This makes tons of sense, thank you for sharing your thoughts! I am wondering though, out of pure curiosity, if it is a consideration that Tyler does NOT equal Clancy? I don't know if there are any 'definitive' ways to determine this thought one way or another, and I don't know if it even really matters. But I have come across ideas that 'Clancy', though seen on a neon gravestone, has become an anagram for Banditos and/or citizens of Dema who want to escape and conceal their identities to not be brought back, so they all become a 'Clancy'... and in the Overcompensate video when Tyler presents as 'Clancy', he seems to be using the seizing ritual on a person who then collapses as Tyler is seen to lower the antlers at the end (meaning they would already be deceased, I believe?)... Could self-titled somehow be the actual Clancy's story...? SO MANY THOUGHTS and I'm just wondering if somehow separating Clancy and Tyler makes some of these things make sense, including the gap in Paladin Strait... for some reason I had the thought that this separated Tyler's battle and Clancy's battle... I would love to know any thoughts and discussion from anyone!
That's a pretty cool idea for sure. Something definitely would make sense if self-titled was about the real Clancy, who died afterwards. However, what about Trapdoor, and using the name on a grave? Thoughts?
@@perligo If I remember correctly, you did say that "Isle of Flightless Birds" was kind of the end battle. Maybe the birds in the gap in paladin are alluding to the flightless birds. Just a thought. I might be completely crazy.
@@Mistercookoo josh said they started working on it almost immediately after he joined the band and he joined in 2011 so 13 years it's not hard to search and listen to what the people them selves say you're just lazy asf and entitled to think you're right without any knowledge of the subject your speaking on
I’ve actually been thinking a lot about self titled and I noticed something… A lot of songs from self titled seem to DIRECTLY match up with Clancy… For example, “Vignette” has striking similarities to “The Pantaloon” (I literally made a mash up of the songs on garage band and it fit too well). “Backslide” seems to be an evolution of “Fall Away” as Tyler seems to take a more mature approach in the Clancy track, but in general, falling away from faith is considered backsliding. “ATROFD” seems to tie into “Friend, Please” as they are both pleas to check in on friends before depression gets the best of them. “The Craving” and “Air Catcher” are both love songs (although maybe “Oh Miss Believer” fits better? Idk) Idk if Paladin ties into March to the sea of Isle of Flightless Birds better, but I see arguments for both… Anyways, I’m curious if each songs from Clancy can connect to a song in set titled, and if so, I wonder which song from Self Titled will be left without a match… I have a feeling that song could provide the most insight into the story. That being said, this is just a theory. I just see strong connections between many of the songs (especially Pantaloon and Vignette) and that got me thinking about the possibility of every Clancy song having a match from Self Titled
I'd like to add, the melody of the chorus for "Routines in the Night" sounds exactly like the "la-da, la-da" part of "Before You Start Your Day." To me, at least. Interesting considering one is NIGHT and the other is DAY. One takes place after the other, and repeat (yesterday's dance). Routines does directly relate to this idea, as many of their songs do, but more explicitly. He's still learning "what this is," meaning he's still learning how to deal with the night through his music.
Great video! I used to listen to the band a lot back in high school, but wasn’t very religious or faithful enough to get a lot of the more religious meanings behind the songs. I recently got back into the Christian faith and finished reading the Bible for the first time last year, and coming back to the band after a while with this new faith-oriented mindset has been a breath of fresh air. I feel like I see references to Christianity and Tyler’s own struggles with his faith in each song, and it makes me appreciate the music even more!
Yes!! I drive everyone crazy when I point out the times Tyler speaks to God. He’s said in many interviews that he talks about his faith in his music. I get goosebumps when he does because it seems that I struggle with the same things in my relationship with God. His struggles with depression, suicidal ideation and anxiety also very much match mine. And I’m sure many others!
as a christian, I’ve noticed the themes of religion and struggle. i’ve seen it throughout their songs, but especially in self titled. It’s so refreshing to hear since no one really talks about that. i’ve been struggling a lot with faith in the past couple years so i definitely get you! glad to hear you’re back in the faith! keep going dude!!
@@adzdrawss thank you! I enjoy self titled even more after coming back to it several years later. I will pray that you overcome your struggles with faith :)
A Car, A Torch, A Death has to be canon. "A Car" the car from Heavydirtysoul, Jumpsuit, etc. "A Torch" The Banditos, specifically Josh's character, The Torch Bearer. "A Death" could be any death in the story
I had a theory I shared back in the trench era where I floated the idea that every album is the same narrative cycle over again and that it's just being told slightly differently each time so that we can put the puzzle pieces together. I mean. There's a city on the self-title cover that is perhaps Dema?
Agreed…Tyler’s World. That said, if the lore narrative is truly over with Clancy, will the song content change from here on out? I doubt it…the visual AR world of DEMA may go away but I think a lot of the questions in Tyler’s head remain. Tho I like seeing the evolution in some of these songs to a perspective of hope (Oldies Station). They are maturing & learning ways to successfully navigate their lives.
This is biblical. The metaphors are all pointing to Jesus. You have to really understand the new testament to get it. Above is blind belief. Is talking about Jesus. Clancy is clan c/ Christians, I believe. Talking about the dead in Christ will rise. Dema is also mentioned in the bible. As well as the island. If you like this kind of stuff the bible is packed full of it. More food for thought than you can handle. Except the bible will actually give you food for your soul. If you're willing to put your faith and trust in Jesus finished works at the cross.
3:56 “about this time of every year” in MTTS was one of the only lines in the song that had never made sense to me. Looking at it in the light of the assemblage of the glorified is absolutely crazy, I wish I noticed that earlier, thank you!
