Think about it (!!!?!!!?):
In the music video, Tyler performed on stage (so he thought) with Josh. But notice, Tyler became a different person when he stepped on stage. His old orange prison cloths literally RIPPED off his body as he took his first step onto the stage. He became a new person, he had a new image.
He could see that the bass was left for him. So he stepped up and he started to play. He started to express himself. You could see he felt free and totally comfortable. He felt alive. But then he started to attract the REST of the prisoners. He starts to attract all the “heathens”, all the criminal minds, all the imperfect ones, all the judged ones, all the broken ones.
He was shocked and shy at first, but then he realised these “heathens” we’re cheering him on. They were encouraging him, they were supporting him. So he eased up and closed his eyes and focused. Eventually (when the beat dropped lol) he let himself go again, now knowing that these “heathens”, whoever they were, were HIS people.
And then at the end of he video, it all seemed to be a big illusion, a dream. You see him sitting in the middle of an open prison room with guards pointing their guns directly at him, to make sure he doesn’t escape or move in any direction. When he stepped out of his dreamy state of mind (him singing on stage), he realised he was trapped. He was taken back to the reality of the situation. He was a beaten down, judged, broken, not listened to prisoner again.
He feels free and alive on stage. He feels like he can be his true self on stage and express all he has inside his mind and heart. But when that’s all over, he’s back to being a prisoner, he’s back to being helpless.
But we’re his “heathens”. We’re the ones cheering him on.
