twenty one pilots – Bandito lyrics

Bandito is my favorite song on Trench. Chlorine is second, followed by Morph and My Blood. Jumpsuit, Nico, and Levitate are just too "out there" for me, lyrically, though the music is good. Those 3 will never play on the pop charts at a very high level, but I think Bandito, Chlorine, Morph, and My Blood could be the next "Stressed Out" and "Ride" and "House of Gold" for the Trench era.

Given that he deals with depression and anxiety, which often go hand in hand with drug or alcohol use, I first thought this song meant he could choose to get high to forget his problems but instead chooses to go low. Other songs on Trench say things like "higher when I'm lower" and "heavy when I'm higher", which could be interpreted the same way.

A bandito can be interpreted as an outcast. He feels alone in his depression, an outcast, and could escape that feeling by taking the "high" road. But he knows that he's going low, which will not let him forget that he is a bandito.

Of course, I'm not stupid - I know this interpretation is 100% wrong, but I'm just telling you what I thought the first time I heard it.

In reality, I'm sure it has to do with escaping Dema and having to go low to escape over on the East side or something of that nature - escape under the wall. Of course, even those references are symbolic of something - Dema is depression, he has to go low to get out of Dema - not sure what that is symbolic of.

A casual listener would interpret it as meaning that he is a rebel who chooses the low road over the high road - in other words, if someone disses his girl, he could take the high road and move along - but he knows he is going low - he is a bandito. Guaranteed that any casual listener interprets it just like this, and if it goes top 40 on the pop charts (it just might, great song for anyone), this is how it will be read when the kids play it on their ipods.

That's fine. A song can be a great song and interpreted several different ways, depending on where a person is coming from. There's nothing wrong with that. Enjoy the music for being great music (first), enjoy the lyrics for being awesome lyrics that can be interepreted different ways (a lot of alternative lyrics are like that).

I'm going to guess he knew this song was potentially his "Stressed Out" of this album (could be! either this one or Chlorine, I bet) and purposely wrote the lyrics in a "Heathens" kind of way that could be read one way by his faithful and another by the casual fans.

2 ways I read it (and I realize both are most assuredly wrong, but it's how I hear it)

If someone does something like diss his girl, he could take the high road and move along. But he knows he is going low (making a scene, standing up). He's a bandito. Fits with Smithereens in this sense.

As someone with depression, he could get high (illicit drugs or maybe just SSRI's) to escape his pain but instead chooses to go low to get out of the Dema permanently. Higher when he's lower, heavy when he's higher. He's a ban - he's a bandito (someone trying to escape depression even though it would be easier to be a good boy and take his meds like the doctors want).

Bandito, Chlorine, Morph, and My Blood could all be top five on the pop charts and are the most likely to be the next "Stressed Out", "Ride", "Heathens", and "Holding onto You" for casual fans of the Trench era. Jumpsuit, Nico, and Levitate are good fare for the alternative crowd and diehard fans but won't be appreciated by casual fans, I think - lyrics are too hard to interpret. Sure, chlorine lyrics are tricky, too, but that song is so good it doesn't matter.