“Friend, Please” is a song by the electropop musical group Twenty One Pilots, released in 2009. This piece of art directly raises the problem of suicide in modern society. The author, Tyler Joseph wrote the lyrics in the form of appealing to listeners. The topic of the song is socially crucial, as according to O’Connor and Pirkis, approximately “800 000 people die due to suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds” (p. 7). The importance of life should be widely advertised to motivate people to create and to avoid them thinking of losing life as an option to solve their problems.
The intro of the song mentions the feeling of being alone and subject to pessimistic thoughts. The narrator here tries to convince his friends, his fans, and generally every listener that they are never alone. The treatment of mental health problems, especially anxiety, is crucial in the prevention of self-destruction (O’Connor and Pirkis, p. 357). Even though there are professionals available for help, people are usually too diffident to ask for mental health assistance. However, the advice of the friend, or the singer, whose melodies are often remedies, becomes the necessary aid in such a difficult situation (O’Connor and Pirkis, p. 256). The author has managed to correctly find the words for presenting his sincere thoughts; hence, the listener gets touched and affected by the song.
In the first verse, Tyler Joseph acknowledges the fact that depression or any other mental health disorder can significantly change the personality. As a result, the individuals who suffer from this affliction tend to hide their inner crisis pretending to be just right. This problem is one of the most significant obstacles in tackling mental health problems among adolescents (O’Connor and Pirkis, p. 557). By addressing it in their song, the band calls to people and gives the message to be alive for themselves, their family, or even the musical group.
In the second verse, the authors remind the listeners that there is a feeling of true happiness, which they could forget because they are genuinely in depression. The idea is considered to be challenging to convey but is extremely important for those who are trying to cope with anxiety. This fact is the reason why some psychologists cannot convince people that there is nothing wrong with them and the world as a whole (O’Connor and Pirkis, p. 308). The author not only recognizes the ordinariness of being in this situation but also gives the sense of being protected. He does not judge but instead provides a helping hand as this is not the only song where he mentions the problem.
In the bridge of the song, the author mentioned the light, which might have two meanings. First, Tyler Joseph expresses the fear that his listener decides against living at night, so he promises to see light together, which literally stands for morning or metaphorically can be attributed to success and happiness. Second, dark usually means death and destruction, and the light is used as a symbol of living. Furthermore, there is a sentence in this part of the song directly meaning the support: “I have nothing else to say, but I will listen to you all day.” The author admits that many depressed people just need to be listened, and he shows his readiness to assist.
The chorus of the song shows the author’s last attempt to help to change their mind. The author has already used reasoning, compassion, and sympathy, so his final word is a request to assess the situation with a clear mind. As this part of the song is the most repeated, Tyler Joseph puts the most efficient message in it. Finally, after listening to it, the person has this message in their mind, which can eventually save their life.
To conclude, the song named “Friend, Please” by Twenty One Pilots is a piece of art that is aimed to affect its listeners. It is assistance for people who are lost in their thoughts and need a small part of help to recover and prevent detrimental consequences. The author mentioned various arguments for living as well as simply asked to stop thinking about self-killing. The band helps their fans to feel better and professionals to prevent suicides.
Work Cited
O’Connor, Rory, and Jane Pirkis. The International Handbook of Suicide Prevention. Wiley Blackwell, 2016.