Forest

Forest
Song by Twenty One Pilots from the album Regional at Best
Released	July 8, 2011
Format	Digital
Length	4:26
Tempo	120
Key	F major
Live debut	July 19 2011
Last played	Oct 29 2014
Live count	80
Composer	Twenty One Pilots
Lyricist	Tyler Joseph
Writer	Tyler Joseph
Producer	Tyler Joseph, Josh Dun
Label	Self-released
Stream / Buy
Twenty One Pilots track listing Guns For Hands Holding On To You Ode To Sleep Slowtown Car Radio Forest Glowing Eyes Kitchen Sink Anathema Lovely Ruby Trees Be Concerned Clear

Forest is the 6th track on the album, Regional at Best as well as the 16th track on Vessel Bonus Track Version

Background

I've always felt like this song was about worries, fears, and problems that you can never really leave behind and trying to escape from them momentarily even though you know in the back of you mind they are still there. In the first verse it gets into these problems, "wanting to be listened to" not "heard" and being bothered when others have the same name. Then after another verse it ends with "So let's think of something better" and the chorus starts. I think the "forest" represents a place to escape to and "singing" as something to tune out your problems with. When they mention the chorus being one that everybody knows I imagine it's because it's supposed to be "normal" and "expected" which is what he is trying to be by avoiding his problems and putting up a front. The "hands held higher" and "we'll" be on fire" part is the problems catching up to him. Then in the next verse he addresses them: "Quickly moving towards the storm Moving forward, torn into pieces Over reasons of what these storms are for I don't understand why everything I adore Takes a different form when I squint my eyes

Have you ever done that, when you squint your eyes And your eyelashes make it look a little not right And when just enough light comes from just the right side And you find that you're not who you're supposed to be? This is not what you're supposed to see"

In these verses he has stepped out of the forest and is slowly coming back to the reality of his situation. That nothing is perfect and the harder he focuses on it, the worse the problems seem. After spending so much time away in his "forest" he has forgotten his own problems and when they suddenly show up again he panics and they seem 10x worse. Hence:

"Please, remember me, I am supposed to be king of the king Devil swinging on the swing, something happened in my imagination The situation's becoming dire, my treehouse is on fire And for some reason I smell gas on my hands This is not what I had planned"

In fear he runs back to his "forest" and continues to ignore his problems. [1]

Versions

Studio

Title	Releas	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Forest	Regional at Best	4:26	2010-2011	8 July 2011
Forest Bonus Track	Vessel	4:06	2011-2012	8 Jan 2013	Forest, along with other songs from Regional at Best were remastered for their next album, Vessel

Live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbOzgUbdrKc

Lyrics

Lyrics

Album version

[Intro] Ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh Ooh [Verse 1] I don't know why I feed on emotion There's a stomach inside my brain I don't wanna be heard, I wanna be listened to Does it bother anyone else that someone else has your name? Oh, does it bother anyone else that someone else has your name, your name? [Pre-Chorus] I scream, you scream We all scream, 'cause we're terrified Of what's around the corner We stay in place 'Cause we don't wanna lose our lives So let's think of something better [Chorus] Down in the forest, we'll sing a chorus One that everybody knows Hands held higher, we'll be on fire Singing songs that nobody wrote [Verse 2] My brain has given up, white flags are hoisted I took some food for thought, it might be poisoned The stomach in my brain throws up onto the page Does it bother anyone else that someone else has your name? Does it bother anyone else that someone else has your name? [Pre-Chorus] I scream, you scream We all scream, 'cause we're terrified Of what's around the corner We stay in place 'Cause we don't wanna lose our lives So let's think of something better (Better) Oh [Chorus] Down in the forest, we'll sing a chorus One that everybody knows Hands held higher, we'll be on fire Singing songs that nobody wrote [Bridge] Quickly moving towards the storm, moving forward, torn Into pieces over reasons of what these storms are for I don't understand why everything I adore Takes a different form when I squint my eyes Have you ever done that? When you squint your eyes And your eyelashes make it look a little not right And then when just enough light comes from just the right side And you find you're not who you're supposed to be? This is not what you're supposed to see Please, remember me? I am supposed to be King of a kingdom, or swinging on a swing Something happened to my imagination The situation's becoming dire My tree house is on fire And for some reason I smell gas on my hands This is not what I had planned This is not what I had planned Down in the forest, we'll sing a chorus (Forest, chorus) Hands held higher, we'll be on fire Singing songs that nobody wrote [Chorus] Down in the forest, we'll sing a chorus One that everybody knows, yeah Hands held higher, we'll be on fire Singing songs that nobody wrote [Outro] Hands held higher, we'll be on fire Hands held higher, we'll be on fire (Fire)

Lyrics meaning

Lyrics
“Forest” is about conquering inner demons through music and community. It’s easily considered to be a fan favorite, and is frequently played live by the duo. The song was later featured as a bonus track on the band’s 2013 album Vessel along with various other songs from Regional at Best. The band released a small excerpt of the song which Tyler sings while walking through a city. It includes the main chorus of the song sung before and after the bridge which is sung in a similar style to Tyler’s “Street Poetry.” [2]
all meanings of the lyrics are taken from the Genius website

Sources

[1] https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858875305/

[2] https://genius.com/Twenty-one-pilots-forest-lyrics