What does Neon Gravestones mean?

Twenty One Pilots: Neon Gravestones Meaning

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Album cover for Neon Gravestones album cover

Song Released: 2018


Neon Gravestones Lyrics

What's my problem?
Well, I want you to follow me down to the bottom
Underneath the insane asylum
Keep your wits about you while you got 'em
'Cause your wits are first to go while you're problem-solving
And my problem?
We glorify those, even...

  1. anonymous
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    Jul 28th 2020 !⃝

    So, this isn’t an interpretation, but more of just a reply to someone else’s, because something they said seemed insensitive and problematic. I wish there was a reply button, but that’s okay. But, to the person that said that suicide was “an easy way out”, that’s kinda insensitive. Like, of course you should push through your struggles and enjoy a full life. And it is harder to get through life then to just end it. But, it’s also difficult ending it. And I’m saying this as someone who as attempted. It wasn’t just an option that had popped in my head cause I thought it would be easy. I was so conflicted between ending it, and not ending it. Both seemed terrifying, and difficult. I ended up choosing to end it. That choice was so hard to make. Attempting was so hard to do. It was not an easy way out. It was so hard for me to choose to die, because part of me still wanted to live. It was so hard. Like I said before, it is harder to deal with life and it’s struggles. But, it’s also hard making the choice to die, and ending a life that part of you desperately wanted to keep. There’s no such thing as an “easy way out.”

  2. FoxBeReal27
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    Jan 4th 2019 !⃝

    I think this song says that we shouldn't celebrate when a young person commits suicide because what we should celebrate are the elders who lived so long because they were so dedicated to life. Also, when we praise those who commit suicide, that makes it seem like it's okay if you do this, but it's not okay. We should celebrate those who pull through their difficult road of life.

  3. anonymous
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    Nov 15th 2018 !⃝

    I did an analysis of this song for school, here's a part:

    “And my problem? We glorify those even more when they-.” The second part is cut off because it’s obvious. The writer, Tyler Joseph, doesn’t approve of how the media has shaped our culture to celebrate the celebrities who commit suicide, sometimes even for their own fame and glory. (thus the song’s title, “neon gravestones”).

    “what’s my problem? Don’t get it twisted, it’s with the people we praise who many have assisted” emphasis on the people who praise celebrities more when they die.

    “Don’t get me wrong the rise in awareness is beating a stigma that no longer scares us. But for sake of discussion, in spirit of fairness, could we give this some room for a new point of view?” He’s talking about how our reactions towards admitting we’re sick and have a mental illness has become less and less concerned because of how common it’s become, allowing people to think that it’s just something they have to live with, or rather, die from. He’s asking that we change the way we treat the issue.

    “Find your grandparents or someone of age. Pay some respects for the path that they paved.
    To life they were dedicated.
    Now that should be celebrated”
    Tyler is saying that instead of celebrating those that took the easy and more harmful way out, we should praise those who continued through their struggles to stay alive. He wants us to appreciate those who persevered.

    So friends, stay alive :)

  4. anonymous
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    Nov 6th 2018 !⃝

    I think this song is about how people are glorifying suicide by praising people who kill themselves only after they do so. "We glorify those even more when they" is referring to how we, as a society, glorify people more after they kill themselves, and that makes it seem like committing suicide is a feasible way to go, when committing suicide is so bad that Tyler refuses to finish the sentence. As for the chorus, "Neon gravestones try to call for my bones", Tyler is saying that a glorified death is "calling" for him, but the lyric "But they won't get them", is Tyler saying that he won't kill himself, but when he says "Promise me this: if I lose to myself you won't mourn a day, and you'll move on to someone else" is him saying that if he does end up committing suicide, that he doesn't want us to glorify him, or mourn him, but that he wants us to go on to help others. When he says "And, could it be true that some could be tempted to use this mistake as a form of aggression? A form of succession? A form of a weapon? Thinking "I'll teach them"", he is saying that people commit suicide as a weapon, as a way to "get back" at those who made them consider it in the first place, but by saying "Well, I'm refusing the lesson", he's saying that it isn't. He's saying that we should praise people while they are alive.

  5. anonymous
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    Oct 30th 2018 !⃝

    True, we should let everyone we know that they are loved and that life is worth celebrating. However, some people who has no love for others would feel uneasy when you tell them they are loved. We have to respect them and not feel any bitterness because they don't feel any love for you. Hope you would not attempt to commit suicide because of your problems. I believe you have many people who love you and it would grieve them if you would end your life.

    Hope you feel better.

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 30th 2018 !⃝

    I’ve dealt with so many suicide attempts in the past and this hits super close to home. I lost my car to my last attempt... this song to ME means so much more than celebrating life. It’s about celebrating life after you’ve literally faced death. “I could give up and boost my reputation” “I could go out with a bang, they would know my name. They would host and post a celebration.” “How could he go if he had everything. I’d mourne for a kid but won’t cry for a king” “promise me this, if I lose to myself you’ll won’t mourne a day and you’ll move on to someone else.”

    These are all lyrics about how suicide is glorified. How suicide takes away the pain and the pain you’ve brought on to others and how they deal with that pain only glorifies your actions. It’s about ending the stigma that comes with suicide.

    Make sure you let everyone you love know that they are loved and that life is worth celebrating, not death.


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