lane, boy'/ But we go where we want to"
Despite people telling him to stick to one genre of music, Tyler is a strong, independent singer-songwriter who does what he wants!
"They think this thing is a highway, highway/But will they be alive tomorrow?"
The younger generation is the next generation. Hence, the younger folks of society have the responsibility of shaping the future. Maybe not sticking to a genre will be a thing in the future? For now, Tyler does what he wants, despite old stuffy people telling him what he should and shouldn't do.
"They think this thing is a highway/If it was our way, we'd have a tempo change every other time change"
Highways are straight. Long. Fast. There are no curves, no hills, usually nothing to see on the sides of the roads. There are a lot of them. But you know what? TOP will not drive on the boring highway of the music industry! If it were his way, he would change the tempo a bunch of times! However, if you randomly slow down and then speed up on a highway, you might crash because that could be dangerous with a bunch of other cars around you. This instance translates to one in the music industry: if you make your songs super weird, then no one will probably listen to them because they're hard to follow. Tyler negotiates for catchy songs, but catchy songs that have nothing to do with each other. He needs to spice up his job somehow, right? Who wants to write the same kind of song all of the time?!
"'Cause our mind's changed on what we think is good"
Young people like Tyler appreciate different songs than adults do. So, how can anyone expect him to listen to these tasteless adults?
"I wasn't raised in the hood/But I know a thing or two about pain and darkness/If it wasn't for this music I don’t know how I would have fought this"
Tyler raps in his songs. However, he's not some ghetto gangster from the slums who raps about the pain and suffering of the hood. People sometimes criticize him for being a normal dude who raps. They think he's too innocent to enter the rap community. But you know what? That's rude because he still knows about pain and darkness, just from different experiences. He uses his music as a form of catharsis for said pain and darkness.
"Regardless, all these songs I'm hearing are so heartless/Don't trust a perfect person and don't trust a song that’s flawless, honest"
Tyler is disappointed by the lame pop songs he hears on the radio. They're pretty dang boring in that there's no meaning to them. If there is meaning, it's surface-level. He wants songs that he can analyze, songs that are food for thought, songs that convey a deeper message. By "perfect person," Tyler means someone who seems like (s)he's never encountered something horrifying in his/her life. "Perfect" people can't write deep, meaningful songs because they haven't learned much about the dark side of the moon. A "song that's flawless" seems all jolly and dandy, but is it honest? Is it a realistic song? Probably not, according to Tyler.
"There's a few songs on this record that feel common/I'm in constant confrontation with what I want and what is poppin'/In the industry..."
Oh no, Tyler is beginning to fall into the trap! A few songs in Blurryface, his latest album, appear to him to be similar. If it were up to Tyler, all of his songs would be different. Tyler knows that he has to stick to some kind of agenda, though, so he submits to distant similarity to maintain an audience. Being a singer-songwriter means the constant battle between writing what you want and writing what your audience wants. Tyler is basically just discussing this concept.
"...it seems to me that singles on the radio are currency/My creativity's only free when I'm playing shows"
Tyler gets money and fame when his singles make it to the radio. Radio tunes are always the exact same every time they are played. On the contrary, Tyler also makes money from performing in concerts, but it's a lot more fun for him to perform live so he can change his songs up a bit. He can have Josh do a backflip, he can take a picture of a fly on his piano, he can run on top of the crowd in a hamster ball. It's a good time.
"I'm sorry if that question I asked last"
(psst the question is "will they be alive tomorrow"?)
"Scared you a bit like a Hazmat, in a gas mask..."
This question scares some people like a hazardous material wearing a gas mask. This part is kind of jumbled; Tyler just wants cool fast lyrics to show that he can rap.
"...if you ask Zack/He's my brother, he likes when I rap fast"
Proof of previous statement.
"But let's backtrack/Back to this"
Reigning in the one-way convo here...
"Who would you live and die for on that list?"
AKA, which old people do you love?
"But the problem is, there's another list that exists/And no one really wants to think about this"
After we all die, there's a naughty list and a nice list. People go to Heaven, and people go to the place with the fire and the pitchforks. We never want to think about the latter.
"Forget sanity, forget salary, forget vanity, my morality/If you get in between someone I love and me/You're gonna feel the heat of my cavalry"
Ty values loved ones above materialism and above himself. If you touch the people he loves, he will freaking send his army after you.
The chorus repeats a few more times, so if you want to read their analyses, feel free to scroll up and reread them.
So yeah, that's that! Tyler the musical rebel absolutely refuses to stay in his musical lane. This song is pretty much a YOLO statement (;
If you actually read this entire thing, you're an absolutely awesome person. Please let me know if you agree/disagree! Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day! :) :) :)
Alright folks, time to analyze my favorite song ever! All of Twenty One Pilots' songs are not only catchy, but extremely thoughtful. None of the songs are what they appear to be... this being said, Lane Boy is certainly not about a dude driving a car.
