"Ode to Sleep" is one of my favorite songs lyrically from twenty one pilots (who happens to be my favorite band of the last decade) and admittedly one of the most difficult to interpret. The song is deeper that what most believe. I think the following is pretty close, but I'm sure I may have missed some nuances or gotten it wrong in some places.
The lyrical genius of Tyler Joseph portrays a torrid struggle between voices of darkness and the songwriter's struggle to overcome the darkness. The song is girded in spirituality and the voices that are attempting to overcome his mind are in fact demons or even Satan. The song also happens to be all over the map musically, which I feel adds to this struggle and to the song's uniqueness.
"I wake up
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"Is this living free?" Obviously not. Additionally, the songwriter does not want to be a hypocrite by continuing to sin and nail holes into the wrists of his Savior ("I don't wanna be the one to have the son's blood on my hands") and the son he is referring to is Christ, the son of God. Christ shed his blood to atone for the sins of man (or for those who believe depending on your theology). The songwriter is in turmoil because he knows he is hurting the his Savior and not living in the freedom that is meant for him.
At this point, I believe the songwriter begins to transition into a new, more hopeful thought process. My favorite lyric in this song is "I'll stay awake 'cause the dark's not taking prisoners tonight." This phrase could have one of several meanings: he will choose to physically stay alive and not allow the enemy to take his life; he will choose to stay spiritually awake and vigilant in his struggle against what the evil voices are telling him to do, and thus not be taken prisoner; or perhaps he's simply referring to staying
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"But I'll tell 'em
Why won't you let me go
Do I threaten all your plans?
I'm insignificant"
He inquires of the demons why they continue to torment him, as he sees himself as ultimately insignificant in the kingdom of God and that his life will not threaten the plans of the enemy (to lead people away from God). Why does he not see himself as a threat? Because following, during the bridge, he clearly states that his witness for God and Christ is nonexistent because he is afraid to tell others who he adores.
"I'm not free, I asked forgiveness three times
Same amount that I denied, I three-time MVP'd this crime
I'm afraid to tell you who I adore
Won't tell you who I'm singing towards
Metaphorically, I'm a whore, and that's denial number
Due to the way he’s narrating the story, making himself look smart and a great mastermind of a great plan. I personally doubt that he was confessing his sins to a priest.
desires lead him to believe that everyone and everything is out to kill him, so he must protect
Free to love, each his own/ free from bills, free from pills,” By starting each sentence with “free”, J Cole explains in detail the things one should be liberated from, pain and sickness imprisonment, intolerance in love, financial struggles, and from vices. Until this point in the song, the listener is wondering what it means to be free;the only explanation of freedom would be based on the individual’s subjective opinion; however, through anaphora the listener is able to understand exactly what freedom means in J Cole’s
The first stanza describes a morbid drawing that Jeremy is creating. This could be a setup for the listener to understand that Jeremy is depressed and is thinking of death. More accurately, the drawing is of Jeremy standing on top of a mountain with his arms outstretched toward the sun. At the base of the mountain is a pool of blood and dead people. The sun could symbolize the brightness and peace after death. Maybe Jeremy thought that d...
Freedom to me is to have the opportunity to act on something that comes to your mind. Let's not be naive, freedom is a list of actions we are allowed to make. What I’m trying to say here, is that we don’t have complete freedom, there are certain behaviors that are not allowed in a society which still have an individual under control. That is not freedom, and being on John’s shoes isn’t either.
I find this poem to be exceptional in its meaning, in fact the verse that comes to mind when thinking of this poem is Psalm 51:17 “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” (Holy Bible, New Testament) I believe that the speaker has meaning behind his words he knows that a complete peace and joy come from the awareness of one’s sin, he also believes in the submission of himself to God and the humility of heart.
These lyrics send a message of how at first he was being someone who he wasn’t but then eventually found out who he actually was. He grew up living in a society where a person couldn’t be their own individual self and everything was done collectively. He never knew about individualism because of the fact he’s been in a collective environment. After learning about the Unmentionable Times and the forbidden word “I”, he knew at that moment who he really was. “I tried to be someone else/ I know now this is who I really am inside,” are two lines that can be used that momen...
In the beginning, before any lyrics are sung, the music starts off slow and very inviting. The purpose of this to relieve yourself and just be able to sit back and take in everything he is about to say, and take something away from this song to help the listener for the days to come.The first message the speaker tries to convey comes from the first two lines, “You know there’s a light
In the chorus the speaker uses the phrase ….“I’m Slippin’ , I’m fallin’, I can’t get up”, which means that the speaker is loosing every hope that will help him survive through all the problems he has. The speaker also uses theme in the chorus when he says, “See, to live is to suffer, but to survive, well, that’s to find meaning in the suffering.” He uses theme here because he is saying that to him life is nothing but suffering and if you survive the suffering, its just to find meaning in it.
This song was Marley’s way of showing his legacy in just two hundred words. This song shows a little history on slavery; “Old pirates, yes, they rob I; Sold I to the merchant ships”, “We forward in this generation Triumphantly.”, this line is suggesting to the abolition of slavery. The most powerful line in this song being, “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; None but ourselves can free our minds.”; you may not have the chains around your ankles anymore but to be truly free you must not allow people to dictate what you think, say, or feel. This song is Marley telling his audience to learn and prosper from their past and always continue fighting for your rights and your
Reading the lyrics makes it seem like the song is a very depressing story about the writer’s life and how he is lost and does not know what to do with his life. At the beginning of the song the singer states, “Some nights I stay up cashing in my bad luck / Some nights I call it a draw” (1-2). The singer suggests that he is a gambler and that some nights he “cashes in his bad luck”, meaning he gambles his money away, and some nights he calls it a draw, meaning he went even. The song then states, “Some Nights I wish that my lips could build a castle / Some nights ...
From the first stanza of this song, you get put into a scene. You know almost immediately that it is about someone, and it is the middle of December, but without stating the obvious, it paints a more illustrated picture for you. The first line states, “A winters day, in a deep and dark December” and I could almost immediately feel a cool breeze around me. When I normally think of a winter’s day, I think of people playing in the snow, and having a good time. This may be because I grew up in Southern California where there has been a lack of snow, but in my head, that is what I imagine. Having them state, in a deep and dark December, turns my attitudes to the more pessimistic way of looking at things. The image of children playing in the snow in my head has now turned to cold and dark emptiness. Reinstating my idea of emptiness, the next line follows with the simply statement, “I am alone”. Personally, I hate being alone. So to have the opening words place us in a deep and dark setting, and then state that you are alone, automatically puts me in a negative mindset.
...truction, and the apocalyptic nature of the music video points to the religious undertones of the song.
Marley is illustrating the obliteration of Africans by slavery. These words describe how Africans were taken from their homeland that was filled with great resources and wealth to be brought to the Caribbean to work for Europeans on plantations. However, they remained strong because of God. Now the descendants of the slaves are given the chance of having the right to life that their ancestors never had. The next lines “Won 't you help to sing / These songs of freedom? / Because all I ever have / Redemption songs” (9-12). Marley is urging the Black community to sing songs of redemption. He is expressing that all he ever had was
First impression - about a fight to get to sleep (metaphor) MOOD- a plea combined with a fight and a struggle all things un-holy. OVERALL OBSERVATIONS- it spans a few nights sleep and the difficulty of them. The second part seems to be more of a life issue. He is perhaps questioning the way he has lived his life or is living his life and he he is scared and ashamed of what he see’s in his life.