It’s interesting to note that in March to the Sea, a spaceship is what drives Tyler to thinking about getting out of line. Aliens are associated with spaceships or UFOs. Connect this to how Josh is represented by an alien and it’s interesting
Since Tyler said in the Vessel 10 livestream that he thinks of Vessel as their first album, I really think trying to tie in older music (including rab which he doesn’t even consider an album at all) into the lore is a big reach. It’s probable he was inspired by elements of older music when he put the lore together, and the idea of the blurryface voice was very lightly tested out in Vessel, but Blurryface is the canonical beginning, and the original Clancy release date solidifies that. Plus it especially makes sense when you consider the beginning is the antagonist and the ending is the protagonist. I feel like it’s a bit too messy when we start including things that were never in the artistic vision of the story as a whole. It almost feels devalued when we go “well it kind of started here” when he really had a straightforward beginning and end this whole time. Just my two cents tho
So glad I found your channel. You’re bringing up pretty solid theories, that are totally resonating. Thank you for your work! Also, love rab and self-titled so much, viewing everything as a whole story is somehow inspiring
Maybe it was Tyler experimenting with story telling in an album, and then he re used it. In past he re-used rap verses, so why not a whole story. I don't know.
Nice. I'll b listening to that CD again tonight. I think it's more likely that Tyler looked back and tried to tie the old stuff all in rather than having this planned from the beginning. Either way it's awesome.
Just realized that if you actually listen to the words in paladin strait that he literally says he’s surrounded (maybe that’s all the enemies) and that this is his chance and that he is past the point of no return, and that it’s time to do what he needs to do Which like you said is sacrifice himself. I think this music video is coming later because it’s important, being that I believe this is the video where Clancy sacrifices himself to save everyone from the bishops
Thank you for this video! I feel like maybe Tyler always had this idea of making a record with a story attached, and self titled might have been the first trial run. It’s really descriptive and full of imagery, in a way that the new music is not. Maybe he’s been slowly refining how to best tell the story. Anyways, great video, thank you!
I know that it has already been said that the chanting in March to the Sea was a sample Tyler used that was in logic pro that is chanting Teba or something like that. But it sounds a lot like they are chanting Dema. Maybe he thought it sounded like Dema as well and that's where he got the name of the city from I wish somebody would just ask him this question directly in an interview.
Hello! Great analysis as always Mr Perligo!! What you say overall and how you connect all those songs into the dema narrative is very precise and interesting. I just have a slight doubt about your take on a car a torch a death, regarding different things. First of all I dont believe this is the meeting with the Torchbearer, for the protagonist holding a torch is this song is already confirmed to be the "demon" of the second verse. In the following bridge, I rather think Tyler is addressing that same demon torturing his female friend (the "she" of the second verse) and pleading him to leave her alone, even at the price of enduring all her troubles ("Ill take the grave ; send em all my way") - thus, he understands why Jesus sacrificed himself to save humanity, because he wishes he could give his life to save this other person, just like Him. Moreover, I believe that the opening of the song isn't Tyler having a chance to run away from DEMA. Indeed, everything in his writing indicates that this ride is a pain to him, as if he wasn't even controlling his car, but controlled by it, driven by it. We learn he's heading north, given that he sees the "headlights driving south" - meaning that these headlights are necessarily driving on the other side of the road, in the opposite direction. If we admit that south is linked with happiness or joy (by linking this line to the judge), we may interpret this line as a metaphor for how one can perceive that other people's lives are going well while yours is the total opposite. He's not going south, he's not doing great like he sees everybody else doing, he rather goes north, towards his decay (Dema maybe?). And that's why he wishes to die right after, wanting to "crack the door" and "fall out" at high speed on the road, given that his life looks so miserable in regards to others. Thats how I interpret the song in itself, without yet trying to bond anything with the dema storyline. Dont hesitate to reply with your thoughts, I have spent so much time this last year thinking over and over about that song that it'd be a pleasure debating! Thanks for all the content btw, its always fascinating!
Another idea: Throughout Clancy we hear birds. Overcompensate and Vignette, for example, have bird calls in their hooks, and Paladin Strait has the minute Strait (teehee) of just birdsong. And since they're playing Isle of Flightless Birds in live sets, I have to wonder what it means. Also their use of skulls and lightbulbs has me wonder if they aren't synonymous: a lightbulb being the glamorized imitation of a skull, a symbol of a glorified, deliberate death. Other thoughts: Clancy focuses heavily on Tyler's life and feelings, arguably more than Trench or Blurryface. That's because Tyler is Clancy, and it's basically Tyler admitting in long form just how deep the two are intertwined. (In other news: I have now seen Josh's TikTok and I am severely hoping he does a solo DnB/pop-punk album once they finish up the Trench/Clancy story)
bro im so happy you brought my thought together and explained it. had this feeling yesterday while listening to RAB, was smelling the lore and then you confirmed it so nicely, great work, thanks
TLDR: I think its fair to say that self tilted is an album about overcoming mental struggles in its own contain narrative that serves as almost a concept or pilot to what would be a more fleshed out version across BF to Clancy ========================================================================================================== I feel like, especially with it being said many times that the story kicked off with BF, that the earlier albums especially ST inspired maybe the story of the Clancy arc. I feel like you can take ST and keep the story contained within itself but that its almost a draft for what became the Clancy arc. IMO the reason allot of people think its all connected is because TOP trend to have allot of similar themes across their discography. Form what I've seen people tend to look at the fact that Tyler used the "bishops" before BF or trench, but from experience people with mental heath struggles tend to refer to their emotions with similar metaphors so its no surprise that it would be a repeated theme across albums and you can see quite a few examples of it.
