This Track Of The Day is far later than usual. We are still recovering from the Emotional Roadshow in Melbourne last night, where an arena full of us moved, screamed, sang (and maybe teared up a little..) along with Josh Dun and Tyler Joseph of Twenty One Pilots.
“Car Radio” is one of the stand-out emotional tracks on the Twenty One Pilots 2013-released album Vessel. It’s a simple premise: Tyler Joseph left his car unlocked one day at college and returned to find his car radio missing. But there is a bigger, non-physical element of this story, that all of us can relate to, even if our own car radio remains untouched and intact.
“Car Radio” is an anthem about what happens to a person when they are forced to sit with their own thoughts without distraction. Its repeating melody, beginning cleanly at first before expanding with a stronger sound, becomes taunting in its repetition. Tyler’s spoken vocals also start cleanly and more structured before a sense of anxiety and more flowing/rambling speech builds up into desperation and not knowing what he might do to avoid thinking so much. His experience of being in silence with himself becoming a kind of torture.
“I ponder of something terrifying
Cause this time there’s no sound to hide behind
I find over the course of our human existence
One thing consists of consistence
And it’s that we’re all battling fear
Oh dear, I don’t know if we know why we’re here
Oh my too deep – please stop thinking
I liked it better when my car had sound”
A missing car radio becomes an expression of “I feel you” when it comes to struggling with being with your own mind. It is unsurprising that the official music video (directed by Reel Bear Media) has been viewed over 140 million times, and the song has been streamed on Spotify on Vessel over 144 million times. This is real and relatable as well as being a good song.
We love these guys and the honesty with which they create. Enjoy our Track Of The Day via the music video or Spotify.