This song, my friends, is a middle finger to the haters who think that TOP is a band who is too musically scattered to survive in the music industry. Tyler knows that music is music, and heck, he can do what he wants! HE is the artist; whether he writes pop, rap, alternative, techno, etc., each piece of music he writes stands for itself and should not be pushed towards a "category" like some other generic songs and albums out there. TOP is a band of variation, not a band that fits into one single category! Hurrah! Now, let's get into the nitty gritty... how did I come to this conclusion?
Tyler kicks off the song with these lyrics: "They say, 'Stay in your lane, boy, lane, boy'/ But we go where we want to" Despite people telling him to stick to one genre of music, Tyler is a strong, independent singer-songwriter who does what he wants!
"They think this thing is a highway, highway/But will they be alive tomorrow?" The younger generation is the next generation. Hence, the younger folks of society have the responsibility of shaping the future. Maybe not sticking to a genre will be a thing in the future? For now, Tyler does what he wants, despite old stuffy people telling him what he should and shouldn't do.
"They think this thing is a highway/If it was our way, we'd have a tempo change every other time change" Highways are straight. Long. Fast. There are no curves, no hills, usually nothing to see on the sides of the roads. There are a lot of them. But you know what? TOP will not drive on the boring highway of the music industry! If it were his way, he would change the tempo a bunch of times! However, if you randomly slow down and then speed up on a highway, you might crash because that could be dangerous with a bunch of other cars around you. This instance translates to one in the music industry: if you make your songs super weird, then no one will probably listen to them because they're hard to follow. Tyler negotiates for catchy songs, but catchy songs that have nothing to do with each other. He needs to spice up his job somehow, right? Who wants to write the same kind of song all of the time?!
"'Cause our mind's changed on what we think is good" Young people like Tyler appreciate different songs than adults do. So, how can anyone expect him to listen to these tasteless adults?
"I wasn't raised in the hood/But I know a thing or two about pain and darkness/If it wasn't for this music I don’t know how I would have fought this" Tyler raps in his songs. However, he's not some ghetto gangster from the slums who raps about the pain and suffering of the hood. People sometimes criticize him for being a normal dude who raps. They think he's too innocent to enter the rap community. But you know what? That's rude because he still knows about pain and darkness, just from different experiences. He uses his music as a form of catharsis for said pain and darkness.
"Regardless, all these songs I'm hearing are so heartless/Don't trust a perfect person and don't trust a song that’s flawless, honest" Tyler is disappointed by the lame pop songs he hears on the radio. They're pretty dang boring in that there's no meaning to them. If there is meaning, it's surface-level. He wants songs that he can analyze, songs that are food for thought, songs that convey a deeper message. By "perfect person," Tyler means someone who seems like (s)he's never encountered something horrifying in his/her life. "Perfect" people can't write deep, meaningful songs because they haven't learned much about the dark side of the moon. A "song that's flawless" seems all jolly and dandy, but is it honest? Is it a realistic song? Probably not, according to Tyler.
"There's a few songs on this record that feel common/I'm in constant confrontation with what I want and what is poppin'/In the industry..." Oh no, Tyler is beginning to fall into the trap! A few songs in Blurryface, his latest album, appear to him to be similar. If it were up to Tyler, all of his songs would be different. Tyler knows that he has to stick to some kind of agenda, though, so he submits to distant similarity to maintain an audience. Being a singer-songwriter means the constant battle between writing what you want and writing what your audience wants. Tyler is basically just discussing this concept.
"...it seems to me that singles on the radio are currency/My creativity's only free when I'm playing shows" Tyler gets money and fame when his singles make it to the radio. Radio tunes are always the exact same every time they are played. On the contrary, Tyler also makes money from performing in concerts, but it's a lot more fun for him to perform live so he can change his songs up a bit. He can have Josh do a backflip, he can take a picture of a fly on his piano, he can run on top of the crowd in a hamster ball. It's a good time.
"I'm sorry if that question I asked last" (psst the question is "will they be alive tomorrow"?)
"Scared you a bit like a Hazmat, in a gas mask..." This question scares some people like a hazardous material wearing a gas mask. This part is kind of jumbled; Tyler just wants cool fast lyrics to show that he can rap.
"...if you ask Zack/He's my brother, he likes when I rap fast" Proof of previous statement.
"But let's backtrack/Back to this" Reigning in the one-way convo here...
"Who would you live and die for on that list?" AKA, which old people do you love?
"But the problem is, there's another list that exists/And no one really wants to think about this" After we all die, there's a naughty list and a nice list. People go to Heaven, and people go to the place with the fire and the pitchforks. We never want to think about the latter.
"Forget sanity, forget salary, forget vanity, my morality/If you get in between someone I love and me/You're gonna feel the heat of my cavalry" Ty values loved ones above materialism and above himself. If you touch the people he loves, he will freaking send his army after you.
The chorus repeats a few more times, so if you want to read their analyses, feel free to scroll up and reread them.
So yeah, that's that! Tyler the musical rebel absolutely refuses to stay in his musical lane. This song is pretty much a YOLO statement (;
If you actually read this entire thing, you're an absolutely awesome person. Please let me know if you agree/disagree! Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day! :) :) :)