Since 2018 when this story begun, I never really connected with the theories that included the Self Titled, but honestly, right now I really love to start seeing this type of connections with the lore. Also, your -not so recent- video about Clancy and Isle of Flightless Birds inspired me to make a video with "my own" theory about the final battle. You have a really good video and narration format, keep it up!
This is almost hard for me to watch because I have always been a strong proponent of self-titled and vessel being part of the Lore. I get a LOT of resistance from the clique over that. Thank you for making this video!
I love that your video style is like listening to an academic article, especially because I study theology/biblical studies and have been crazy analyzing all tøp lyrics myself from a similar academic approach 😂
in the self titled album, there are so many references to the beach or the sea. I’ve seen that in the entire lore so this is why I think it is so believable that they have been developing this for so much longer than we think. i’ve always thought of the beach that is talked about in addict with a pen was the beach to paladin strait. Also, in next semester when it talks about a car. That reminds me so much of taxi cab and a car, a torch, a death. i love finding connections like that
Great thoughts! Here's my ending theory I've never heard anyone talk about before, I've been wondering if one of TOP's first songs released on myspace "Time to say Goodbye" lyrics hold the key to the end of Trench. Here are the lyrics. Parantheses are English translations. Time to say goodbye Paesi che non ho mai (COUNTRIES that I’ve never seen and lived) ---DEMA??? Veduto e vissuto con te (or experienced with you) Leave me with the RAZOR, just in case I fall --- NICO AND THE NINERS?? Face down on the ground and somehow I found ENOUGH STRENGTH to lift my face and make a sound --- BACKSLIDE?? And muffled though it may be, and crazy it seems I never FELT CLOSER TO YOU, just crying as you torture me --- BANDITO??? I wanna believe that I will be free elsewhere Veduto e vissuto con te (saw and shared with you) And I'm STANDING ON A TOWER trying my hardest to make it to you, --- PALADIN STRAIT ending?? but I BUILT this tower out of mortal bricks --- BANDITO/OVERCOMPENSATE?? "Created this world" They're breaking, I TRULY WILL SURRENDER MY PRETENDER, MY DISGUISE (Blurryface/Nico?) and I'll truly start to render to YOUR splendor, --- ISLE OF FLIGHTLESS BIRDS---"He is waiting" so it's time to say goodbye to the earth now and my worthless life COS EVERYTHING I EVER MADE is dead now in the grave Is the end of the story dying to his self, to return to rendering splendor in the life HE ("Your splendor", aka, God), whose waiting patiently in Isle of Flightless Birds, made for Tyler, surrendering the world he created, Trench, thats breaking around him and putting this created world in the grave so to speak, because "sometimes to stay alive you gotta kill your mind?" Which Trench looks like a brain.---DEMA???
You know what would be super dope? End of paladin video shows a blue door opening and Blurryface shows himself... It's Tyler from the fairly local video with the red eyes (because 1000% Clancy/Tyler = Nico/Blurryface) and what happens next.... Clancy drops through a TRAPDOOR, not just one but multiple trapdoors, going backwards in time showing "highlights" from all videos in reverse order, all the way back to whatever the beginning is for Tyler, hits the bottom level and the torch bearer is there, they nod to each other, torch bearer disappears and Tyler walks forward to do it all again. It's a cycle. In my mind this wouldn't be depressing because whether we move on from our "missteps" or experience them again and again, if we grow a little each time, that is life. Tyler has made it clear that we shouldn't glorify this life when it's over, but celebrate it as we know it. Don't give up the the fight but the fight will always be there, and that's ok. Push on through.
There is no way I didn’t realize that self titled strait up outlined the story also maybe the plan is what happened at the end of the new music video trying not to spoil it
In Taxi Cab, I always thought it was “we’re driving toward the morning sun” rather than “morning, son” which would mean they’re driving East. East is up? They’re lying and driving him back to DEMA like in Heavy Dirty Soul?
Yh I see a lot of people saying that nothing before Blurryface is **directly** lore-related and I thought so myself but in this new era there's too many references: - The similarities between songs that you described in the video and some people in comments too (particularly the torch-bearer lyrics in A Car, A Torch A Death since I've payed attention to that myself a lot) - The image of self-titled in the club in Next Semester MV (although it could just be a random reference or foreshadowing self-titled songs played at the live events - I don't think so because nothing is a coincidence for twenty one pilots so it could be important) - And most of all the Clancy premier livestream inconsistency that I constantly noticed when Tyler said multiple times that its a story they've been telling for over a decade / over 10 yrs and I mean its 2024 and Blurryface was in 2015 so obviously it means that previous albums are also part of the lore (remember! Tyler knows what he's doing and it's definitely not just an accident)
I think Tyler is separate from Clancy. I think Clancy USED to be alive. Tyler picked up his name from his Neon Gravestone and starts using it as an alias. Sort of like whoever takes up the name Clancy sort of becomes the leader of the revolution. "Watch as this man disappears AS WE KNOW", "Nobody knows his real name, and now he just uses one he saw on a GRAVE". And now in the most recent videos it's as if the mask Tyler wears is Clancy's old mask, and whenever he wears it, he embodies who Clancy was, and that's why when the Bandito takes the mask off of him in Overcompensate, it's revealed he was seizing who I think is the REAL Clancy's body, and why the Torchbearer has to bring Tyler the mask in Navigating, so he can "become" Clancy, the leader, again.
