Overthinking, self-regulation, and indecision all represent the qualities responsible for panic and insecurity in the midst of an important decision. We’ve all been there despite the magnitude of the situation. Whether it has been making a tough diet decision, choosing one option over another, or it can be a struggle in realizing the fate of a relationship with a person. As a person known for over analyzing situations, reading too far into things, and having the tendency to sometimes be a little over dramatic, this week I present another one of my favorite songs, “Treacherous” by Taylor Swift which details an individual’s inability to refrain from pursuing a harmful relationship.

This theme of struggling to decide between realism and a desired fantasy is extremely prevalent in current pop music today, but the song’s coupling of country and pop and the poetic lyricism capture my admiration. I admit, there’s a great number of songs I often listen to voluntarily over Taylor Swift’s “Treacherous” for the mere catchy vibe, however, the detailed symbolism transcending throughout the song is the reason for my unceasing love for it.

Fighting to refrain from anything serious, she sings “put your lips close to mine, as long as they don’t touch” to make it known that she wants something, but nothing that could hurt her. By not touching, she knows she won’t be able to blame herself for any downfall that may occur and to avoid anything that may be “treacherous.” Although she seems to uphold awareness about the dangers of this specific relationship, she quickly contradicts it by admitting that the “gravity’s too much” and even though she tries to run from it, she defeatedly justifies that “you’re quicksand,” alluding to the inability to escape it.

Not only does the song contain qualities of relatability to an audience, but the metaphor in which she conveys her feelings is strikingly insightful as the strong pull of gravity and panic of getting abolished by quicksand translates into a deep conflict between right and wrong. The only example of relatability off of the top of my head would be deciding between two outfits, whether or not to eat the cookies I told myself I wouldn’t eat, or between two different invites for plans. Therefore, the immense decision she details embellished with subtle signs of hope are intriguing to hear as my decisions seem mediocre in comparison.

Succeeding the accumulation of indecision and being pulled by the gravity and quicksand, she acknowledges that the slope is treacherous, yet brings the chorus to a roaring end with an “I, I, I like it,” dragging out the “like” by singing “likeeeee” to emphasize how although its treacherous and may be destructive in the long run, for the moment she enjoys it. Afterwards, she tries to eliminate her feelings by dehumanizing both of them and changing her perspective to the actual anatomy of the two of them, stating that “all we are is skin and bone, trained to get along” to make herself feel better by looking at their relationship as two pieces of anatomy rather than two human beings consumed by their emotions. She continues by explaining how she wishes to just go through the motions rather than think too deeply about it, but she can’t because he’s “friction,” immobilizing her from moving on to something right.

Although I had admired her ability to recognize the relationship’s destructive nature, she progressively humanizes herself as she completely disregards the danger by justifying to herself that “nothing safe is worth the drive,” finally concluding that “i will follow you home,” meaning she feels safe with him and doesn’t want to risk losing that security.

Analyzing the songs i’ve written about on my blog thus far, all share a common quality responsible for its likeability: relatability. Whether its meaning directly parallels with my experiences or if they utilize rhetoric to connect to the audience, each rely on specific tactics to draw in their audience. Certainly, I don’t share the same intensity of heartbreak as presented in Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well,” Post Malone’s “I Fall Apart,” or Katy Perry’s “Part of Me,” but each song successfully induces emotion from its audience to allow them connect even in the most miniscule form. For me, the craft of the song intermixed with supporting melodies ensued admirability and that likewise goes for this week’s analysis of “Car Radio” by Twenty One Pilots.

In Twenty One Pilots’ “Car Radio,” they metaphorically assemble lyrics detailing the consequences of silence and its ability to bear harmful thinking. Constructing their song in the form of a poem, the band hopes to appeal to their audience by highlighting their words rather than crafting a catchy rhythm. Consequently, they encircle their message around a symbolic car radio that is ultimately responsible for distracting us from our negative thoughts. However, when the car radio is stolen, as is the noise, only leaving silence to remain.

Contrasting deep epiphanies commonly defined as “shower thoughts,” the “car thoughts” that Twenty One Pilots conversely defines, exploits the danger of them– “sometimes quiet is violent” lead singer, Tyler Joseph, implores. Experiencing an existential crisis, the silence refuses to immobilize his thoughts, leading to his demise throughout the song.

So far this sounds dark, I know, but it is innocent on the surface for the most part. By utilizing the car radio as a mask to hide their darker meaning, the song contains relatability in that individuals often get distracted by their thoughts. In fact, majority of people consider themselves “over-thinkers” (this isn’t a real statistic), but in spite of that, the term is prevalent for a reason, everyone experiences it.

However, unlike most people, Tyler Joseph sings about how the deterioration of his car radio leads to the deterioration of his mind, and ultimately to himself. Although this isn’t a theme I enjoy exploring, the craft of the song is undeniably fascinating, not only in the lyrics, but in the production.

A soft, piano melody institutes the beginning of the song followed by an intermixing of instruments that create a sound resembling the ripples in water as if to create the feeling of reflection and immense contemplation. With 14 seconds of this melody, they allow the audience to ponder as they foreshadow the entailments of the song. Interestingly, they follow this long introduction with the first two words being “I ponder” to explicitly state what they implicitly attempted to convey.

Relying on the car radio to act as a shield from his thoughts, Joseph sings “there is no hiding for me” in effect to its absence. Thus, admitting his vulnerability to the silence in “i’m forced to deal with what is real” which expresses his inability to hide. Succeeding this revelation is a long drum solo to elevate the song’s intensity, as if to allow the reader to visualize the car speeding as his mind continues to race. On the basis thereof, even an individual void of similarity has the ability to admire the brilliance of the song. Similar to the fascination of reading, escaping in a fictional world by creating a movie image, the song likewise showcases an image of a man rooted solely to his car and his mind.  

