Twenty One Pilots – Fall Away

Song MeaningIt's a really beautiful song about struggling with the terrible things in our nature and constant repentance. With my background knowledge of Tyler and the band, I see a heavy Christian theme but it's just my opinion.

To "fall away" seems to me like giving in to one's demons and losing light. He has to try to keep God in his life (keep the lights on) or else he might lose his way forever. The "pull" he feels that causes his skin to fall apart is the urge to do things that he knows are wrong.

The first verse is basically him waiting in line for judgment and recalling the way that he has lived. There is a desire to be adamant about his lifestyle, but it he knows that he is relatively powerless. The lines "But I'm lying, I'm so very far from fine" remind me of the song Be Concerned from Regional At Best. He lies to himself and God about how much he needs help.

The second verse starts to explore the effect of repentance. Instead of putting him at peace, he questions if he really deserves the grace he is shown. He tries to move past his past deeds (new name, newer place) but his guilt follows him.

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  @bleb
  +3

  I think you've got the general meaning. But I would only say that I don't think it's about performance - you mention "lifestyle" a lot and "doing things." I think it's more about relationship with God and closeness to him.
  
  Falling away means being far from God. It's not necessarily about what you "do" - it's about who you are.
  
  And his "aim" for a "new name" represents being born again, but he admits his "name is lame," meaning that he has to constantly struggle to maintain his "new" life in relationship with God.

  Flag Moonbeam86on August 18, 2014  

General CommentI think he is having suicidal thoughts, By which he means "I don't want to fall away" Or i don't want to die. He wants to change that but he has only so much time before he kills himself (I will take my precious time) He doesn't want anybody to help him, God, Or his choices. (I don't want you're way, i want mine) And how he lies about him being fine (But believe me I'm fine But I'm lying,I'm so very far from fine)


In the next paragraph, he talks about him cutting himself (And I can feel the pull begin I feel my conscience wearing thin And my skin It will start to break up and fall apart) Because of his thoughts. His conscience was demanding him to not kill himself, but it is wearing thin, and he can't control himself.


(Every time I feel selfish ambition Is taking my vision And my crime is my sentence Repentance is taking commission) A selfish ambition takes his normal thoughts, and repentance is starting. The depression gets worst if you don't get help.
(It's taking a toll On my soul I'm screaming submission and, I don't know if I am dying or living) I'm screaming for help, and i don't know if depression is taking over or i am just living
('Cause I will save face For name's sake Abuse grace Take aim to obtain a new name And a newer place) He wants to change by leaving,
(But my name is lame I can't walk and I ain't the same And my name became A new destiny to the grave) He realities that this new thing is lame and he isn't the same, and he should've asked for help before.

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  @Wondergrl33

General Comment"Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first" (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
Tyler doesn't want to fall away because falling away is falling away from God, the beginning of a loss of faith. The beginning of the end of time.
In my opinion the religious reference is clear.

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  @laneboy

My InterpretationHow I see the song is that Tyler (the lead singer) is forced into being someone he is not and the lie he is living is causing him to become upset with himself and his meaning.

From my knowledge Fall away is a reference to basketball when a shooter falls away from the basket when making a shot. I know that Tyler played basketball in highschool around the time he wrote the lyrics of some parts of this song. How I see it is that he was forced into playing so he could get a scholarship for college.

In the lines 'I will lie and I will take my precious time' is could be suggesting that Tyler has to lie to his basketball coach father about liking basketball and is wasting his precious time with something he doesn't feel is worth while or what he wants to do with his life. This also links with the line 'I'll try to delay what you make of my life' where is suggests he is dragging on getting the scholarship -which in guessing is his parents dream for him. Saying that it is what they want and not him. Again to add to this point the line 'I don't want your way, I want mine' saying he has other plans perhaps music and songwriting.

Next the chorus and second verse definitely suggest that the things I have previously mentioned have a massive toll on Tyler's mental health as he recycled lyrics from his song 'drown' while is about depression and suicidal thoughts. When Tyler refers to his love for the other ambition (most likely music) as a 'selfish ambition' it makes me think firstly that he shouldn't be doing it as it is for his self and doesn't think it will help his family or be accepted by them but also could be shamed upon by the church as musicians are often seen as sinful for being greedy and self-centred other such things.

When he writes he is 'screaming submission' it creates the idea he is violently against what his life is planning out to be and also doesn't know if he is 'dying or living' making me think he wants to be dead than live a life he doesn't want.

This is just my interpretation though as everyone has there own view on what twenty one pilots' songs mean. That is the beautiful thing about music- you can take out of it depending on what help you need at that time.

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  @Fall away

My InterpretationI think that this song is about more than one thing.
I mean, we know that Tyler is a talented writter and this is such and deep song.

I think that there is three cote theme on this song :
- religion
- relationships
- suicide

And it's quite logical that they are linked cause there is never just one problem in life.
I am not gonna do a proper breakdown of the lyrics but there is defenitly some different questioning in here.