Taxi Cab lyrics are OVERTLY Christian. 3 drivers in the cab!? Come on. When he says “ and He is waiting oh so patiently as we repeat the same routine as we please comfortability…. He is absolutely talking about the Almighty God of the Christians. If Tyler was working on this storyline and had an idea for the arc he wanted to do before Josh joined the band you better believe this is a story about Christ and who He is.
Honest criticism - I really appreciate your work and thought process. That said, I think that this is kind of forcing the connections and in turn obscuring the original meanings of the self titled songs. I think that there is very little evidence that they had already thought out the Dema storyline during Self-Titled or Regional at best. Rather, I think that in the last few albums they have called back to some images and made references to older albums to tie them in retroactively, which in itself is really cool because it gives them relevance now. They may have been thinking about it for some time, but I don’t think they had committed to this story arch even at the beginning of Blurryface. By the release of Heathens, though, it seemed they knew the direction where they were headed
That's fair and I think there is validity to what you are saying. However, I do think that the original meanings of the self titled songs do not need to be obscured simply because there is a way to tie them into the Dema lore. I made a video further defending this point, if you are interested.
It is extremely hard to NOT connect some of the songs on self-titled to the narrative. it's very obvious. Especially A Car A Torch A Death and March To The Sea.
Idk im pretty sure self titled is about mental illness and Christian faith… Also it’s “then one turned around to around to say we’re driving towards the morning SUN, where all your blood is washed away and all you did will be undone” which is obviously the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Also “there were three men upfront” the holy trinity Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.. I think self titled was its own thing that inspired the upcoming albums after it. Also in the trench album booklet Tyler says “I’d like to thank God for guiding this bands story from the start”
Haven’t finished the whole video yet, but I just feel like the lore is getting a little out of hand 😭 like it’s cool and all but I feel like it’s starting to forget the point of it, being a metaphor for mental health, and I reallyyyy love self titled and vessel (and regional at best) but that’s because it was raw emotion and wasn’t tied to a “story” but felt like it was straight from him and his struggles. I see how they could all be tied to the story of Dema but I don’t really understand why it has to be a literal city with bishops and all that 😢 I mean yes theoretically he was trapped in Dema in self titled but “Dema” is his mind isn’t it? I guess I’m just not a fan of the specific terms that are meant to ultimately be metaphors 😦
I thought self-titled was mostly a religious album. I still believe this is partly the case but it’s hard to know as interpretations vary. The only song I thought was really connected to the story was March to the sea but your theories make too much sense lmao. Also the obvious city on the album cover.
I think many of their songs have two meanings, one which relates to the Dema universe and one which relates to the real world. So the fact that ST is full of religious significance is no less true, even if it is discovered to have a meaning in the world of Dema.
I also noticed that the structure of Overcompensate is almost identical to Implicit Demand for Proof. A long piano buildup followed by an explosion of sound before the singing even begins.
Working, but I have it in my list to watch ASAP. I'm really really enjoying your takes and the comments. Snap Back...he says something about 25times. You might have already mentioned it. And this is about another album😁i love the self titled album. The art work is kick ass. And the music of course. Have to finish cutting dog nails🐶❤️
Also, I think in one of the interviews recently Tyler says the story has been crafted over a decade or more? So that solidifies at LEAST Vessel. If not previous albums as well.
This makes tons of sense, thank you for sharing your thoughts!
I am wondering though, out of pure curiosity, if it is a consideration that Tyler does NOT equal Clancy? I don't know if there are any 'definitive' ways to determine this thought one way or another, and I don't know if it even really matters. But I have come across ideas that 'Clancy', though seen on a neon gravestone, has become an anagram for Banditos and/or citizens of Dema who want to escape and conceal their identities to not be brought back, so they all become a 'Clancy'... and in the Overcompensate video when Tyler presents as 'Clancy', he seems to be using the seizing ritual on a person who then collapses as Tyler is seen to lower the antlers at the end (meaning they would already be deceased, I believe?)... Could self-titled somehow be the actual Clancy's story...? SO MANY THOUGHTS and I'm just wondering if somehow separating Clancy and Tyler makes some of these things make sense, including the gap in Paladin Strait... for some reason I had the thought that this separated Tyler's battle and Clancy's battle... I would love to know any thoughts and discussion from anyone!
That's a pretty cool idea for sure. Something definitely would make sense if self-titled was about the real Clancy, who died afterwards. However, what about Trapdoor, and using the name on a grave? Thoughts?
@@perligo If I remember correctly, you did say that "Isle of Flightless Birds" was kind of the end battle. Maybe the birds in the gap in paladin are alluding to the flightless birds. Just a thought. I might be completely crazy.
@@thompen Could be for sure!
Woww good theory
@@perligo That's a very good point. TO BE CONTINUED...
I personally don’t think Tyler thought of Clancy when he made Self Titled, but that Clancy paid homage to the ideas in Self Titled
He said himself he has been working on the lore for over 10 years
@@sethfreakinphair2866yeah that’s only a year before blurry face
@@Mistercookoo key word over lmfao do you not know how to read
@@sethfreakinphair2866 okay, so tell me how many years specifically?
@@Mistercookoo josh said they started working on it almost immediately after he joined the band and he joined in 2011 so 13 years it's not hard to search and listen to what the people them selves say you're just lazy asf and entitled to think you're right without any knowledge of the subject your speaking on
I’ve actually been thinking a lot about self titled and I noticed something…
A lot of songs from self titled seem to DIRECTLY match up with Clancy…
For example, “Vignette” has striking similarities to “The Pantaloon” (I literally made a mash up of the songs on garage band and it fit too well).
“Backslide” seems to be an evolution of “Fall Away” as Tyler seems to take a more mature approach in the Clancy track, but in general, falling away from faith is considered backsliding.
