Writings in the Sand

Ned and the Jumpsuit

The Media Prompt this week is a video of the song Jumpsuit by Twenty One Pilots. Prior to this, I have only one brief experience of this band and their musical offerings. Since it is the only story I have about Twenty One Pilots, it's the one I will write for my blog post. Warning: In the beginning, it won't seem like the story is about Twenty One Pilots, but it is. Hang in there.

It started with The Mandolorian, the latest entry in the Star Wars saga. I had not watched this show as I didn't even have Disney as a streaming service. So, I was completely unaware that The Mandolorian had become a sensation, as big as any Star Wars character had ever been in popularity. So big, that his fan base was eclipsed by only one other Star Wars character - his unnamed sidekick, called "Baby Yoda" by fans of the show.

I first saw Baby Yoda when my daughter texted me a photo of him and asked me to crochet a Baby Yoda for her. I said that I would, little knowing that crocheted Baby Yodas were all the rage and it was almost impossible to find any yarn in a sort of mossy green color since all the crafters making yodas had cleared the shelves. Eventually, I found a source and got to work. A woman who works with my son's girlfriend saw photos of my Baby Yoda and wanted to buy two of them. So, I made another two yoda dolls. She loved them and asked if I could make a Ned for her daughter.

I confess, that I had no idea what a "Ned" was. Aside from being Ned, it had no meaning for me. It was then I was directed to a video of the song "Chlorine" by Twenty One Pilots.

Ah ha! Now there seems to be some point to this rambling story, you might say. But you'd be wrong. The only point is that Ned and his song are my frame of reference on this band. And from what I've seen and heard, I feel like the songwriter is not very happy. In the song "Chlorine", the singer ends up sitting at the bottom of a swimming pool (with Ned) looking rather depressed. Chlorine may cleanse the water, but in a larger concentration is poisonous. One wonders what Chlorine represents in the song, cleansing or poison? He sings "sippin' on straight Chlorine" and says he's running for his life.

In the song, Jumpsuit, he's standing on a car that's on fire and being chased by a figure who may represent Death. Death appears to catch up to him, but only smears dark ashy fingerprints on his neck. It seems significant that the coat that the singer puts on has high-visibility stripes and looks like a fireman's jacket. At the end of the song, the car is burnt but the fire is out and the jacketed singer, safe in his coat but carrying the marks of fire on him, walks away from the charred chassis. The singer has survived the fire, and Death was not able to take him.

Yeah, I think that the songwriter for this band thinks about death a lot. Or maybe I have it all wrong. Watch both these videos and see what I mean. Or tell me I am full of hooey.