Midwest Indigo

After three years, Twenty One Pilots return in 2024 with their latest album, “Clancy”. The fourth song on the album, Midwest Indigo, is one of the songs that best describe the atmosphere of the album by Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun: the audience is introduced to a cold, distant place, inspired by the American Midwest, with a very different climate from the one Tyler and Josh dreamed of, as seen in the verses “You can be so cold, Midwest Indigo” and “Runnin‘ late so I didn't have the time to scrape the frosted windshield like we're barely scrapin’ by”.

The lyrics begin with the lyricist trying to talk to someone while on his way home, but facing the person's emotional coldness. The repetition of the phrase “You can be so cold” emphasizes the feeling of isolation and the difficulty of feeling welcomed. However, this is the most literal interpretation of the words “ice” and “cold” because, in a more metaphorical interpretation, they symbolize not only the climate of the Midwest of the United States but also the emotional coldness that the lyrical self faces in this place and the relationships built there.

The lines “scraping the frosted windshield” and “the little gap in the ice” suggest that the chances of warming these relationships are minimal, reflecting the constant struggle to maintain hope amid adversity. The frustration is palpable when the lyricist mentions that the dean has canceled twice, indicating a search for help that doesn't materialize, as well as providing the context in which this song takes place: probably Tyler, the composer, was returning home during the winter break from college.

In the end, there is a clear distinction between reality and the dream: the lyrical self expresses a desire for “love and sunny days”, in other words, the search for warmth and happiness that seems far away. In various songs, films, series, and literature in general, the idea is reinforced that summer holds good things like sun, warmth, youth, and hope, referring to tones such as orange, yellow, and red, in contrast to winter, a more melancholy, introspective time, commonly linked to the colors dark blue, black and gray. In this sense, it is interesting to note how the colors do not go unnoticed by Tyler: there is a plant called Indigofera leguminous from which the indigo dye is extracted, historically used to dye fabrics deep blue.

These negative feelings are reinforced when verses such as “You make me sad and second-guess myself” are repeated, which corroborates the idea that the emotional coldness of this place is deeply affecting the lyrical self's self-esteem and well-being. In this sense, 'Midwest Indigo' is a reflection on the internal struggle to find warmth and connection in an environment that seems constantly cold and indifferent, both literally and metaphorically.