Progressing through the song, the music builds as does his words–Tyler Joseph may as well be an actor in addition to a singer, beyond doubt. Not only does he write “oh my, too deep, please stop thinking,” but he yells it, attempting to conquer the noise within himself. Subsequently, they implement multiple echoes of “woah” in the background before ascending into repeated yelling of “and now I just sit in silence!” If you don’t believe that he is legitimately yelling, please listen to the song. He yells. Confirmed in their official video is Tyler Joseph maddeningly pounding the stage, simultaneously attempting to rip off the mask that is symbolically representing the silence responsible for driving his madness.  

Finally, after a whirlwind of anxiety, the intense music ceases to continue as it dwindles into the softness of the opening melody. Coming full circle, Tyler Joseph removes his mask, signaling an end to his craze as he finishes by following backwards off the stage.

In spite of its supreme darkness, the message catches the audience’s attention by its small quality of relatability in expressing the negative consequences of thought. Although fictive to my personal experience, its ability to alter my perspective by enhancing its reality represents its brilliance as it details the complexity of the mind, making it one of my most admired songs.

With a swift, heart-pounding beat accompanied by a deterministic search for self-worth, I present Katy Perry’s empowering revival from toxic love, “Part of Me” which showcases Perry’s unflagging proclamation of ease following a bad breakup. Although I recognize it for its strength and unwillingness to succumb to self-alteration that often occurs after a breakup, it still contains some elements of deterioration and supreme anger; however, the juxtaposition of a colossal breakdown and an unparalleled complacency weaves an influential message that deems comparable to myriad situations that individuals experience. Thereby, it secures a position within my favorite songs as it concurrently alters the consistent theme of depressing songs that have and will be analyzed on this blog by also conveying personal growth.

Primarily, the song begins with a portrayal of madness, accompanied by confrontation, yelling, throwing, and a dramatic drive away scene in the music video. I admit, the opening scene depicts an awkward interaction due to the unsettling silence of the background. Although after, while walking away and unquestionably throwing herself into her car, the rhythm of eight pounding beats of the instruments embellishes her hurt, albeit tenacious spirit, notably with the unanticipated sequence of a few rapid pounds of the beat that catapult her flight and drive her anger.

Succeeding the revelation of her cheating boyfriend, Perry descends into madness as she transforms her anger into positive growth by pursuing her own desires rather than surrendering to her demise. Although I can’t relate to her experience and the hasty dread that overtook her, her way of rebounding after the incident by searching for self-gratification allows her audience to not only appreciate her character, but follow her lead.

The persisting fast-paced beats that i’ve mentioned earlier craft her anger at the start of the song as she describes how he had not only chewed her up, but spit her out as well to completely attempt to destroy her–she remains unbreakable to his surprise, however, by admitting that although he chewed her up, “that was then and this is now,” thus making this breakup anthem not only an anthem for moving on, but a deterministic anthem for anyone willing to pursue after hard times.

Rather than wallowing in her room with ice cream, junk food, and sad movies that are often depicted in movies in effect to a bad breakup or any other troubling occurrence, Perry flees to the restroom in the video to cut off all of her hair to reject her femininity and prove to herself that she could be anyone she wanted to be. On the basis thereof, she signifies the death of her “old self” and introduces her “new self” as she slowly pulls up her hood and carefully observes herself in the mirror, proclaiming “this is the part of me that you’re never gonna ever take away from me, no” to symbolize her newfound epiphany of finding herself.

To gain a better understanding of her motifs, I found the parallel to Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” extremely interesting. The fact that Katy Perry’s song compares to situations beyond breakups is supported by Swift’s song in that she alludes to the death of her old self and implores caution of her new self due to the inaccuracies portrayed in the media. Hence, this synchroneity embellishes Perry’s song in that it better validates its relatableness. In fact, not only are the themes the same, but the presentment of them are similar as well despite the slight differing in reason for changing. Similar to the scornful, yet observant look she gives watching herself in the mirror after dramatically placing her hood on, Swift likewise removes a mask, but is showed with her hood on after as she storms toward the camera with a bat.

It may mean nothing, but in my opinion, I symbolized the hood and sneering look as the ignition for some purposeful mission. Just as Swift purposefully struts at the camera with the hood back on, Perry instinctively joins the marines after the scene with her hood.

After, she continues to reminisce on their prior relationship, explaining how it was toxic, yet how she “fell deep” for him, but he ultimately let her down. Following, she exclaims another “look at me now” accompanied by the same pouding beats from the beginning of the song and a striking blow of her gun at marine training to expel her into her newfound expedition. Motivating and inspiring, she springs into action as she sings “throw your sticks and stones, throw your bombs and your blows” to urge him to try to break her, saying “but you won’t break my soul,” thereby telling him that you may try to hurt me physically, but you’ll never change me.

Although the cutting of her hair and the symbol of the hood convey change, the purpose was to depict a change in mindset rather than personality. Perry agrees to stay true to who she is, yet she tackles the challenge of the marines to push her limits to improve herself. And once she does, she proudly urges him to look at her now as she is glowing, “a firework, a dancing flame” who can never be put out or destroyed. Because this message is imperative for anyone going through an experience that can potentially change who they are, Perry utilizes the pounding beats with her determination to convey strength and power to the audience. Finally, at the end of the song, the beats end abruptly and continue to fade out before finally signaling the end. The video showcases this as she stares at the audience in hopes of educating them on her message while disguising herself with camouflage paint to protect herself from getting hurt.