“ATROFD” seems to tie into “Friend, Please” as they are both pleas to check in on friends before depression gets the best of them.
“The Craving” and “Air Catcher” are both love songs (although maybe “Oh Miss Believer” fits better? Idk)
Idk if Paladin ties into March to the sea of Isle of Flightless Birds better, but I see arguments for both…
Anyways, I’m curious if each songs from Clancy can connect to a song in set titled, and if so, I wonder which song from Self Titled will be left without a match…
I have a feeling that song could provide the most insight into the story.
That being said, this is just a theory. I just see strong connections between many of the songs (especially Pantaloon and Vignette) and that got me thinking about the possibility of every Clancy song having a match from Self Titled
Very interesting point!
I'd like to add, the melody of the chorus for "Routines in the Night" sounds exactly like the "la-da, la-da" part of "Before You Start Your Day." To me, at least. Interesting considering one is NIGHT and the other is DAY. One takes place after the other, and repeat (yesterday's dance). Routines does directly relate to this idea, as many of their songs do, but more explicitly. He's still learning "what this is," meaning he's still learning how to deal with the night through his music.
Maybe Oh Ms Believer is linked to Oldies Station instead. Because "we get colder as we grow older" and oldies station is about aging
Great video! I used to listen to the band a lot back in high school, but wasn’t very religious or faithful enough to get a lot of the more religious meanings behind the songs. I recently got back into the Christian faith and finished reading the Bible for the first time last year, and coming back to the band after a while with this new faith-oriented mindset has been a breath of fresh air. I feel like I see references to Christianity and Tyler’s own struggles with his faith in each song, and it makes me appreciate the music even more!
That's wonderful! It does add a new layer of meaning to their work for sure!
Yes!! I drive everyone crazy when I point out the times Tyler speaks to God. He’s said in many interviews that he talks about his faith in his music. I get goosebumps when he does because it seems that I struggle with the same things in my relationship with God. His struggles with depression, suicidal ideation and anxiety also very much match mine. And I’m sure many others!
as a christian, I’ve noticed the themes of religion and struggle. i’ve seen it throughout their songs, but especially in self titled. It’s so refreshing to hear since no one really talks about that. i’ve been struggling a lot with faith in the past couple years so i definitely get you! glad to hear you’re back in the faith! keep going dude!!
@@adzdrawss thank you! I enjoy self titled even more after coming back to it several years later. I will pray that you overcome your struggles with faith :)
@@cyndizebra6119 thank you for your insight! I will pray for you!
A Car, A Torch, A Death has to be canon. "A Car" the car from Heavydirtysoul, Jumpsuit, etc. "A Torch" The Banditos, specifically Josh's character, The Torch Bearer. "A Death" could be any death in the story
I had a theory I shared back in the trench era where I floated the idea that every album is the same narrative cycle over again and that it's just being told slightly differently each time so that we can put the puzzle pieces together. I mean. There's a city on the self-title cover that is perhaps Dema?
Yeah, I definitely think that is Dema!
Agreed…Tyler’s World. That said, if the lore narrative is truly over with Clancy, will the song content change from here on out? I doubt it…the visual AR world of DEMA may go away but I think a lot of the questions in Tyler’s head remain. Tho I like seeing the evolution in some of these songs to a perspective of hope (Oldies Station). They are maturing & learning ways to successfully navigate their lives.
@@ewolfgirl Good point! I think Tyler also mentioned that songs like "Lavish" was sort of the direction they would be going after this album.
This is biblical. The metaphors are all pointing to Jesus. You have to really understand the new testament to get it. Above is blind belief. Is talking about Jesus. Clancy is clan c/ Christians, I believe. Talking about the dead in Christ will rise. Dema is also mentioned in the bible. As well as the island. If you like this kind of stuff the bible is packed full of it. More food for thought than you can handle. Except the bible will actually give you food for your soul. If you're willing to put your faith and trust in Jesus finished works at the cross.
3:56 “about this time of every year” in MTTS was one of the only lines in the song that had never made sense to me. Looking at it in the light of the assemblage of the glorified is absolutely crazy, I wish I noticed that earlier, thank you!
It could also be about seasonal depression
It’s interesting to note that in March to the Sea, a spaceship is what drives Tyler to thinking about getting out of line. Aliens are associated with spaceships or UFOs. Connect this to how Josh is represented by an alien and it’s interesting
Oh yeah! That's a very good point. I had not thought of that.
Since Tyler said in the Vessel 10 livestream that he thinks of Vessel as their first album, I really think trying to tie in older music (including rab which he doesn’t even consider an album at all) into the lore is a big reach. It’s probable he was inspired by elements of older music when he put the lore together, and the idea of the blurryface voice was very lightly tested out in Vessel, but Blurryface is the canonical beginning, and the original Clancy release date solidifies that. Plus it especially makes sense when you consider the beginning is the antagonist and the ending is the protagonist. I feel like it’s a bit too messy when we start including things that were never in the artistic vision of the story as a whole. It almost feels devalued when we go “well it kind of started here” when he really had a straightforward beginning and end this whole time. Just my two cents tho
I’ve been on this kick for a while, the album cover presents the first look at trench! I haven’t heard many people talk through this, great job!
It really does!
Thanks!
and a purple light (neon/dema) and the desaturation of yourself
So glad I found your channel. You’re bringing up pretty solid theories, that are totally resonating. Thank you for your work!
Also, love rab and self-titled so much, viewing everything as a whole story is somehow inspiring
Thanks! I am glad to hear that.
Yep, they are great albums!
Maybe it was Tyler experimenting with story telling in an album, and then he re used it. In past he re-used rap verses, so why not a whole story. I don't know.
