Posted by Next Semester is the new song by Twenty One Pilots, with lyrics that hide an interesting meaning: let’s discover it.
Clancy, the new studio album by Twenty One Pilots, is set for release in May 2024, and fans can’t wait to listen to everything inside it. The first single, Overcompensate, was out at the beginning of March, and a second single is already available: Next Semester is the typical track we love from the American band, with its rough energy and cryptic lyrics whose meaning can be interpreted in multiple ways. Let’s get deeper into it together: in this article, you’ll find an analysis of the song, the official video, and the complete lyrics. Let’s go!
Next Semester: the meaning of the lyrics
Next Semester is a song about the struggle of being young: in the lyrics, Twenty One Pilots depicts a symbolic situation of a student who feels overwhelmed by life, with many duties and complex challenges, trying to cope with the present and future.
The song begins with the words of the protagonist, a young student who’s focused on their goal: graduate. However, the path to get there seems too hard, the anxiety is overwhelming, and life seems just a series of tests that want to teach you what kind of adult you’ll soon be.
Stand up straight now
Can’t break down
Graduate now
I don’t wanna be here, I don’t wanna be here
It’s a taste test
Of what I hate less
Can you die of anxiousness?
The image described in the chorus was the part fans analyzed most. Apparently, it’s a memory of a crucial moment in the protagonist’s life: standing in the middle of the street (the yellow dashes represent the signs he sees on the ground) with “lights that would take them home.” The band didn’t share an official explanation about those lyrics, but fans have interpreted them as the description of a suicide attempt:
I remember certain things
What I was wearing
The yellow dashes in the street
I prayed those lights would take me home
Then I heard, “Hey, kid, get out of the road!”
If that’s the correct interpretation (the official video actually confirms this perspective), the student stands in the street, waiting for a car to hit them. A car gets closer (the lights the protagonist sees belong to the vehicle), but the driver doesn’t hit them; instead, the student is asked to get out of the road. From this point of view, the driver represents the figure of a savior: someone who arrives in a difficult moment, pointing us in the right direction and telling us the right thing to do.
This vision is corroborated by the lyrics we find in the second part of the song:
And then he slowed down
And rolled down his window
And he said
“Can’t change what you’ve done
Start fresh next semester”
The driver is sharing a life lesson: we must always look ahead and never give up. We all make mistakes, especially in youth, but nothing is definitive. Our future is defined by what we do today, and just by that: if we embrace hope and work on a fresh start, the future (next semester) is promising.
This is the primary interpretation of the lyrics meaning, and it perfectly fits the band’s philosophy: Next Semester talks about discovering the right spirit to build our best future. Youth is one of the most complicated phases of our inner life, and having music that can understand what you feel is the best companion for those days when you think you can’t go on.
Read other popular song lyrics and their meaning on Auralcrave
The official video and the complete lyrics
No-no-no, no-no-no
No-no-no-no-no, no-no-no-no-no
No-no-no-no-no, no-no-no-no
Stand up straight now
Can’t break down
Graduate now
I don’t wanna be here, I don’t wanna be here
It’s a taste test
Of what I hate less
Can you die of anxiousness?
I don’t wanna be here, I don’t wanna be here
What’s about to happen? What’s about to happen?
I remember
I remember certain things
What I was wearing
The yellow dashes in the street
I prayed those lights would take me home
Then I heard, “Hey, kid, get out of the road!”
I don’t wanna be here, I don’t wanna be here
Can’t feel my legs
I might suffocate
There’s a pressure in my chest
I don’t wanna be here, I don’t wanna be here
What’s about to happen? What’s about to happen?
I remember
I remember certain things
What I was wearin’
The yellow dashes in the street
I prayed those lights would take me home
Then I heard, “Hey, kid, get out of the road!”
Can’t change what you’ve done
Start fresh next semester
I remember
I remember certain things
What I was wearin’
The yellow dashes in the street
I prayed those lights would take me home
Then I heard, “Hey, kid, get out of the road!”
And then he slowed down
And rolled down his window
And he said
“Can’t change what you’ve done
Start fresh next semester”
It’s a taste test
Of what I hate less
I don’t wanna be here
Start fresh with the new year
Can’t change what you’ve done
Start fresh next semester
