okay guys, here me out here. ever since the announcement of the banditø tour i’ve been thinking about this one theory about what the whole vialism and dema thing could really mean.
one day in latvian class, i was wondering what “vialism could mean”. when i asked my teacher she told me that “vial” meant “cup” or “vessel” and “ism” roughly translated to “drink of lightness” or “liquid with bubbles”. i believe this ties in directly to tyler’s solo album “no phun intended”, but i’ll get to that later.
if we listen to the lyrics of the four singles out now we mostly here tyler contemplating about the fear of being left alone or vulnerable in a new place as he tries to reach another safer place. we then here him asking for help or offering his own assistance in return for companionship (my blood). in jumpsuit we hear tyler ask his jumpsuit to “cover (him)” and in natn we here him trying to flee “im flying from a fire”.
now here comes the connection to npi. in a collaboration with his brother, jay joseph, tyler created possibly one of his greatest works, “taco bell saga”. in the song, tyler openly sings about his experience at the famous fast food chain and the struggles he had to over come while dining.
three lines from the song that will always stick with me are “i like your nachos like diarrhea”, “we got the stuff that'll your booty go *intense fart noise*” and, my personal favourite “now I have to poop”. what do all of these have in common? they all openly discuss the effect of eating poorly prepared food - diarrhoea.
now back to “vialism”, i believe "cup of liquid with bubbles” is directly refering to the cup of pepsi tyler or jay tries to order at the taco bell, “yeah can I have a big mac and a pepsi?”. this was the first stepping stone i found in directly tying the dema universe to “taco bell saga”.
this is where it becomes complicated as more and more references and allusions can be found within the new album’s lyrical content, instrumentals (e.g. the fart sounding bass line in “my blood”) and the original concepts presented by the dema.org website.
i believe dema represents taco bell and trench represents the toilet both tyler and jay (the banditøs) must travel to in order to not poo their pants. the bishops represent the restaurant’s employees and the vultures represent the other diners.
(side note: i’ve always been confused as to why they chose “banditøs” for their tour name as it sounds very spanish, but what else is spanish? taco bell!!! kinda almost, hope that doesn’t come off as racist.)
some examples of references i have found so far include:
- “pressures of a new place roll my way“ - tyler is expressing his concern of arriving at the restroom but there not being a roll of toilet paper to clean his crack
- “just keep it outside, just keep it outside“ - as we know, “my blood” is most likely about one of tyler’s family members (jay!!!), this line shows how tyler is encouraging jay to fart outside rather than inside of the restaurant or car causing him to suffocate or “choke on smoke”
- a secret line i found in natn was “assholes“ (found at 2:54), many initially brushed over this line and excused it as a hidden message when played backwards, however this was clearly a distraction - it’s obvious what this quote alludes to as we all know where diarrhoea comes from
- the constant references to “fire” in natn - tyler is talking about a burning in his guts commonly felt before having the runs
- “i'm lighter when I'm lower, i'm higher when I'm heavy, oh” - when tyler refers to being “lower” he means he is able to sit on a toilet and get rid of his number two but when he is standing (”higher”) his guts are heavier as he is not able to relieve himself. also “oh” is probable him moaning in discomfort
- “danger in the fabric of this thing i made” - could be referencing tyler’s poor choice of clothes (e.g. white pants) which could easily reveal his sensitive bowel to the rest of the taco bell before he is able to escape to the toilet
so far i have found so many connections between “taco bell saga” and the trench universe that i am not able to believe these are coincidences. i believe tyler has been planning this album since the release of npi. i have no doubt that trench will be one of their most thoughtful and deepest albums yet and i can’t wait to hear more.
let me know if you want to here more of my theories though i may only be able to write them on a friday night at 12:36 after crying for a little bit
janainaart
snowghoul
blakekathryn
baratheonpilled
kaledo-art
vaporwave
kianamaiart
jbbartram-illu
turnnoffyourmind
