My Blood (Twenty One Pilots song)

"My Blood" is a disco-tipped indie rock song that lasts for a duration of three minutes and forty-nine seconds.[1][2][3] The moody, groove-driven track contains R&B hooks underpinned with robotic drums and thick funk generated by rolling, distorted bass line.[4][5][6] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Music, it is written in the time signature of common time, with a moderately fast tempo of 109 beats per minute.[2] "My Blood" is composed in the key of A♭ major while Tyler Joseph's vocal range spans two octaves, from the low-note of E♭₄ to the high-note of E♭₆.[2] The song contains inspirational lyrics.[6] They express the idea not being alone, even when one feels desperately isolated.[7] "My Blood" speaks about remaining loyal to a friend, even when everyone else has deserted them.[8][7] The musical arrangement builds into an effervescent chorus where Tyler Joseph sings in a falsetto and cries out, "Stay with me, my blood, you don’t need to run."[6][9][5]

A ten-second snippet of the song was played at the end of a commercial for Trench during the 2018 VMAs on August 20.[10] On August 27, 2018, a Twitter user leaked the full song onto his Twitter account in low quality after they found that it could be played on their Apple HomePod,[11] and the song was released onto streaming services later that day as the fourth single from Trench.[12] An audio was uploaded onto YouTube on the same day.[13] The audio release of the track included one-shot video footage of frontman Tyler Joseph in a recording studio lined by guitars on the walls. He is seen from behind playing the song's grooving bassline and bobbing his head to the melodies and beat of the track.[14]

The song received positive reviews. Billboard contributor Shea Lenninger called "My Blood" a fresh take on the duo's style and described its chorus as catchy.[9] Gil Kaufman, from the same publication, quipped that "Twenty One Pilots seemed determined to show us the full breadth of their musical playbook" with the release of the single.[4] Citing it among the "fresh tricks" found on Trench, Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic applauded Joseph's use of his falsetto range on the track.[15] Chris Willman for Variety called "My Blood" an "uplifting, disco-tipped track."[5] Complimenting its "glowing ’80s chorus," Chris DeVille for Stereogum cites the song as Trench's "closest thing to a pop crossover bid."[7] He ranked "My Blood" at number 31 on their "40 Best Pop Songs of 2018" list and remarked, "Hooks on falsetto hooks over an impeccably funky rolling bassline, with inspirational lyrics and effervescent ’80s fizz to boot. Imagine the pools of saliva that would be forming under critics' mouths if this song was by the 1975."[16]

On September 27, 2018, the day of the album's release, an official music video for the song was premiered on YouTube.[17] It was directed by Tim Mattia and stars Trent Culkin, James Bud and Maximus Birchmore.[18] The video is not a continuation of the storyline of the three previous music videos for the album.

The video opens with a shot of a young boy (Maximus Birchmore) watching his dying mother. His older brother enters the room and comforts him. As they grow up, their father turns to alcohol and the older brother becomes a father figure towards his younger sibling and the two form a strong bond. Years later, they attend a Halloween house concert, dressed as skeletons, with Twenty One Pilots performing the song. When the brothers return home after the party, a group of jocks whom the older brother had taunted earlier, appear on their driveway and attack the older brother once he goes outside to confront them. The younger brother in a state of panic quickly picks up a baseball bat, before running outside and fending the group off, afterwards bringing his injured brother back into the house. His brother disappears as they enter the house. Through a series of flashbacks showing previous scenes from the video without the older brother, it's shown that he did not exist, and was just a creation by the younger brother to help himself cope with the death of his mother and his father's alcoholism. The video ends with the younger brother sitting alone on the couch inside of his house.[19][20]

The clip was named one of the top ten best alternative music videos of 2018 by iHeartRadio.[21]

The song debuted at No. 13 on the US Hot Rock Songs the week of September 8, 2018,[22] and peaked at No. 4 on January 8, 2019.[23] It debuted at No. 81 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of October 20, 2018, before falling out the following week.[24] It also entered the UK Singles Charts at No. 88 on September 7, 2018, before leaving the chart.[25] Upon the album's release, the song re-entered the chart at a new peak of 62.[26]

• Tyler Joseph – vocals, keyboards, bass, synthesizers, programming
• Josh Dun – drums, percussion