twenty one pilots - Chlorine | First Listen/ Watch | Reaction 

The secret to Chlorine absolutely lies in verse three, and the "lives lead / lives lead" part throws everyone for a loop at first. I love it because the song is about songwriting, and the way thats revealed is through a verse that wants to be read instead of heard. The lead can be the pencil, which he keeps close to his heart. It tastes terrible, but it's how he makes his paper. He lives on lead.

Tyler LOVES metaphors 😼 Others did a great job giving you the background. Filling the pool represents the songwriting process, which is why they start with a very slow hose. The music is the water and the chlorine represents the subject matter that Tyler uses to clean the darkness and mental health struggles in his mind. But too much can be toxic, so he needs to be careful not to get consumed by it. But he’s also creating music to stay alive, “I’m running for my life.” Our buddy Ned represents his creativity but also his perfectionism and inner critic. Tyler has a love/hate relationship with him. Ned only jumps into the pool when it is just right … when the song is complete. He is an important character that you will see again. At the end, the pool is empty because when you finish one song, there’s another one to write. Tyler is completely drained. Ned comes alongside him as inspiration, but turns his nose up at the idea for the new song.

you were on the right track that it's about a toxic relationship - however the relationship is between Tyler and the music making process he compares it to Chlorine because in small doses, Tyler needs music to help get his thoughts out and cleanse himself, but it can become overwhelming and become toxic - just as too much chlorine can the other part here is this came in the Trench album, which was right after Blurryface when they became famous worldwide with Stressed Out, Ride, and then eventually Heathens was also released right after as a single with Suicide Squad - they took a year long hiatus where they just completely disappeared before the release of the Trench album - so "the moment is medical" and "when i leave don't save my seat, i'll be back when it's all complete" refer to this hiatus and basically saying they needed this time off to cleanse but don't worry, we're coming back when we're ready lastly, Ned is the little character - he does show up in later music videos as well - he represents their creativity - so they are aiming to please Ned - you can see he isn't willing to take the plunge until everything is perfect - then at the end when it's back to just the little cup, he isn't impressed anymore i'd say to try Car Radio, Migraine, or Lane Boy

That little piano riff was written by Paul Meany, who made a video about how they produced this song.

I believe the part "Hide you in my coat pocket , where I kept my rebel red. I felt I was invincible, you wrapped around my head" was referring to the red beanie he always wore through Blurryface era. You nailed this reaction!! I love joining your journey!

Soooo...jumping into many songs on this album do require a lot of background of past Twenty One Pilots music, as well as the "being at that time and place" in the journey to pick up on Tyler's message. But you did a great job for a first-time listen! The basis of the song & video is about Tyler's creative process and songwriting. The creature in this video is Ned, and he represents Tyler's creativity. Chlorine disinfects and cleans, but too much of it can be toxic. The songwriting process fills up the pool with chlorine, which eventually Ned deems worthy enough to jump into and make it a completed product. However the process can make Tyler dive deep into personal and destructive subjects (self harm and anxieties), leaving him spent after the song is finished and shown at the end of the video. "Making my escape from walls they confine" is also a reference to the overarching Dema storyline from this album. You'll want to go through more Blurryface album songs concluding with Heavydirtysoul and then watch the 3 "storyline" music videos from Trench in a specific order (Jumpsuit, Nico and the Niners, Levitate) in order to understand the Dema lore further. Finally, another side reference in this song is the long so-called hiatus the band took between Blurryface and the release of Trench. "I'm so sorry, let me catch you up to speed" is acknowledging the long break and refers to the fact based on the rest of the song that before Tyler went through the sometimes toxic songwriting process, he needed to step away for awhile. My favorite couple of lines (couldn't tell if you totally caught it) was: "Now different lives I lead; My body lives on lead. The last two lines may read incorrect until said." Meaning if you assume both leads are the same, with a hard E or soft E pronunciation, one of the phrases doesn't make sense. "The lead is terrible in flavor; But now you double as a papermaker." For Tyler, lead literally doubles as a papermaker because he writes songs using a lead pencil on paper, then in the case of Stressed Out, Ride, etc. from Blurryface, the songs ended up making them a lot of money ("paper").

DUDE, YOU NAILED IT! Tyler said that this song it's about he creative process and realatioship with music. And I'd never seen anyone getting all at the first listen. So, congrats! His relationship with music is toxic like chlorine because he almost always talk about his battles against his demons and other things that him can't express by other ways than music. Other song that talk about this that i recommend is "Cut My Lip" from the same album. Sorry if I made any mistake, I'm trying to improve my english

MORE TOP! ❤ Them!!! PS talking about music, it toxic, but he good at it...needs balance! Lead in pencil, his writing songs.

The most popular version : The song is about their music and how it’s like chlorine. In small doses chlorine can even be healthy for you, it can be essential for survival in certain situation because it’s so good at cleaning water; however the chemical is also poisonous and can kill you if you ingest too much. Tyler is saying that the music is the same way to him. He needs it to survive (it’s a moneymaker and also saves him psychologically and emotionally). But it can overtake him and kill him at the same time. “This beat is a chemical”. Without the music - he would die. But too much of it can also kill and destroy him. Ned (this funny creature) represents Tyler's creativity. Guys start to filling up the pool, but Ned is not satisfied until it is completely filled with chlorine (until the song is close to perfect for Tyler ).

HeavyDirtySoul ✌️😊🌼

Love 21 pilots. Got a lot of your reactions to catch up on.

Just found your twenty one pilots reactions and catching up now. As Deltron said the album this song is from which is called Trench is like a concept album with a full 'lore' attached to it so when you do further songs from Trench - you will probably be asked to start with the three songs known as the Trench Trilogy - lwe can fill you in on the Lore. It will the songs make much more sense and you will get soooo much more from the music and videos. Great reactions so far!

Recommending Trees+speech live at Fox theater

I love tøp happy to watch with you ❤️

Nice reaction..

I’m loving your TOP reactions. Tyler is my guy. Love that man’s brain and persistence. Keep up the reactions! 🎉

Awesome reaction, man! Loving your TøP journey, subscribing to follow along! You’ve got a fantastic acumen at interpreting lyrics. 🔥

Ned ❤

Love this song