Lane Boy

In an interview with Alternative Press, Tyler Joseph said he wrote the song wanting to talk about what he was feeling and his frustrations, as opposed to something artistic and added that, "I remember showing that song to some people and they said, 'I don't think you want to say that...'" Consequently, Josh Dun, the band's drummer, told him to "say it."[6] Joseph also stated during an interview with Fuse that the song was "that song on the record where you kind of break that fourth wall and you can look into what it's like to really be a normal person in our position."[7]

"Lane Boy" was produced by Ricky Reed and recorded at Serenity West Recording in Hollywood, California. The track was then mixed at The Casita in Hollywood, California and mastered at Sterling Sound in New York City.[8] Compared to tracks from Blurryface that were produced by Mike Elizondo, "Lane Boy" is influenced by Reed's more pop production and contains chattery programming.[9][10]

An official remix of "Lane Boy" was created by hip hop record producer DJ Premier.[11] In an interview with Complex over e-mail, Premier explained, "While I was in L.A. recording with Dr. Dre for the Compton soundtrack, one of my homies told my tour manager to check out Twenty One Pilots. I bought Blurryface and liked it immediately, so I started looking for videos as well. I saw the 'Lane Boy' video and loved the concept of the song and video. It's about refuting the idea that artists should stay in a 'lane' or be defined by a particular style or sound."[11] "Lane Boy" was the song DJ Premier desired to remix afer watching the videos.[11] Twenty One Pilots sent the stems for the track over to Premier and told him to rock out with it.[11] For the remix, Premier decreases the tempo of its instrumental in order to give the track a slow, mellow vibe.[11] Towards the end, he integrates his trademark scratching.[12]

Alexa Shouneyia for Billboard stated, "If you loved Twenty One Pilots' 'Lane Boy' before, get ready to fall in love all over again with DJ Premier's remix... DJ Premier definitely takes the track into his own lane."[12] Jessie Morris from Complex described the official remix as an "essential new banger."[11]

“Lane Boy” is an alternative hip hop song that runs four minutes and thirteen seconds.[9][18] The genre-bending track is infused with reggae and rock and has textures that feature a hyrbrid of musical styles, including hip hop, alternative pop, jungle, dubstep, ska rock, and dancehall.[19][20][14][16][21][9][15][22] 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 160 beats per minute.[18] "Lane Boy" is composed in the key of A minor while Tyler Joseph's vocal range spans one octave and four notes from a low of F₄ to a high of C₆.[18]

The song's breezy instrumentation maintains a distinctive Caribbean groove, which is underscored by a plucked melody and Dun's drumming.[23][24] Joseph delivers his lyrics in a hard, staccato style of rapping over a kaleidoscopic mixture of reggae rhythms, electronic beats, bouncy reggae rock and urgent, full-bore EDM.[23][10][13][25] With a frenetic vocal style, he both raps in double-time and belts melodic lines as the composition meanders into dub-inspired passages before entering a convulsive drum'n'bass section.[17][26][27][24] The track devolves from swaggering to a pause during the middle in order to accommodate for a dubstep breakdown replete with zippy synths, drum and pulsating electronic dance music.[10][28] It then transforms roughly halfway as grizzly synths are introduced alongside robotic voices, distorted bass and two-step drumming.[24] After its journey through an abundance of breakdowns, "Lane Boy" closes with an electro jubilee.[29] At its conclusion, the musical composition exhibits anthemic electropop-tinged rock sounds.[27][30][9]

Lyrically, "Lane Boy" is a meta-manifesto about doing what one desires and not following a set path.[31][32] It discusses how Twenty One Pilots can craft music that suits the mainstream, but that doesn't define them.[32] The song's lyrics are a scathing indictment of narrow-minded music industry practices.[10][23] On "Lane Boy," the duo break the fourth wall while exploring of their experience working in the contemporary music industry and defiantly defending their experimental musical approach.[33][27] They convey the conviction of his personal nonconformist spirit.[10] Joseph mocks the confining admonitions of record companies, rapping, "If it was our way, we'd have a tempo change every other time change."[31] Still, Tyler Joseph's rapping admits that their driving, clear pop sensibilities come with a heavy burden: "Honest, there's a few songs on this record that feel common / I'm in constant confrontation with what I want and what is poppin' / In the industry / It seems to me that singles on the radio are currency / My creativity's only free when I'm playing shows.”[27][31][17][21] As a warning, Joseph advises, "Don't trust a perfect person and don't trust a song that's flawless."[16][31] "Lane Boy" harbors something of a mission statement.[14] During its chorus, a languid vocal tone commands, "You should stay in your lane, boy."[24] Joseph continues by singing, "They say, 'Stay in your lane, boy' / But we go where we want to".[14] He backhands his seniors at major record labels with the snide remark, "Will they be alive tomorrow?"[31]

