“Taxi Cab” is a song that can be very overlooked by the average Twenty One Pilots fan. The bulk of their fandom seemed to come out of Vessel, their first album signed to Fueled By Ramen, and their newest release Blurryface blew them up further to mesh the die hard fans with the mainstream radio airplay. One thing that Twenty One Pilots is not short on is die hard fans. On the Sunday of Lollapalooza, not only did they pack the same South stage accompanied by Paul McCartney earlier in the week, but they simultaneously had a line outside of House of Blues starting in the early morning, going across the Chicago River bridge and wrapping around an entire Chicago city block during a thunderstorm. Some similarly to myself were patiently waiting for a mere second balcony partial view just to be in the same building as this genre-shattering indescribable duo. These pilot bleeders go by the name of Skeleton Clique and not only do they know every word, meaning and inspiration to every song but they also paint their necks and hands black in the honor of Blurryface and memorize Josh and Tyler’s insanely complex secret childhood handshake in the “Stressed Out” music video. One beautiful piece of Twenty One Pilots that only the Skeleton Clique seems to know is their 2009 unsigned debut album: Twenty One Pilots. Many seem to trip up on it when shuffling all of their music on Spotify, but it is arguably the most intense and introspective album they have ever made. The heavy piano influence may seem to be uncharacteristic at first, but the album proves to be a seeing eye into the early stages of their tendencies and themes that you hear in their more recent releases, specifically their newest album Blurryface. The most interesting part about this album is it is rarely, if ever, performed at their live shows. According to setlist.fm, Twenty One Pilots has performed their debut album in 4.1% of their setlists in the past calendar year and even more astounding, have only ever performed “Taxi Cab” once, two years ago in their coveted hometown of Columbus Ohio. Twenty One Pilots has a feel of a secret that only you and your headphones share that can never be told to the outside world. And that is how the songs are sung and lyrics are told. So many of the images and ballads are so deep and introspective that it would feel wrong to sing it out to thousands of people at a festival. If an entire new album is too much of a time commitment for you to listen to, all I’m asking is you listen to “Taxi Cab”.

From a musicallity standpoint, Taxi Cab is magnificent. The glamorous opening chords brighten up your soul with just slight variations of each other and Josh’s beautiful skip and rip rhythm drum section fits the mold perfectly, driving the track forward without overshadowing the piano and emotional focus. The opening piano riff functions as the song’s “home base” and every time he reprises it, it seems to be comforting to the listener and rings throughout your heart strings. First listen, the song is a little obscure. Piano ballads are traditionally attributed to be love songs, but the lyrics and instrumentation he uses seem to jump back and forth between emotional bliss and concern creating a confusing environment for the song.

After the second verse you feel a change in the piano riff. The overall tone seems to be a little calmer until the rap verse grabs a hold of the listener to close out the track. Without even thinking about what Tyler is saying, the passion and drive he has in his voice tells a story in itself. The way the words fit into each other seems to be a perfect fit and it’s hard to believe he thought about anything other than the poetic flow of the lyrics compared to the actual meaning of them. After I did some research and tried to determine what the song really means, I was absolutely shattered emotionally and in awe of such a masterpiece this song really is.

Play “Taxi Cab” while reading the rest of the article.

The overall motif of this song is Tyler’s faith. Once you start to think of it in that light all the pieces seem to fall together. The first line of the song he talks about how he wants to fall inside The Lord’s “ghost” and have him fill up his entire mind. Once he sings the prechorus he’s talking about God being by his side the entire time no matter what he is going through. You can hear the angst in the new chord structure underneath the lyrics, but then the tone seems to switch. It switches to first person claiming “If I’m not there and I’m far away…..don’t be afraid”, a classic lesson we learn that the Lord is always there for us no matter what. Looking back at the chorus, it’s a conversation between a conflicted Tyler and a comforting higher power. Tyler has proved to us in everything he has ever released that there is a lot going on upstairs in his complicated mind. He contemplates everything a million times before it ever leaves his head and sometimes it drives him mad as we see in Blurryface, where he struggles throughout the entire album to erase his doubts and fears in order to live his life to the fullest. This conversation that is set up in the chorus is what Tyler and all of us go through. We fear what is to come and the Lord ensures us to not be afraid. No matter what you are going through, he can always be there for you. After this gut-wrenching chorus the beautiful piano, home-base rings out and surrounds the listener like a welcoming warm hug after the verse.

The chorus and verses are beautiful on their own, but the rap verse at the end is truly a work of art that no other contemporary artist is capable of. Tyler has admitted that it is one his favorite works. Hard to understand at first, he paints the picture of himself in the back of a hearse, in his coffin. The hearse comes to a stop and the driver scraps to find a taxi cab and clear out the coffin in the back in order to continue on. After narrating a conversation where the three men up front discuss Tyler’s future, Tyler finds strength. He cracks open his box (coffin) after realizing that these men up front must have picked the lock for him. He sees where he clawed to try and release himself but knew he needed something more powerful than just himself to help him through. He sat up and felt a new sense of breath he has never felt before. He asks the men if he is alive and where they are taking him. One man turns around and answers “We’re driving toward the morning sun where all your blood is washed away and all you did will be undone.”

Take a second to take all that in. The comparisons to faith now seem obvious and it perfectly describes how we can all feel sometimes. Tyler teaches us with this ridiculous narration what grade school religion teachers try to do for years and years. We are not alone. When we are in need, we always have someone there for us. No matter how deep in trouble we are, even if we believe we are living dead clawing to get out of our own coffin, The Lord has the power to pick the lock and release us. He gives us his own breath and sits us back up again when we fall. Not only will The Lord help you up, but he will forgive you. All the blood will be washed away and everything you struggled with in your box can be forgiven and released from your fear and doubts.

Now whether or not you want to continue to pick apart the lyrics as exact references to the bible and what not, this is a masterpiece. Whether or not you can relate to the faith aspect, you should be able to recognize the incredible songwriting skills of the last verse. The problem in black and white is Tyler is struggling in his daily life and needs help. The average artist would say that pretty upfront, maybe create a couple analogies and references to help depict that story and accompany it with musicality that help set the mood. Instead, Tyler created an abstract story-line in a mere 55 seconds that carries more depth and creativity than most 150 minute motion pictures. Relating his situation to being toted around in a taxi cab and crawling out of a casket is bizarre, but when you start to think about it it perfectly explains the situation. We can’t always put a finger on exactly how we are feeling, but we know when we can relate to a situation that explains how we are feeling. True artistry is the ability to paint a picture within a song that uncovers a feeling for the listener they may have had and didn’t quite know how to explain. Tyler does just that in this song. We have all thought lonely and fearful in our lives and simply define it as that, making it difficult to overcome. With this beautiful image accompanying such a feeling, it gives those who are fearful the hope that there is a way to overcome. If Tyler Joseph can turn his fears and doubts into albums and live performances that can command audiences and inspire thousands of people than what are you going to do with your fear and doubts?

In a world of shallow, unimportant musicians, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun are our saving graces. Fearless to break the boundaries of genres and emotions, they pour out every ounce of themselves into their profession and it makes an imprint on everyone they come across. Following this duo since 2013 has been an incredible ride and everyday their music and mentality on life impresses me more and more. It goes without saying that Twenty One Pilots is a group to watch out for. In just two years they escalated from a maximum capacity side stage at Lollapalooza to a jam-packed mid-afternoon headliner. Mark my words, they are not going anywhere but up. Their band name is a tribute to always being faithful to their fans no matter how hard they have to work and that mentality will never waver as they continue on in their career. Hop on the wagon now and take in music in its purest form.