Definitely a possibility!
Nice. I'll b listening to that CD again tonight. I think it's more likely that Tyler looked back and tried to tie the old stuff all in rather than having this planned from the beginning. Either way it's awesome.
Just realized that if you actually listen to the words in paladin strait that he literally says he’s surrounded (maybe that’s all the enemies) and that this is his chance and that he is past the point of no return, and that it’s time to do what he needs to do
Which like you said is sacrifice himself. I think this music video is coming later because it’s important, being that I believe this is the video where Clancy sacrifices himself to save everyone from the bishops
Could be!
Self titled has been a favorite of mine. You really make me think! This was a wonderfully thought out video!!
It certainly is an excellent album.
Thank you for this video! I feel like maybe Tyler always had this idea of making a record with a story attached, and self titled might have been the first trial run. It’s really descriptive and full of imagery, in a way that the new music is not. Maybe he’s been slowly refining how to best tell the story.
Anyways, great video, thank you!
I totally agree with you. It would make so much sense.
I know that it has already been said that the chanting in March to the Sea was a sample Tyler used that was in logic pro that is chanting Teba or something like that. But it sounds a lot like they are chanting Dema. Maybe he thought it sounded like Dema as well and that's where he got the name of the city from I wish somebody would just ask him this question directly in an interview.
Hello! Great analysis as always Mr Perligo!!
What you say overall and how you connect all those songs into the dema narrative is very precise and interesting. I just have a slight doubt about your take on a car a torch a death, regarding different things.
First of all I dont believe this is the meeting with the Torchbearer, for the protagonist holding a torch is this song is already confirmed to be the "demon" of the second verse. In the following bridge, I rather think Tyler is addressing that same demon torturing his female friend (the "she" of the second verse) and pleading him to leave her alone, even at the price of enduring all her troubles ("Ill take the grave ; send em all my way") - thus, he understands why Jesus sacrificed himself to save humanity, because he wishes he could give his life to save this other person, just like Him.
Moreover, I believe that the opening of the song isn't Tyler having a chance to run away from DEMA. Indeed, everything in his writing indicates that this ride is a pain to him, as if he wasn't even controlling his car, but controlled by it, driven by it. We learn he's heading north, given that he sees the "headlights driving south" - meaning that these headlights are necessarily driving on the other side of the road, in the opposite direction. If we admit that south is linked with happiness or joy (by linking this line to the judge), we may interpret this line as a metaphor for how one can perceive that other people's lives are going well while yours is the total opposite. He's not going south, he's not doing great like he sees everybody else doing, he rather goes north, towards his decay (Dema maybe?). And that's why he wishes to die right after, wanting to "crack the door" and "fall out" at high speed on the road, given that his life looks so miserable in regards to others.
Thats how I interpret the song in itself, without yet trying to bond anything with the dema storyline. Dont hesitate to reply with your thoughts, I have spent so much time this last year thinking over and over about that song that it'd be a pleasure debating!
Thanks for all the content btw, its always fascinating!
Very interesting, thank you for your thoughts!
Another idea:
Throughout Clancy we hear birds. Overcompensate and Vignette, for example, have bird calls in their hooks, and Paladin Strait has the minute Strait (teehee) of just birdsong. And since they're playing Isle of Flightless Birds in live sets, I have to wonder what it means.
Also their use of skulls and lightbulbs has me wonder if they aren't synonymous: a lightbulb being the glamorized imitation of a skull, a symbol of a glorified, deliberate death.
Other thoughts: Clancy focuses heavily on Tyler's life and feelings, arguably more than Trench or Blurryface. That's because Tyler is Clancy, and it's basically Tyler admitting in long form just how deep the two are intertwined.
(In other news: I have now seen Josh's TikTok and I am severely hoping he does a solo DnB/pop-punk album once they finish up the Trench/Clancy story)
Good points!
I haven't watched this video yet but if the Taco Bell Saga doesn't have massive lore significance I will be incredibly disappointed
Hahaha
TBS is in No Phun Intended, not self-titled...
bro im so happy you brought my thought together and explained it. had this feeling yesterday while listening to RAB, was smelling the lore and then you confirmed it so nicely, great work, thanks
TLDR: I think its fair to say that self tilted is an album about overcoming mental struggles in its own contain narrative that serves as almost a concept or pilot to what would be a more fleshed out version across BF to Clancy
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I feel like, especially with it being said many times that the story kicked off with BF, that the earlier albums especially ST inspired maybe the story of the Clancy arc. I feel like you can take ST and keep the story contained within itself but that its almost a draft for what became the Clancy arc.
IMO the reason allot of people think its all connected is because TOP trend to have allot of similar themes across their discography. Form what I've seen people tend to look at the fact that Tyler used the "bishops" before BF or trench, but from experience people with mental heath struggles tend to refer to their emotions with similar metaphors so its no surprise that it would be a repeated theme across albums and you can see quite a few examples of it.
Been saying this for years thank you for.this
Since 2018 when this story begun, I never really connected with the theories that included the Self Titled, but honestly, right now I really love to start seeing this type of connections with the lore.
Also, your -not so recent- video about Clancy and Isle of Flightless Birds inspired me to make a video with "my own" theory about the final battle.
You have a really good video and narration format, keep it up!
I'm glad these theories are resonating with you!
Thank you!
I can't express how it puts together things, really interesting thought, you're thoughtful listener
Thx for interpretation it sounds really true
This is almost hard for me to watch because I have always been a strong proponent of self-titled and vessel being part of the Lore. I get a LOT of resistance from the clique over that. Thank you for making this video!