Billboard's Garrett Kamps compared "Lane Boy" to the work of Jamaican sound engineer King Tubby while labeling the single "especially schizoid."[17] Stereogum's Chris DeVille said, "And the DnB/reggae/rap rave-up “Lane Boy” musically and lyrically scoffs at the notion of staying in your lane. Given where they've been and where they're going, it appears they don't have to."[19] Alternative Press commented, "'Don't trust a perfect person and don't trust a song that's flawless,' warns on the furious reggae/jungle/dubstep hybrid 'Lane Boy.' And he's absolutely right; great art is rarely made by normal people."[16] Citing it as the album's "big push-back moment," Jason Pettigrew, from the same publication, mused, "Although he wouldn't publicly use this vernacular, the reggae/jungle/dubstep amalgam "Lane Boy" is the duo's 'fuck-you' song."[6] He ranked "Lane Boy" as the band's penultimate song, calling it, "The most attitude-laden track in the TOP songbook."[10] Kerrang!'s Emily Carter called the song an "electropop-infused rock anthem."[30] Sam Law, from the same publication, opined, "'Lane Boy' pips 'Ride' by dent of its richer lyrical treatment. Cruising on that breezy instrumentation, we get wave after wave of attitude as Tyler unloads on music industry narrow-mindedness... before showcasing the mercurial best of the TØP sound with a barrage of tongue-twisting staccato rap and explosions of EDM/dubstep colour. A song to overtake to."[23] Rolling Stone Australia writer Rod Yates deemed the song "a defiant defence of their genre-hopping."[33] Madison Desler of Orange County Register quipped that the song's refrain, "may be the best explanation of their genre-busting approach.'"[34] Anne Nickoloff and Troy Smith from The Plain Dealer remarked, "It's far from being a flawless song – and that's the whole point."[26] Going further, Smith stated, "the ending of 'Lane Boy' evokes the best electropop aspects of Vessel."[27]

The music video for "Lane Boy" is slightly shorter than its album version, and shows Joseph walking in the forest at nighttime with two men behind him in hazmat suits while Dun plays at a concert; he (Joseph) finds a floral shirt (which he puts on) and joins Dun on stage, before long, the crowd crouches down along with Joseph, afterwards jumping at the same time he does after 2 minutes within the video. The music video ends with Joseph performing a short dance and then bowing to the crowd.

"Lane Boy" has since become a crowd favorite at live concert venues.[34][25] Twenty One Pilots performed "Lane Boy" during a concert held at Comerica Theatre on in Downtown Phoenix, Arizona October 14, 2015. The duo began their performance with video effects of men in hazmat suits and gas masks dancing before shifting to live stage performer dancing in hazmat suits and gas masks, all  while in keeping with the song's lyrics.[35]

They performed the song an at the Forum in Inglewood, California during their Emotional Roadshow World Tour, placing emphasizing the reggae beats and rhythms during their arena performance.[25] 

While still on the tour the duo provided a live rendition at the Honda Center in Anaheim on February 15, 2017. The concert was a spectacle, featuring two stages and a giant hamster ball.[34]

Twenty One Pilots performed "Lane Boy" before an audience at sold-out concent at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 5, 2019.[13] "Lane Boy" was among the tracks the duo performed during a medley for a concert held at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa on their Bandito Tour. Joseph performed wearing a scarf over his head while smoke filled the stage as men with gas masks sprayed more down onto the crowd.[36]

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

Additional musicians

• Ricky Reed – bass guitar, programming

• "Lane Boy" Music video on YouTube
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics