My Reflection on Contemporary Culture featuring "Stressed Out" by Twenty One Pilots

As promised in last week's blog entry, here is my reflection on "Stressed Out" by Twenty One Pilots.  The music video is full of interesting scenes.  I'm going to look at one scene in particular, shown in this picture:

Who are the people that are sung about or featured in the music video (picture)?

The two members of Twenty One Pilots are lying down in bed dressed in red surrounded by their entire family: fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters dressed in black.

What are the singers of Twenty One Pilots "stressed out" about (in the picture)?

The first stanza of "Stressed Out" clearly states the conflict seen in the picture:

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

The lead singer wishes that he could have done something unique and special in his life, different from that of his friends and family.

Where are the singers of Twenty One Pilots at?  Where would they like to be?

The band members would prefer to be earlier in the song, where they were playing music with another friend.  Instead, they are daydreaming in a white bedroom surrounded by family.

When is the song taking place?  When would the singers of Twenty One Pilots like to be?  

The singers are singing in the present day, but prefer to daydream about their childhood.

Why are the singers of Twenty One Pilots stressed out?

This stanza that is sung during the scene with this picture tells all:

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"

The singers long for simpler days when there were no responsibilities and they could dream about life aspirations that, in hindsight, were never realistic or practical.  Now the singers are in the real world where they have to work a real job with real real responsibilities.  Aside from providing them with the funds needed to live everyday, this life isn't necessarily as fulfilling as originally hoped for. 

How can the singers of Twenty One Pilots stop being "stressed out"?

The last line of the song, which is repetition of the previous stanza that I shared, gives the answer:

Saying, "Wake up, you need to make money"
Yeah

The singers recognize the truth of their families' advice.  Even though it is not what the singers had envisioned while growing up, they need to wake up and make money.  This is a simple reality: All of us human beings need to work hard, and hard work doesn't guarantee fame and success.  More often than not, hard work only ensures survival. 

Big Picture Questions:

1) What is it about this song that has given it more views than almost four times the population of the United States?  

In my opinion, "Stressed Out" does not only reflect the thoughts and ideas of Twenty One Pilots, but the generation as a whole that they represent.  Like myself, the singers of Twenty One Pilots are Millennials.  Our generation, more so than any other generation, were spoiled as children in Western Culture, not only given all our needs, but often everything we wanted.  Millennials were raised to think we could have and be anything we want.  It was not until we grew up, that we recognized we would have to work as hard as any of the past generations.  "Stressed Out" appeals to hundreds of millions viewers because the song reflects the confusion and uncertainty of life for a generation obsessed over entitlement.  Which leads to the answer of my second question...

2) How does this song reflect the contemporary culture the singers and we live in?

Entitlement is the idea that we do not need to work hard to receive something, we merely have to dream of it, as literally seen in the music video for "Stressed Out", and ask for it.  As Millennials enter into adulthood, we are faced with a truth that stresses us out: Like past generations, we have to work hard to achieve our career goals and aspirations.  It is also possible that we will not always achieve our goals and aspirations.  If this happens, it's not because life is unfair.  Failure is just the reality of the world we all live in.  "Stressed Out" leaves its Millennial audience with the choice of two philosophies to live by:

1) Continue to daydream, be stressed out over gaining worldly fame and fortune that has never been real.
2) Work hard, not because working hard guarantees success, but because ultimately work is what all humans have been made for.

Which choice will you make?