"Stressed Out" is a song written and recorded by American musical duo Twenty One Pilots. Produced by Mike Elizondo and recorded at studios in Los Angeles and London, it was released as a promotional single from their fourth studio album, Blurryface (2015), on April 28, 2015, through Fueled by Ramen. The song later impacted US contemporary hit radio as the album's fourth official single on November 10. Elizondo initially took issue with the nature of the song's lyrical content, but relaxed after lead vocalist and songwriter Tyler Joseph explained the larger album concept.
"Stressed Out" is a midtempo alternative hip hop, alternative rock and rap rock song with elements of psychedelic music. The track is built from synths and a Caribbean-style keyboard line alongside rapping vocals by Joseph. Lyrically, it addresses the end of adolescence, touching on insecurities and millennial angst while also discussing life challenges. Throughout the song, Joseph personifies the album's titular character, Blurryface, whose self-deprecating lyrics express self-doubt and anxiety, stressing over personal issues ranging from his music to the idea of becoming an adult.
An accompanying music video was directed by Mark Eshleman and primarily filmed at drummer Josh Dun's home in Columbus, Ohio. It features a mixture of surreal visuals and existential scenes while portraying the duo riding tricycles for a playdate and attempting to relive their childhood. In the video, black paint can be seen on the neck and hands of Joseph, referencing the character Blurryface.
Upon its release, "Stressed Out" received favorable reviews from contemporary music critics. The song was a sleeper hit, peaking at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, giving the duo their first top ten hit in the US. The song topped the US Billboard Hot Rock Songs for a record 23 weeks. It also peaked at number one on the Billboard Adult Top 40, Rock Airplay, and Mainstream Top 40. It also led Twenty One Pilots to become the first rock act to have a song reach a billion streams on Spotify. "Stressed Out" was certified 13× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over thirteen million copies. The song reached the top five on charts in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, and Switzerland. At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, "Stressed Out" was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, winning the latter.
Background and production "Stressed Out" is a focal point for the thematic elements of the duo's second major-label studio album, Blurryface (2015), acting as an introduction to the "Blurryface". It was written by Tyler Joseph from the perspective of the character Blurryface rather than an impersonal third-person narrator. Blurryface appears as the alter-ego of Joseph, "a monster-image of his insecurities and self-hatreds", and on "Stressed Out" Joseph attempts to defeat it. In an interview with MTV News, Joseph elaborated on the Blurryface, saying "it's a guy that kind of represents all the things that I as an individual — but also everyone around me — am insecure about. When I think about insecurities and my insecurities are getting the best of me, the things that I think of are kind of a feeling of suffocation and then also the things that I create with my hands... Very dramatic, I know, but it helps me get into that character".
"Stressed Out" was produced by Mike Elizondo and recorded at Can Am in Los Angeles, California and at Livingston Studios in London, England. The track was then mixed at the Casita in Hollywood, California. During its recording, Elizondo had but one grievance in regards to the song. Speaking with front-man and principal songwriter Tyler Joseph, he opined that to the average listener, its lyrical content would come off as esoteric. Elizondo recalled: "So I had a good conversation with him trying to say, 'Hey, maybe you should change that; it's a great melody, it's a big hook of the song, but I just don't know what it means." He soon relaxed on the issue after Joseph provided an explanation of the larger album concept.
Composition "Stressed Out" is a mid-tempo alternative hip hop, alternative rock and rap rock song that runs for a duration of three minutes and twenty-two seconds. The musical composition has a throwback to rock music and psychedelic pop while maintaining clear pop sensibilities. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Music, it is written in the time signature of common time, with a moderate tempo of 85 beats per minute. "Stressed Out" is composed in the key of A minor, while Tyler Joseph's vocal range spans one octave and four notes, from a low of E3 to a high of A4. The song has a basic sequence of F–Dm–Am in the verses, pre-chorus and outro, changes to Am–G–C–E at the refrain and follows Am–G–C5–E during the bridge as its chord progression.
Opening with its drumbeat, the linear musical arrangement is structured around the phrase "my name's Blurryface and I care what you think." The track is built from wobbly synths, a Caribbean style keyboard line and rapped vocals by Tyler Joseph. The song is punctuated by brief bursts of string section and synths as well as eerie, theremin-like sounds that underscore his vocals. During its verses, Joseph recites deceptively simple lyrics atop the track's earworm beat. Joseph's rapping has him delivering confessional lines in a conversational tone. Following its refrain, the eerie melody precedes the second verse. The musical composition has downbeat atmosphere, with lyrical content focusing on personal themes.
