The lyrics of “Stressed Out” are told in the first person, with the story being told by both the character Blurryface (a representation of Tyler’s insecurities) and an anxious Tyler feeling intense childhood nostalgia. The song is primarily about a wish to regain the innocence and carefree nature of childhood, before insecurities (i.e. Blurryface) existed.
It was released on April 27, 2015 as the third single from their second studio album, Blurryface. In February 2016, it managed to reach number two on the Hot 100, becoming their first single to reach that height.
The music video features Josh Dun and Tyler Joseph riding big-wheels and hanging out in their childhood bedrooms, suggesting a state of crippling nostalgia and perhaps even arrested development.
On April 30, 2021 “Stressed Out” was certified Diamond by the RIAA, their first Diamond certification.[1]
- 1:29 - ♪ Sometimes a certain smell will take me back ♪
- 1:31 - ♪ To when I was young ♪
- 1:32 - ♪ How come I’m never able to identify where it’s comin’ from ♪
- 1:35 - ♪ I’d make a candle out of it if I ever found it ♪
- 1:37 - ♪ Try to sell it, never sell out of it ♪
- 1:39 - ♪ I’d probably only sell one ♪
- 1:40 - ♪ It’d be to my brother, 'cause we have the same nose ♪
- 1:43 - ♪ Same clothes, homegrown ♪
- 1:44 - ♪ A stone’s throw from a creek we used to roam ♪
- 1:46 - ♪ But it would remind us of when nothing really mattered ♪
- 1:48 - ♪ Out of student loans and treehouse homes ♪
- 1:50 - ♪ We all would take the latter ♪