Brooke_the_Phoenix
she/her, time-zone AEDT
'Ride' by Twenty One Pilots music review
I said in my very first blog entry that, while I love ‘Stressed Out’, it’s not my favourite Twenty One Pilots song. In fact, even though it’s one of my favourite hit songs of 2016 so far, it’s not even one of my top five favourite songs from “Blurryface”. Maybe one day I’ll share my top ten Twenty One Pilots songs, but I haven’t gotten around to listening to their other albums yet, so here’s the list of my top five favourite songs from “Blurryface”.
1. Ride
2. The Judge
3. Tear in my Heart
4. Doubt
5. Lane Boy
You’ll notice that ‘Ride’ is my favourite song from “Blurryface”, and I imagine a lot of you probably think that’s a strange choice. I mean, I haven’t heard a lot of criticism for ‘Ride’, but it seems like it doesn’t stand out to a lot of people as one of the better songs from “Blurryface”. And honestly… I’m not even completely sure why I like it so much. All I know is that this song stuck with me the minute I heard it, and once I finished listening to the entire “Blurryface” album, the first thing I did was re-listen to ‘Ride’. So, this is kind of the entire reason that this review even exists. I want to find out what it is about this song that just clicks with me.
Let's see if there's anything musically interesting here...
[video=youtube;Pw-0pbY9JeU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw-0pbY9JeU[/video]
Well, there seems to be a lot of reggae influence on this track. I mean, we’ve got the bright, syncopated chords, and even the vocal melody seems to be inspired by reggae music. I don’t think that this in particular is what makes this song for me, as I’ve never really been a huge reggae person. What does impress me though is that they seemed to incorporate reggae into this song pretty well. It feels like an actual musical feature of interest, while still feeling natural rather than forced. This impresses me because the last time I heard reggae incorporated into a pop song was ‘Locked Away’ by R. City and Adam Levine, which was… well, not very good.
Another thing that I like is how well the instrumentation seems to go together. In the pre-chorus, the drums pull back and allow the chord syncopation and reggae-influenced hook to take centre stage, and then they come back at the end of the chorus, when the moments of punch were really needed. It also helps that Tyler’s vocals and rapping were pretty good in this track, and Josh killed it on the drums.
One thing I think Twenty One Pilots does really well is getting their audience to relate to what they're singing about. The main reason I love 'Stressed Out' is because I can relate it to some of my personal situations such as school, and my determination to be a good musician, even though the song is about the struggles of being an adult and the pressure of being a musician for a living. And while I definitely believe that the music is more important than the lyrics, I won't deny that the lyrics of 'Ride' play a major part in me liking it so much.
"I just wanna stay in the sun where I find
I know it's hard sometimes
Pieces of peace in the sun's peace of mind
I know it's hard sometimes"
I know it's hard sometimes
Pieces of peace in the sun's peace of mind
I know it's hard sometimes"
This first verse is about how he often wishes that life was easy, that he could just relax and have some peace of mind. And man, do I relate to that. If you've been stalking all my posts on TBT (which I hope none of you have done), you'd know that I despise school, and one of the things I hate about it is that I have to go to school for a full crappy day, and then go home and think even more about school. I can't relax or take a breather, I have to study or work on an assignment for a class I don't care about. I know that it takes hard work to succeed, Mum has taught us that all throughout our lives. However, I do often find myself wishing that life was easier, that I could just feel peaceful for a while instead of feeling stressed.
""I'd die for you, " that's easy to say
We have a list of people that we would take
A bullet for them, a bullet for you
A bullet for everybody in this room
But I don't seem to see many bullets coming through
See many bullets coming through
Metaphorically, I'm the man
But literally, I don't know what I'd do
"I'd live for you, " and that's hard to do
Even harder to say when you know it's not true
Even harder to write when you know that tonight
There were people back home who tried talking to you
But then you ignored them still
All these questions they're for real like
Who would you live for?
Who would you die for?
And would you ever kill?"
We have a list of people that we would take
A bullet for them, a bullet for you
A bullet for everybody in this room
But I don't seem to see many bullets coming through
See many bullets coming through
Metaphorically, I'm the man
But literally, I don't know what I'd do
"I'd live for you, " and that's hard to do
Even harder to say when you know it's not true
Even harder to write when you know that tonight
There were people back home who tried talking to you
But then you ignored them still
All these questions they're for real like
Who would you live for?
Who would you die for?
And would you ever kill?"
This verse really stood out to me the first time I heard 'Ride', because they're so true! People like to say that they'd die for someone, but really until you're actually in that situation, you'll never really know. There is also something else that I've interpreted from this verse, which I'm not sure was an intentional meaning on Twenty One Pilots' part, but it seems like this verse could also be referring to people who make promises, or claim to be a true friend to you, but they don't really follow through with their promises or act like a true friend, which I can honestly relate to, from both sides.
Oh, and there's also this lyric, which basically sums me up: "I've been thinking too much (Help me)."
…Okay, I think I’ve figured out the major thing that makes me like this song so much. I guess it just feels so… alive. After the hook when the drums kick back in and we hear Tyler basically screaming the word “ride” into the microphone, it just feels so… alive… explosive… I don’t even know how to describe it, it just gives me this incredible feeling. It’s the type of song that I can imagine playing while I put my hands in the air on a cliff and watch the sun rise, like in those generic inspirational pictures:
You know what this song reminds me of? ‘One Last Time’ by Ariana Grande. This seems like a strange comparison, but ‘One Last Time’ is another song that makes me feel alive. The instrumentation is fairly simple, it’s just a synth beat repeated over and over again with some drums in the chorus (like ‘Hide Away’ by Daya), and she comes off as a kind of whiny person (also like ‘Hide Away’), but unlike ‘Hide Away’, the chorus just felt huge, with the drums coming in underneath Grande’s soaring, almost desperate vocals, and a compelling melody line.
That’s pretty close to what is happening in ‘Ride’. The end of the chorus comes, and the drums just kick in immediately with sheer, pounding force, and Tyler’s raw, soaring, somewhat “shouty” vocals just pack so much punch, with a nice synth line playing underneath. It’s like a goddamn atom bomb hitting, it just feels explosive and raw and huge!
So, what have we learned today? Well, we’ve learned that ‘Ride’ is my favourite song from “Blurryface” because it does a good job incorporating reggae, it’s different, it’s very musically pleasing, the lyrics are relatable, and the end of the chorus hits like an atom bomb. Oh, and we’ve also learned that I have a soft spot for songs that make me want to do a generic freedom pose in front of a sunrise.
I can die happy now.
Score: 9/10
Let me know which Twenty One Pilots songs are your favourites, whether they’re from “Blurryface” or not. If you’re not a TOP fan, do you have a soft spot for songs that make you lift your arms against the sunrise in a generic way? Thanks for reading, let me know if there’s anything I can do to improve my reviews.