Good! I'm glad this resonated. :)
This is EXACTLY HOW I FELT WHEN CLANCY CAME OUT
Wow…not to mention… look at the cover of self-titled. It has the whole idea of Dema as a world in his head written all over it!
A car A torch A death, could be paralleled with navigating...
Excellent analysis. A lot of good points and connections I hadn’t thought of of
Thanks!
Oh geez, I'm seeing the MV of my blood with him being 2 people first then it turns out it has been only him the whole time
I love that your video style is like listening to an academic article, especially because I study theology/biblical studies and have been crazy analyzing all tøp lyrics myself from a similar academic approach 😂
Glad to hear it, thank you!
in the self titled album, there are so many references to the beach or the sea. I’ve seen that in the entire lore so this is why I think it is so believable that they have been developing this for so much longer than we think. i’ve always thought of the beach that is talked about in addict with a pen was the beach to paladin strait. Also, in next semester when it talks about a car. That reminds me so much of taxi cab and a car, a torch, a death. i love finding connections like that
Amazing. I haven’t heard anyone else bringing this together
Thanks!
in the spanish clique there are some people who talked about this a few years ago, but Im glad someone its bringing it to the english clique
yup that makes so much sense
I think it all goes back to No Phun Intended.
Do vessel next 🎉🎉
very well put together
Thanks!
Great thoughts! Here's my ending theory I've never heard anyone talk about before,
I've been wondering if one of TOP's first songs released on myspace "Time to say Goodbye" lyrics hold the key to the end of Trench.
Here are the lyrics. Parantheses are English translations.
Time to say goodbye
Paesi che non ho mai (COUNTRIES that I’ve never seen and lived) ---DEMA???
Veduto e vissuto con te (or experienced with you)
Leave me with the RAZOR, just in case I fall --- NICO AND THE NINERS??
Face down on the ground and somehow I found
ENOUGH STRENGTH to lift my face and make a sound --- BACKSLIDE??
And muffled though it may be, and crazy it seems
I never FELT CLOSER TO YOU, just crying as you torture me --- BANDITO???
I wanna believe that I will be free elsewhere
Veduto e vissuto con te (saw and shared with you)
And I'm STANDING ON A TOWER trying my hardest to make it to you, --- PALADIN STRAIT ending??
but I BUILT this tower out of mortal bricks --- BANDITO/OVERCOMPENSATE?? "Created this world"
They're breaking, I TRULY WILL SURRENDER
MY PRETENDER, MY DISGUISE (Blurryface/Nico?)
and I'll truly start to render to YOUR splendor, --- ISLE OF FLIGHTLESS BIRDS---"He is waiting"
so it's time to say goodbye
to the earth now and my worthless life
COS EVERYTHING I EVER MADE is dead now in the grave
Is the end of the story dying to his self, to return to rendering splendor in the life HE ("Your splendor", aka, God), whose waiting patiently in Isle of Flightless Birds, made for Tyler, surrendering the world he created, Trench, thats breaking around him and putting this created world in the grave so to speak, because "sometimes to stay alive you gotta kill your mind?" Which Trench looks like a brain.---DEMA???
So glad I found this channel !
The way I interpret self titled in the dema narrative is every song is from the perspective of a different Dema Citizen
Great video! I’m always impressed by the way you explain each piece of info.
Thank you!
You know what would be super dope? End of paladin video shows a blue door opening and Blurryface shows himself... It's Tyler from the fairly local video with the red eyes (because 1000% Clancy/Tyler = Nico/Blurryface) and what happens next.... Clancy drops through a TRAPDOOR, not just one but multiple trapdoors, going backwards in time showing "highlights" from all videos in reverse order, all the way back to whatever the beginning is for Tyler, hits the bottom level and the torch bearer is there, they nod to each other, torch bearer disappears and Tyler walks forward to do it all again. It's a cycle. In my mind this wouldn't be depressing because whether we move on from our "missteps" or experience them again and again, if we grow a little each time, that is life. Tyler has made it clear that we shouldn't glorify this life when it's over, but celebrate it as we know it. Don't give up the the fight but the fight will always be there, and that's ok. Push on through.
That would be really cool!
At this point I’m not sure if we all gone insane and see connections where they have never been intended or Tyler is a genius who sees the future.
It could be both.
There is no way I didn’t realize that self titled strait up outlined the story also maybe the plan is what happened at the end of the new music video trying not to spoil it
In Taxi Cab, I always thought it was “we’re driving toward the morning sun” rather than “morning, son” which would mean they’re driving East. East is up? They’re lying and driving him back to DEMA like in Heavy Dirty Soul?
Fantastic video - all clikkies should watch this!
this is insaneeee good work!!
Thank you for this thorough explanation. East is up |-/
Yh I see a lot of people saying that nothing before Blurryface is **directly** lore-related and I thought so myself but in this new era there's too many references:
- The similarities between songs that you described in the video and some people in comments too (particularly the torch-bearer lyrics in A Car, A Torch A Death since I've payed attention to that myself a lot)
- The image of self-titled in the club in Next Semester MV (although it could just be a random reference or foreshadowing self-titled songs played at the live events - I don't think so because nothing is a coincidence for twenty one pilots so it could be important)
- And most of all the Clancy premier livestream inconsistency that I constantly noticed when Tyler said multiple times that its a story they've been telling for over a decade / over 10 yrs and I mean its 2024 and Blurryface was in 2015 so obviously it means that previous albums are also part of the lore (remember! Tyler knows what he's doing and it's definitely not just an accident)
Very true.
How ironic 👏🏼 Thanks 😊
Friend please goes along with Nico.
Has he puts his hands over Clancy
There is a parallel with the book Dr Livingstone’s Seagull.
