"Stressed Out" is a song written and recorded by American alternative hip hop band Twenty One Pilots for their fourth studio album, Blurryface (2015).
The song focuses on nostalgia for childhood, the pressure of adulthood, and family relationships, and speaks from the point of view of "Blurryface", the album's title character.

I wish I found some better sounds no one's ever heard
I wish I had a better voice that sang some better words
I wish I found some chords in an order that is new
I wish I didn't have to rhyme every time I sang

I was told when I get older all my fears would shrink
But now I'm insecure and I care what people think

My name's 'Blurryface' and I care what you think
My name's 'Blurryface' and I care what you think

Wish we could turn back time, to the good ol' days
When our momma sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out
Wish we could turn back time, to the good ol' days
When our momma sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out

We're stressed out.

Sometimes a certain smell will take me back to when I was young
How come I'm never able to identify where it's coming from?
I'd make a candle out of it if, I ever found it
Try to sell it, never sell out of it. I'd probably only sell one
It'd be to my brother, 'cause we have the same nose
Same clothes homegrown a stone's throw from a creek we used to roam
But it would remind us of when nothing really mattered
Out of student loans and treehouse homes we all would take the latter

My name's 'Blurryface' and I care what you think
My name's 'Blurryface' and I care what you think

Wish we could turn back time, to the good ol' days
When our momma sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out
Wish we could turn back time, to the good ol' days
When our momma sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out

We used to play pretend, give each other different names
We would build a rocket ship and then we'd fly it far away
Used to dream of outer space but now they're laughing at our face
Saying, "Wake up, you need to make money"
Yo

We used to play pretend, give each other different names
We would build a rocket ship and then we'd fly it far away
Used to dream of outer space but now they're laughing at our face
Saying, "Wake up, you need to make money"
Yo.

Wish we could turn back time, to the good ol' days
When our momma sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out
Wish we could turn back time, to the good ol' days
When our momma sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out

Used to play pretend, used to play pretend, bunny
We used to play pretend, wake up, you need the money
Used to play pretend, used to play pretend, bunny
We used to play pretend, wake up, you need the money
We used to play pretend, give each other different names
We would build a rocket ship and then we'd fly it far away
Used to dream of outer space but now they're laughing at our face
Saying, "Wake up, you need to make money"
Yo

I WISH= always followed by a past tense:
- I wish I had a pet elephant
- I wish you were here
This is actually an "unreal past" tense (or subjunctive), so for the verb "to be" we have to use "were" for all persons:
- I wish I were rich
But in modern English (esp. AmE.) it is now common to use it as a normal past tense and say:
- I wish I was rich

CHORDS= /kɔ:*d/ Harmony. A musical combination of different notes.

SANG= We were now expecting a word rhyming with NEW, but there is no rhyme, so he made his wish come true: I wish I didn't have to rhyme every time I sang.

I WAS TOLD= They told me (especial passive used when the agent or doer of the action is "some people", unidentified)

SHRINK= Become smaller.

BLURRYFACE= The album is named after a character the band created called Blurryface. According to Joseph, he "represents all the things that I as an individual, but also everyone around, are insecure about." Joseph wears black paint on his hands and neck during his live shows and music videos for the album, to represent Blurryface, saying: "Very dramatic, I know, but it helps me get into that character."

WISH = (I) wish.

TURN BACK TIME= Go back to the past.

OL'= (informal) Old.

MOMMA= AmE spelling /mɑmɑ/ mum, mother.

SANG US TO SLPEEP= If your mum sings you to sleep, she sings a song for you to help you sleep (for example, a lullaby to babies)

STRESSED OUT= (informal) stressed, anxious, tense.

HOW COME?= (informal) Why?

I'M NEVER ABLE TO= I can never.

I'D MAKE A CANDLE OUT OF IT= I'd make a candle with that stuff (made using the smell as material)

SELL OUT= Sell it cheap (because I want to sell all of it).

'CAUSE= (informal) Because.

HOMEGROWN= characteristic of a place; local; originated at home.

CREEK= A small stream (a little river)

ROAM= To move around a place with no destiny or purpose.

STUDENT LOANS= Money the bank lends you to pay for your studies and then, when you get a job, you must pay back.

TREEHOUSE= A wooden house on top of a tree (usually built for playing around)

USED TO= If you used to do something, you did that often in the past as a habit, but not now anymore (a past habit which doesn't exist in the present)

TO PLAY PRETEND= A game in which you pretend to be someone different (for example you pretend to be superman).

WOULD= Used to (see above)

A ROCKET SHIP= A spaceship which is a rocket (see picture)

OUTER SPACE= Space outside our planet's atmosphere.

BUNNY= (noun) silly.

It's all about nostalgia. The lyrics talk about the harsh end of adolescence and the transition to adulthood and how the miss the good and simple things of the past, when life was much easier. Also about the disappointment to find adulthood is not as brilliant as they had been told and expected it would be.