Twenty One Pilots: The Violence of Silence

Twenty One Pilots is a relatively new hit band and they are becoming more and more of a household name with hits like "House of Gold" and "Stressed Out". One of their most loved songs is "Car Radio".

"Car Radio" at first glance is about a man whose car radio was stolen, but that simply isn’t the case when the lyrics are truly broken down. “I ponder of something great… I know it’s dire my time today, I have these thoughts, so often I ought to replace that slot with what I once bought cause somebody stole my car radio and now I just sit in silence”. The band is truly trying to shed light on a very serious problem in American society, suicide.

When Tyler Joseph, the band’s lead singer and songwriter, is talking about his car radio he really means it as a metaphor for the things in life you use to distract yourself from life’s big questions. “I hate this car that I'm driving there's no hiding for me…I ponder of something terrifying cause this time there's no sound to hide behind”, Joseph expresses the fear of dealing with life’s problems and how that now without his distractions there is nowhere to hide from these questions in life. A feeling that can be matched by almost any young person in America. “I could pull the steering wheel” this line reveals a sad truth how some might see suicide as a way out for these situations, a way out of the harsh reality.

Suicide has become more and more of a phenomenon in America. In 2000 the suicide rate in America was 10.4 people per 100,000 Suicide is now the 3rd leading cause of death among people ages 17- 12, and Joseph is showing how the hard questions in life can lead to those kind of thoughts.

Later in the song it is stated that “There are things we can do, but from the things that work there are only two, and from the two that we choose to do, peace will win and fear will lose, it is faith and there's sleep, we need to pick one please, because faith is to be awake, and to be awake is for us to think, and for us to think is to be alive, and I will try with every rhyme, to come across like I am dying, to let you know you need to try to think”.

Joseph is stating that faith represents life and sleep represents suicide or death. The point is made that life is important, but it isn’t easy. Life makes you ponder these decisions, makes you think, and when all your distractions are gone you need the faith that things will work out in the end.

Joseph uses this song to capture a snapshot in life that everyone goes through and tries to help guide them though this silent moment.

American Ideals Through Commercials

In 2014, Cadillac released a commercial called Poolside that stirred controversy over the issues of extreme patriotism and exceptionalism. The commercial features a buff man in a suit and tie talking about hard working Americans, who have material goods because those goods are “the benefit of taking only two weeks off in August,” when earlier the spokesperson reprimanded European culture for taking the month of August out of work. He talks about how America is far superior to any nation, and “claimed the moon.”

The commercial is not an accurate representation of American culture, and does not speak to a large portion of hardworking Americans through unsuccessfully encouraging the American philosophy that if a person works hard, they can get anything they want.

The commercial does not speak to a large portion of America because the spokesperson is a wealthy, obtrusive man who speaks his ideas as if they are facts. He says, “ We went up there (the moon) and you know what we got? Bored. So we left. Got a car up there. Left the keys in it. You know why? Because we’re the only ones going back up there, that’s why.” He plays up American success, only to talk to the intended audience as if they are a three year old incapable of understanding the supposed greatness of America. The inflection of his voice appears as if his thoughts are the correct ones, and the audience’s opinions hardly matter. He ostracizes immigrants and foreign citizens by believing America has conquered everything, and that nobody would dare question the superiority of Americans. His wealth detracts from the intent of the commercial because a majority of working Americans spend hours upon hours trying to climb the ladder of society, only to see their hopes become unfulfilled.

The backlash to this commercial displays how Americans want to move away from the stereotypical view of foreigners that Americans are narcissistic. In response, Ford released a commercial, called Upside, that displayed what an actual working class American felt and believed. That commercial reaches a larger audience because it understands that Americans want to make the place they live better. The spokeswoman says, “you work hard, you try to make the world better, you try.” The spokeswoman accepts failure, while still encouraging the public to get up and make the world a better place, while the Cadillac commercial has no vision and talks about the successes of one nation.

The contradictions and reactions between these two commercials illustrate that Americans are tired of hearing about working hard and getting good things for themselves, but want to help make the world a better place.

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