“Heathens (remix)” by twenty one pilots x MuteMath, Friday, March 26, 2021

 

If you're driving through Columbus, Ohio you can tune your radio to 88.7 and find out where music is going. First hitting the airwaves in 1996, the radio station went worldwide via SkyAngel satellite network. RadioU plays Christian Rock and has been home to artists who would otherwise never hit the radio waves. However, bands often disappear from the playlist over time. This can because the band changed their sound or their message. Artists like the Newsboys, Audio Adrenaline, dc talk, Jars of Clay, and Jennifer Knapp were played in the '90s and first few years of the '00s, but the listeners didn't like the direction that those artists took in their later careers. Other groups like Copeland, Mae, and MuteMath started out with RadioU and "got too big," or at least that was the story. Sometimes they will pick up groups like Thrice, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and Paper Route, in the middle of a successful career. But is it where music is going? Maybe not these days.

TAKE IT SLOW. Partly because of RadioU many bands sprung out of Columbus. Relient K, House of Heroes, Everyday Sunday, and John Ruben are just a few artists from this part of the Buckeye state. However, none are more successful than twenty one pilots. The duo makes Spotify and record sales lists most musicians only dream of. Their fanbase devoted to the band like K-pop followers. Known as The Clique, many interpret the lyrics of the songs as a direct message to them. Long time fans even bully new fans on social media and call out those who aren't true fans. As I talked about earlier this month when I wrote about Mae, there are some cults I just could never follow. However, while I don't agree with many of Mae's musical choices, when I hear twenty one pilots, I wonder WTF is this? Seriously, what are you kids listening to these days? Emo-Rap? What is going on here? I don't think I can be friends with anyone who loves Imagine Dragons and twenty one pilots. Maybe, but everyone I've met who likes these two groups--we've had issues. I do invite the challenge.

WE DON'T DEAL WITH OUTSIDERS VERY WELL. That being said, "Heathens" is kind of thought provoking. The remix done with another group that has grown up to disappoint me with their mostly banal music. MuteMath deserves a story of their own. After the split of Earthsuit, a short-lived New Orleans-based Christian Rock band, vocalist/rapper Paul Meany took about half of the band to MuteMath. The band's first EP sounded promising, but their debut record was boring. The follow up featured a song on the Twilight soundtrack and the songs were more interesting, but albums after Armistice were lacking--something. Maybe the vocals of Earthsuit's Adam LeClave? While at times bland, I can't doubt the musical talent of MuteMath. They add an interesting edge to the "Heathens" (remix).

ALL MY FRIENDS ARE HEATHENS. The word heathens is Christian slang for someone who is an outsider from your group. It's often said in a joking way about when friends are acting too "worldly." Sometimes it's meant to be harshly judgmental, like in the original sense of the word. Lyrically, "Heathens" deals with darker sides of humanity. The reality that we don't know our own friends well enough to know their true intentions, much less a stranger's. We want to say, "I knew him. He would never would do that." Yet time and time again we see the news stories of another "murderer sitting next to you." Netflix is filled with docu-series of people who never suspected the cold-blooded killer who went to their church or worked in the next cubical. Another pastor becomes involved with a sex scandal. Didn't see that one coming. Rather than deflecting blame and assuming goodness, this song recognizes that "you might be one of us."

Original music video:

 Remix:

Read the lyrics on Genius.