Ride

Album

José

Label

Fueled by Ramen

Genre

Dub

Composer(s)

Tyler Joseph

Entered Chart

Apr 2, 2016

Peak Date

Sep 10, 2016

Released

Unknown

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Fueled By Ramen

This song about the nostalgia for childhood and pressure of adulthood finds Tyler Joseph singing from the point of view of "Blurryface," the album's titular character: My name's Blurryface, and I care what you think Joseph explained to MTV News that "Blurryface" is "a guy that kind of represents all the things that I as an individual - but also everyone around me - am insecure about." The video sees the Twenty One Pilots pair perform an elaborate secret handshake. Tyler Joseph told Radio.com the story behind it: "When Josh and I first started traveling around in a van and we had to sleep in that van, in parking lots and stuff like that, I remember one of the first times we ever got our own hotel to sleep in instead of sleeping in the van, we shared a room together and we were like, wow, we need to take advantage of this opportunity of us being in the same hotel room for the first time, let's make a secret handshake," he recalled. "So we stayed up to come up with this thing, got really excited and like knocked on the door of the other guys that were on the road with us and we were like, 'Dude, check this out!' So, it's something that we've taught our crew how to do and we think it's funny." "You'd be surprised when you're a traveling two-man show how many times you get to show off your handshake," Joseph added. "So, this video really just had the vibe that it made sense that we put it in there so we did." Tyler Joseph is the only credited songwriter on this track. According to Billboard magazine, on the October 24, 2015 Hot 100, just two songs were authored by one writer: "Hit the Quan" by iLoveMemphis and this tune. The scarcity of solo-authored songs on the chart is an indication of the trend towards song writing partnerships (samples also being part of the story). In mid-October 2005 solo writers wrote 14 titles on the Hot 100, which itself was part of the downward slide from mid-October 1995 (32 songs), 1985 (41) and 1975 (51). When "Stressed" rose to #2 on the Hot 100 dated February 27, 2016, it became the first tune that had also appeared on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart to rank in the Hot 100's top two in more than a year. The previous track to do so was Hozier's "Take Me to Church," which spent its third and final week at its #2 peak on the Hot 100 dated January 3, 2015. Much of the video was filmed at Josh Dun's childhood home. Because the home number is listed, Dun's parents had to cancel the landline to put an end to the calls that were coming in all day and all night. A theremin-like instrumental hook in the pre-chorus and outro lets us know when the Blurryface character shows up to air out Tyler's insecurities about life. Things aren't so bad for Tyler, as one of his wishes comes true at the outset of the song. Check it out: I wish I found some chords in an order that is new, I wish I didn't have to rhyme every time I sang Not a rhyme in sight. Part of the song's popularity comes from its ability to connect with a range of listeners by tapping into the universal theme of longing for days gone by, but also employing both contemporary and classic elements. Aerosmith fans will notice the nod to 1975's "Walk This Way" in the kick/snare drum pattern, a beat that's also found in many old-school hip-hop tunes. Speaking of old-school hip-hop, all this wishing has us remembering another wistful rap: Skee-Lo's 1995 hit "I Wish." What has the guys stressed out these days? Tyler explains: "I think one of the toughest things is that balances act of trying to maintain relationships while being on the road. It's been a crazy few years. Josh and I are both very close with our families. It’s one of our favorite moments in our careers is being able to have our families in that video at the end. With that being said, it has been tough trying to maintain those relationships. The other stress is trying to outdo ourselves we either write a song or we play a show. Josh and I, we come from a local scene where every time you played your hometown you had to do something new. You can't just play the same set. So we kind of apply it to the way that we approach every show, always trying to outdo ourselves." Tyler on the process of creating the Blurryface character (Rolling Stone, 2016): "The question I had as I was writing was, 'How are these things affecting the way I live? How am I compensating because I don't like this about myself? What do I do to cover it up?' A lot of things you do to cover up insecurities can be just as harmful to you as anything else. This character helped me understand my insecurities and why I have them and how I compensate for them. I give it a name and a seat at the table so I could really stare at it and analyze from that perspective." This won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 2017 ceremony. Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun took their pants off before taking the stage to accept the award; Joseph explained that when they were young, they watched one of the Grammy telecasts with some friends and they all ended up in their underwear. They agreed that if they ever won a Grammy, that's how they should accept it. Host James Corden later appeared without pants in an homage. The Recording Industry Association of America announced on March 1, 2018 that Blurryface had become the first album in the digital era to have every one of its tracks certified Gold, Platinum or multi-Platinum.

I wish I found some better sounds no one's ever heard
I wish I had a better voice that sang some better words
I wish I found some chords in an order that is new
I wish I didn't have to rhyme every time I sang
I was told when I get older all my fears would shrink
But now I'm insecure and I care what people think

My name's Blurryface and I care what you think
My name's Blurryface and I care what you think

Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days
When our mama sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out
(Oh) wish we could turn back time (oh), to the good old days (oh)
When our mama sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out
We're stressed out

Sometimes a certain smell will take me back to when I was young
How come I'm never able to identify where it's coming from?
I'd make a candle out of it if I ever found it
Try to sell it, never sell out of it, I'd probably only sell one
It'd be to my brother, 'cause we have the same nose
Same clothes, homegrown, a stone's throw from a creek we used to roam
But it would remind us of when nothing really mattered
Out of student loans and tree-house homes we all would take the latter

My name's Blurryface and I care what you think
My name's Blurryface and I care what you think

Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days
When our mama sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out
(Oh) wish we could turn back time (oh), to the good old days (oh)
When our mama sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out

We used to play pretend, give each other different names
We would build a rocket ship and then we'd fly it far away
Used to dream of outer space but now they're laughing at our face
Saying, "Wake up, you need to make money," yeah
We used to play pretend, give each other different names
We would build a rocket ship and then we'd fly it far away
Used to dream of outer space but now they're laughing at our face
Saying, "Wake up, you need to make money," yeah

Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days
When our mama sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out
(Oh) wish we could turn back time (oh), to the good old days (oh)
When our mama sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out

Used to play pretend, used to play pretend, money
We used to play pretend, wake up, you need the money
Used to play pretend, used to play pretend, money
We used to play pretend, wake up, you need the money
Used to play pretend, give each other different names
We would build a rocket ship and then we'd fly it far away
Used to dream of outer space but now they're laughing at our face
Saying, "Wake up, you need to make money," yeah