Twenty One Pilots: The Pantaloon Meaning
The Pantaloon Lyrics
When you were nine
They said he had
Lost his mind
You have learned
Way too soon
You should never trust the pantaloon
Now it's your turn
To be alone
Find a wife
And build yourself a home
You have learned
Way too...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:I believe it's about the circle of life.
First his grandad is the pantaloon and goes crazy and dies. He can't trust him because he lost his mind and didn't stick around.
Then his dad is the pantaloon and he's an adult and moves out to find a wife.
Then he's old, the moth eating his shirt is portraying this. His friends are all dead and buried fertilizing the ground.
He's that old now that he's seen so many sunrises/sunsets and he used to hustle and bustle walking around at the fair but now he sits in his wheelchair feeling like its an island, watching all the people so easily walking around him so like he used to.
Now he's the pantaloon and he sleeps alone, his old bones are so cold and his skin frail and wrinkly but has grown used to his cold bones. The nights are cold now he's old but the sunshine in the mornings warms him up. All he is now is bones held together by his nightmare and his fights, basically means his life is flashing before him before he dies.
Sometimes you don't need to read to deep into things to see what they really are. Sometimes it's exactly how it looks. -
2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:What is A Pantaloon?
In the Shakespearean play 'As You Like It' there is a soliloquy by Jaques called 'All The Worlds A Stage' he talks about a person's life is a mere part of a play. The 'sixth age' of life (an older man) is referred to as a 'lean and slippered pantaloon', I believe this means in The Pantaloon, the person's dad and grandfather have grown up into 'pantaloons' who, as the soliloquy says, is "Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound." which means they start to dislike children and people altogether more and more. Maybe in The Pantaloon, the characters family are starting to dislike the world.
Another way that Jaques' soliloquy proves that the grandad is a Pantaloon is that in the song it is indicated by "Who glide across the very surface. That made his bones feeble." makes it out as if the Grandad is old (but he's a Grandad so he's obviously old) and in the Shakespearean monologue the 'Pantaloon' is the sixth stage which means he's old as the 1st stage is a baby and the 7th is a man so close to death. Also, in the song, Tyler writes "He's seen too many staredowns between the sun and the moon" which means he been alive so long to see the sun and the moon in the same sky at the same time which is not every day.
Finally, Google says that a Pantaloon is "a Venetian character in Italian commedia dell'arte represented as a foolish old man wearing pantaloons." So that also gives evidence that A Pantaloon might be old but it gives us insight to a Pantaloon's character, foolish and probably crazy too. In the song, it says that the grandad is going crazy by "He's changed his meaning of a chair now" which is pretty clear evidence to me that the grandad's going mad because how can you forget what a chair is and think it's something else, we have chairs in everyday life!
In conclusion, I think that 'A Pantaloon' is an old, crazy man which everyone turns into when they're so near to dying. I know lots won't agree with me but that's what I believe.
|-/ -
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:Pantaloon is an elderly person who has regressed into a child like state due to senility. The song seems to me to be about growing old from a boys perspective. He was young when his crazy old grandpa died, and then when he became a father his dad was the crazy old man. And then when he became old (and all his friends fertilized the ground) he became the crazy old man (so lose your mind). It seems pretty clear. A moth eating through his shirt is literal. The elderly are often associated with the smell of moth balls for a reason.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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Written by Louis DeCaro (age 14 years old)
I agree. I think it is all 1-3 meanings. To break it down #3: Pantaloon is an elderly person which means that the grandfather was old and died and he was a pantaloon, then the father becomes a pantaloon when he is grown. So when people get old everyone in the family becomes pantaloons. I also think the meaning of he's had too many staredowns between the sun and moon is that he lived an everyday life to see day and night over and over again when living his everyday life. When it says meaning of a chair now it means that he is sitting in a chair on his own all alone and doesn't know what is going on or what a chair is since he is now elderly. When the song said you like to sleep alone.... that means that he is used to being by himself and nobody around him, to add on just your skin is so used to colder bones is an expression meaning once again you are used to being by yourself. It's warmer in the morning than what it is at night means you are much happier when you are with or have some people in your life that make you warm comparing to when you are old meaning you feel depressed and you have nobody around you to take care of you or to be with you. Adding on to what was being said to your bones are held together by your nightmares and your frights that basically means your bones/body are depended on your health or/and age to whether you keep living or it's time to die. Lastly a moth ate through your favorite shirt, well what does a moth represent? A moth represents old age! So to me that obviously means that when you are old and about to die you are out of time in life to live more. This is my opinion; make a comment on whether you think I'm correct or incorrect on any part I'm talking about. But this is what I think the whole song and every verse means to me!
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I think the whole song is a metaphor for living your life while hating yourself. The Pantaloon is what you become when you finally realise you hate what you are and resign yourself to being that. How i see it is that his grandpa was The Pantaloon for so long that, as he neared death, he finally just gave up on being someone he could be proud of and he declined into insanity.