Lyrics Lyrically, "Stressed Out" follows a one-line rhyme scheme pattern and tells a story about the harsh end of adolescence, touching on Tyler Joseph's aging anxiety and his experience with making music. Tyler Joseph was in his mid-20s at the time of the single's release, performing a nostalgic "ode to the innocence of childhood" with lyrics speaking on the adolescent insecurity, transition from adolescence to adulthood, and millennial angst. He is speaking as a member of millennial generation "drowning in college loan debt" and sharing their anxieties while feigning apathy and yearning peer acceptance all over social media.
Throughout the track, Joseph personifies the parent album's titular character, "Blurryface", singing in the song's pre-chorus, "my name's Blurryface and I care what you think". He is a character within a story who represents Joseph's self-doubt and insecurities. Blurryfaces insecurities lie in the idea of growing up and becoming an adult and the desire to return to "the good old days" and the tree houses of their carefree youth. His voice pines for a time prior to stress of reality, such as student loans and the pressure to get a job and find success. During the chorus, Joseph chants, "wish we could turn back time / to the good old days / when our mama sang us to sleep / but now we're stressed out." The song closes with an outro where external voices suggest the need to wake up because they need to make money.
For a time, record producer Mike Elizondo was worried Joseph's specificity would limit the single's reception among the larger populace. In retrospect, Elizondo said: "We can all kind of relate to wanting to have more of those simpler days. I think he nailed it; though the lyrical content is very specific to him, the listener is able to impose their own story onto it. That type of feeling will never go away."
Release and commercial performance "Stressed Out" was first released as a promotional single through Fueled by Ramen on April 28, 2015, on the Google Play Store and Amazon. It was later added as the second track on Twenty One Pilots' fourth studio album Blurryface on May 17, 2015. The song was issued to contemporary hit radio stations as the album's fourth official single on November 10, 2015. "Stressed Out" became the first rock song to surpass a billion streams on Spotify.
"Stressed Out" debuted at number 87 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on the chart dated May 16, 2015. The song later rose from number 45 to number 28 on the chart dated December 17, 2015, giving Twenty One Pilots their first top 40 hit in the United States. Although it was released in 2015, "Stressed Out" did not truly take off and gradually find widespread breakthrough success until the following year. On the chart dated January 16, 2016, "Stressed Out" rose from number 13 to number nine, giving the group their first top-10 hit in the US. A month later, the song rose from number four and reached its peak of number two, being blocked from reaching number one by Canadian singer Justin Bieber's 2015 single "Love Yourself". At the time, Twenty One Pilots earned three top-10 hits: "Stressed Out", "Ride", and "Heathens", joining American electronic DJ and production duo The Chainsmokers as the only ones to have three or more top-10 hits on the Hot 100 in 2016. It ranked number five on the 2016 Hot 100 year-end list.
"Stressed Out" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart, giving Twenty One Pilots their first number one hit on the chart. The song spent a record 23 weeks at number one on the Hot Rock Songs. It also peaked at number one on the Billboard airplay charts: Adult Top 40, Rock Airplay, Mainstream Top 40, and Alternative Airplay. In September 2023, for the 35th anniversary of the latter chart, Billboard ranked "Stressed Out" at number 85 on its list of the 100 most successful songs in the chart's history. On April 30, 2021, the single was certified 13× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting track-equivalent sales of 10,000,000 units in the US based on sales and streams. In March 2021, years after "Stressed Out" was released, it peaked at number 182 on the Billboard Global 200. The song peaked at number one in record charts of Russia and Mexico. It peaked within the top five in Australia, Austria, the Belgium Flanders chart, Canada, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Slovakia, and Switzerland. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), "Stressed Out" was the tenth best-performing single of 2016, with 9.9 million units combined sales and track-equivalent streams worldwide.
Critical reception Forbes called "Stressed Out" as an anthem for a millennial generation of a young man who has been discovering in mid 2010s that life as an adult is plagued with issues. Philip Cosores and the staff of Consequence mentioned the song "resonates with listeners, as the two sing about 'the good 'ol days' before the stress of reality set in". Writing for The Salt Lake Tribune, Sean P. Means felt that the song is "nostalgia-tinged". Andja Curcic of Renowned for Sound commented that it "places an importance on lyrics that look at the transition from adolescence to adulthood". In her review for The New York Times, Caryn Ganz considered the song an "anxiety anthem" and mentioned it is known for its "sing-songy chorus".