Twenty One Pilots

Vessel Analysis: Ode to Sleep

A/N :: you can skip this chapter and the next eleven if you would like- not important :: also enjoy cute pic of Tyler and Josh

I analyzed all the Vessel song lyrics song by song on twitter in celebration of the album 'Vessel' turning four, and I figured I might as well share them here.

This is for Ode to Sleep.

Ode to Sleep.

We sleep when we feel safe, or when we need an escape. We stay awake because we can't feel safe. We stay awake because we cannot escape. This is an ode to you. The one that it is for all the nights where I was taken prisoner by night to be let out in the morning with no fight. This is for you.

"I wake up fine and dandy... hair receding,"
     -I relate to this a lot, sometimes you wake up and you feel as if you're going to make it, everything's going to be okay, you'll be okay. And then all of a sudden, hello there- it hits you. You are not okay.
"I'm pleading please, oh please on my knees... is this living free?"
    - Exactly what it says. After a while, when this is your every morning- it hurts. It gets worse, not better. Why does it have to be like this?  Is this what living is? Am I doing it wrong? Is there even a way to live without this pain? How?
"I don't want to be the one... I see a harpoon,"
    - Using the sun as a metaphor for happiness/hope, I don't want to be the one
to take it away. The sun gives light to everyone, not just me. I don't want to be the one responsible for killing it. So I'll tell the moon. I'll take in the night, the cold, the pain, and the horrors. I'll take it and fight the only way I can. A pen may just be a pen to you, but it is my way to creativity. It is my weapon; it is my armor. It is my way out.
"Why am I not scared in the morning... I was gone,"
    -Nights are hard. All my battles, my pain, my struggle. I fight this at night. By the time morning comes, I don't have the same fight as I did the night before. My so to say "demons" and "voices"- I have won them in the morning. But I thought they were going to win. I told myself last night that this was my end, that I was gone. But morning came anyway. I somehow won. I must have kicked them out.
"But I'll tell them... I'll tell them,"
    -Why do I even have all this pain? I don't even matter. I'm a side character in my own story. I don't even know who I am anymore. I lost myself. Please, just let me go.
"On the eve of a day that's forgotten and fake,"
    -This day isn't even important. Glossed over. Another of many pages in a     book. The morning doesn't matter. It's the night before.
"And the trees they await... grace,"
    -When the clouds are mentioned, what comes to a mind is how a cloud must know when it is their time to bring rain- create a storm. Will there be a storm or rain, or will it pass? The trees and clouds wait for an answer. Which will tonight bring? We put on a mask and a brave face and tell others that we are okay, that we will be alright- however we know that this is false. We are afraid.
"On the eve of a day that is bigger than us,"
    -This is a direct contradiction to a previous line. Now he asks himself; maybe this next day is important. Maybe there will be a storm.
"But we open our eyes 'cause we're told that we must,"
    -We want to hide from our pains. We just want to give up and let it go and     stop fighting. We don't want to go out and face our problems. We don't want to fight. But we have too. We have to open our eyes.
"And the trees wave... we need."
    -Someone is trying to get our attention now. They're trying to tell us something. There is an end to this. If we take what we need, if we pick the right weapon (the reference to the creativity/creations/pen/harpoon)- there doesn't have to be that anticipated storm. The clouds (people, hope, reality) are pleading with us to stay, and if we just open our eyes we would see.     There actually is no storm coming. The storm we were so prepared for and dreading. The day is bigger than us like he said, because we ironically came to the conclusion that it is not big at all. But rather forgotten and fake.
"I'm not free... this crime,"
    - I did the same sin/crime three times that I now ask forgiveness for. I am not     free and I am held by these crimes/sins in place as I make the same mistake     over and over again. Likely biblical allusion to Peter's three denials.
"I'm afraid... denial number four."
    - (Okay this bit is whoa). I'm afraid to tell you (the listeners, anyone paying attention) who I am really talking too, what I believe in, whom I adore, my     religion. I'm afraid to tell you it's Him who I am listening too. I have denied him three times. Metaphorically, I would do anything for him. I will write all my fears, troubles, beliefs, doubts. In my words, I will die for you. I will do     anything for you. But here's the thing. Would I really? I may tell you and sing to you how much I would do for you. But would I really do these things? In all honestly, metaphorically, I would do it all. Literally- I don't know what I would do. And my previous denials/sins from earlier? By promising this to you that I would do anything, and by being afraid to tell them whom I adore, this has become my fourth denial.
"I'll stay awake, 'cause the dark's not taking prisoners tonight."
    - Here I am, to fight you again tonight. Pain, darkness, struggle, the loss of hope- these familiar feelings have become my best friends. But tonight is different. I'll stay awake to fight you, because tonight, you're not planning on letting me out in the morning. "Take no prisoners". You're planning to take me and end me. No prisoners tonight. So I'll stay awake to fight you this time. It's you or me. This is the night.
"I'm sorry,"
    - I don't know who I am. Consumed by pain, fed by fear. I'm sorry.