Oh really? Can you expand on that?
The lights not shattered. That’s just the filament
what is the interview you mention around 0:12 ??
i need to watch/listen to it!!
I think Tyler is separate from Clancy. I think Clancy USED to be alive. Tyler picked up his name from his Neon Gravestone and starts using it as an alias. Sort of like whoever takes up the name Clancy sort of becomes the leader of the revolution. "Watch as this man disappears AS WE KNOW", "Nobody knows his real name, and now he just uses one he saw on a GRAVE". And now in the most recent videos it's as if the mask Tyler wears is Clancy's old mask, and whenever he wears it, he embodies who Clancy was, and that's why when the Bandito takes the mask off of him in Overcompensate, it's revealed he was seizing who I think is the REAL Clancy's body, and why the Torchbearer has to bring Tyler the mask in Navigating, so he can "become" Clancy, the leader, again.
I love all these ❤❤
Although this is a cool idea from the storyline perspective, I’m not sure how it could fit with the mental health allegory
Tyler is not Clancy. Clancy is not Tyler. Clancy is a grand metaphor for something much larger and much better.
Do you really have a cd of the self titled album?!
Can we all agree that before you start your day is their only bad song??😂
I personally really love it but that’s ok 😊 everyone has their own preferences and opinions.
Taxi Cab lyrics are OVERTLY Christian. 3 drivers in the cab!? Come on.
When he says “ and He is waiting oh so patiently as we repeat the same routine as we please comfortability…. He is absolutely talking about the Almighty God of the Christians.
If Tyler was working on this storyline and had an idea for the arc he wanted to do before Josh joined the band you better believe this is a story about Christ and who He is.
Honest criticism - I really appreciate your work and thought process. That said, I think that this is kind of forcing the connections and in turn obscuring the original meanings of the self titled songs. I think that there is very little evidence that they had already thought out the Dema storyline during Self-Titled or Regional at best. Rather, I think that in the last few albums they have called back to some images and made references to older albums to tie them in retroactively, which in itself is really cool because it gives them relevance now.
They may have been thinking about it for some time, but I don’t think they had committed to this story arch even at the beginning of Blurryface. By the release of Heathens, though, it seemed they knew the direction where they were headed
That's fair and I think there is validity to what you are saying.
However, I do think that the original meanings of the self titled songs do not need to be obscured simply because there is a way to tie them into the Dema lore.
I made a video further defending this point, if you are interested.
It is extremely hard to NOT connect some of the songs on self-titled to the narrative. it's very obvious. Especially A Car A Torch A Death and March To The Sea.
Idk im pretty sure self titled is about mental illness and Christian faith…
Also it’s “then one turned around to around to say we’re driving towards the morning SUN, where all your blood is washed away and all you did will be undone” which is obviously the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Also “there were three men upfront” the holy trinity Father, Son, and Holy Spirit..
I think self titled was its own thing that inspired the upcoming albums after it.
Also in the trench album booklet Tyler says “I’d like to thank God for guiding this bands story from the start”
Oh yeah, I definitely think it is very much about all those things also.
I dont know why this is a thing, in 2021 Tyler said he has been working on the story "more than ten years ago" so basically since 2009/2010 or earlier
What do you mean?
@@perligo an interview for the roblox thing where Tyler confirmed basically that the story begins way before blurry
@@reylui0250 Do you mean you don't know why there is a debate?
@@perligo aaaaaah yes yes, Im not from the american clique so i dont really know which things are known or not
@@reylui0250 Fair enough!
Haven’t finished the whole video yet, but I just feel like the lore is getting a little out of hand 😭 like it’s cool and all but I feel like it’s starting to forget the point of it, being a metaphor for mental health, and I reallyyyy love self titled and vessel (and regional at best) but that’s because it was raw emotion and wasn’t tied to a “story” but felt like it was straight from him and his struggles. I see how they could all be tied to the story of Dema but I don’t really understand why it has to be a literal city with bishops and all that 😢 I mean yes theoretically he was trapped in Dema in self titled but “Dema” is his mind isn’t it? I guess I’m just not a fan of the specific terms that are meant to ultimately be metaphors 😦
I thought self-titled was mostly a religious album. I still believe this is partly the case but it’s hard to know as interpretations vary. The only song I thought was really connected to the story was March to the sea but your theories make too much sense lmao. Also the obvious city on the album cover.
I think many of their songs have two meanings, one which relates to the Dema universe and one which relates to the real world. So the fact that ST is full of religious significance is no less true, even if it is discovered to have a meaning in the world of Dema.
9:00 what if it's supposed to be "we're driving toward the morning sun"?
Because the sun rises in the east, and EAST IS UP
I also noticed that the structure of Overcompensate is almost identical to Implicit Demand for Proof. A long piano buildup followed by an explosion of sound before the singing even begins.
Imagine this whole storyline ended with taxi cab tho
I’ve been looking at Clear and Glowing Eyes lately, Regional At Best seems pretty lore heavy.
Working, but I have it in my list to watch ASAP. I'm really really enjoying your takes and the comments. Snap Back...he says something about 25times. You might have already mentioned it. And this is about another album😁i love the self titled album. The art work is kick ass. And the music of course. Have to finish cutting dog nails🐶❤️
Haha, I appreciate it! :)
@@perligo😁I appreciate your vids! And your hair. Lol. Seriously, I like the red
Haha, thanks!
Also, I think in one of the interviews recently Tyler says the story has been crafted over a decade or more? So that solidifies at LEAST Vessel. If not previous albums as well.
Yes!
Good stuff, I think you’re spot on.
Thanks!