Then his dad realises that he has become what he hates and that he has no control over his life. He never wanted to be anything like what he is, but at this point he just can't deny that he hates himself anymore.
I think the chorus is a metaphor for how, when you're under pressure and depressed ("You are tired. You are hurt."), one small thing can just cause you to lose it and break down ("A moth ate through your favourite shirt.") which leads to you just being apathetic to the world around you and causing your relationships with other people to strain and then eventually die out (All your friends fertilize the ground you walk). Being alone while being depressed and hating yourself just makes you spiral down into self-loathing and isolation because no one wants to be around someone like that. Someone who has "lost their mind" and become The Pantaloon.
So I think that the whole song is a metaphor for life and how as you travel through it, things happen that don't meet your expectations like being someone that you hate or getting a job just to survive instead of following your dreams. And you just have to accept that these things happen and do your best to be satisfied with what you have because often, there's nothing you can do to change how things or how you are.
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its a cycle of a life plain and simpleb..his grandpa , dad and then himself !
west coast ireland baby says hi to yall -
I once read about Tyler burning his favourite shirts when he was in high school (or college I don't really remember sorry) so I think "a moth ate through your favourite shirt" might be a reference to that
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Pantaloon-an old man (probably mentaly declining/dying, thus untrustworthy)-whose dad/grandpa never told them they are gonna be here forever?
The first two verses is talking about the way the life goes-Dad of your dad died and now it is your turn to be the "Dad" and ultimately one day become the Pantaloon yourself for your kids.
"Moth and the shirt" - a metaphor for the fact that everything in life decays.
Moth represents something you can´t control and the shirt can be life alone or your relatives (since they can be as close to you as the shirt you wear) and the moth(decay) eats trough the stuff you like
"Friends fertilize the ground" - could mean they are starting families.. which you can´t ignore (you see them, they are your friends) but they are just continuing the crazy life-death (pantaloon) cycle..so you lose your mind bcs what should YOU do?-hence the last verse
The recitation: Could talk about the age of his dad/grandpa..the chair (probably many dads has their own, similar chair/a personal island to spend time on {in front of tv maybe?}) and many dads have also glided on the surface (more sea metaphor) that made them tired/old/dying..the end refers to time
"You like to sleep alone" - no family means no pantaloon for your kids, no pain, etc.? But this could be worse then the alternative, but you don´t know that, bcs you are used to that cold so much that you don´t realize it anymore.
"Bones held together by frights" This could refer to the lonelines/sadness and how deep it is incorporated within you(in the bones), Or..it could mean that you are able to function only bcs of those nightmares and frights (from lonelines) hence you would find someone to help you feel warmer/happier.
To me the ending (and whole song maybe) refers to the fact that there is no way out of the system (life-decay-death) and you can´t run away from it and the sadness by not having family which you could lose..on the contrary that may be worse -
Fantastic song!
I believe this song is about depression and how it can run in the family....grandfather, father and him and the dark changes in his life cause he's friends to fertilise the ground.
The moth means like his grandfather and father that his chair has become his island meaning they dont leave their island/chair and lose their minds and they waist away on their island. -
songs are MEANT to be interpreted differently so all of you are right but wrong, the song means what YOU think it means so instead of reading these "interpretations" think of your own. just saying.
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I thought that it meant that basically this person is going through something and it's like everything's going bad, her grandfather just died and there's this thing called The Pantaloon ruining her life. "A moth ate through your favorite shirt." This could honestly mean that The Pantaloon is making bad luck. But a lyric says the dad's a Pantaloon. Meaning that the dad could be bringing bad luck for the person and later they turn into The Pantaloon as they grow old and are very slowly losing their mind. Or whatever you all think is right.
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I think it means a guy named john had a bad day and put on his pants but he thought they were ugly so he got sad because he couldnt get them off.
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I think this song was made to talk about bullying. As google states, pantaloons are women's baggy trousers gathered at the ankles. What Tyler meant when he said that your dad and grandpa were pantaloons, he meant that they arent like other people. I dont usually see people with pantaloons :/ "He's seen too many staredowns between the sun and the moon" The people are judging him. "He's been around so long, he changes meaning of a chair now, because A chair now is like a tiny island in the see of all the people who glide across the very surface and made his bones feeble" I'm not very sure with this line, but i think he is the chair and he believes what the people are saying. He's changing himself because of the bullies. "the end cant come soon enough, but is it too soon, either way he cant deny he is the pantaloon" He knows he is different and he is deciding whether or not he should kill himself. I'm not sure if any of this is right or even close but that is what i thought the lyrics meant. xD
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Pantaloon is basically explaining a story of the bad things all happining to you, and it's devastating. "A moth ate through, your favorite shirt" means literally EVERYTHING is bad, and Joseph says to blame the Pantaloon for lying to you. ("Never trust, the Pantaloon")
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