Religion :
---obviously religion is quite important background to Tyler and the religion reference here is pretty obvious, talking about such things as "the lights on", the "wait in line" waiting on his "crimes" . It is defenitly omnipresent in the core theme and religion being related to death that closely( he talks about clearly mentioning his "grave") make sense.


-He is waiting for his judgement and seems scared of admitting that he needs help and think about death that way. Because I do believe (I am not religious so I assume only based on what I know) that death, if you are a good Christian, is being reunited with God and, so, a good thing. Plus suicide is defenitly frown upon in Christianism. (Please do correct me if I am wrong) I believe that in Christianism, one is not necessarily sent to hell for comiting suicide but it is defenitly some kind of offence to God ("abuse grace")to do such an act because, according to the bible, suicide is still murder ( Christians live their life for God and it's God's place to judge when their life is to come to an end). Which leads us to number 2


Suicide:
---He defenitly talks about waiting for death to come. He stuggling to understand the difference between "living" and "dying" because after all, no matter what life we are living we are all gonna die in the end and we all re closer to death with every breath we take. Which leads us to number 3:

Relationship:

---I use that as a very lousy term. I know that this song came up way before Bluryface but I believe that....Well you live with depression all of your life and that might have been when Tyler started putting words on Bluryface. This is the relation ship that he has with his other side, with his demons ("feel the pull begin"
" and I'll try to delay what you make of my life" this sounds defenitly like Depression and anxiety taking over. He is talking to a "you" which is deffo a personalisation of Blury.

"I can't walk and I ain't the same" sounds defenitly like he is falling away from HIMSELF towards Blury?

---I said relation ship in a large term cause in see some reference to what he is expected to be and what he is.
-There is defenitly the basketball reference in the title so maybe he refers to what he should have been/shouldn't have been in there. He was obviously destined to play music and maybe that songs echo the feeling he had in high school maybe when he was doing music and lost interest in basketball? (Haha sorry I don't know enough of the back story to assume too much about what happen then)
-There is the expectation from his religion, to be a "good" Christian, and he can't do that because he is obviously he has those suicidal thought and it is offence, but at the same time, being suicidal is not a choice and he might struggle with the clash between the concept that God made him the way he is (including suicidal) but the bible doesn't seem to accept suicide.
- There is probably relationships and expectations that are subtext here and happen to everyone like parents and friends expectation too. (" i dont want your way i want mine")
People dont necesarily understand the stuggling of mental health and other problem that might be going on in general, and that might push him not to reach for help neither (" I dsguise and I will lie"/" believe me I'm fine, but I'm lying, I'm so very far from fine").


Anyway, that went a bit deeper than I thought but I think it was kinda important to see the bigger picture and see all of the theme at once.

Please correct me if any mistake on religion has been done. And on the interpretation as well as english is not my first language.
Once again this is just my personal interpretation I can't even pretend to know what those lyrics are about and just assume.

Underthisrainon August 21, 2017   Link

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  @Underthisrain
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  @Underthisrain Mate I like your interpretation. You haven't made any major mistakes about Christianity at all, so well done :) We don't believe that you have to be a GOOD Christian to go to Heaven (we all make mistakes), but that a person has to at some point in their life repent to God of their sin, acknowledge his death on the cross, and ask him to forgive them. "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:13. Because everyone continues to sin, Christians included, we need to continue to repent to God whenever we sin. Abusing grace is when a person is like "oh well, since God will forgive me even though I sin, I can just do whatever I want." This is wilful defiance of God, and it is not ok. it also suggests that the person never truly accepted God.
  
  Suicide is certainly something God considers a sin. This is kind of a difficult topic, and I'm no theologian, but I'll do my best to explain :) It's a sin like any other sin really. I mean sin is despicable no matter what, there are no good sins if you know what I mean. The thing with suicide is that it is a decision you make once, and there is no turning back. But it isn't an unforgivable sin, and God in his mercy would surely forgive it. Now Christians often get depressed, but we have the incredible hope of eternity with God, so suicide is so unnecessary.
  You are entirely correct about how God is the only one to decide when life ends.
  You have done very well on a tricky topic, and you've helped me appreciate this song even more, so thanks mate :)
  I love your interpretation!
  Stay alive I-/
  

  Flag markl03on October 16, 2017  

  0

  @Underthisrain Mate I like your interpretation. You haven't made any major mistakes about Christianity at all, so well done :) We don't believe that you have to be a GOOD Christian to go to Heaven (we all make mistakes), but that a person has to at some point in their life repent to God of their sin, acknowledge his death on the cross, and ask him to forgive them. "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:13. Because everyone continues to sin, Christians included, we need to continue to repent to God whenever we sin. Abusing grace is when a person is like "oh well, since God will forgive me even though I sin, I can just do whatever I want." This is wilful defiance of God, and it is not ok. it also suggests that the person never truly accepted God.
  
  Suicide is certainly something God considers a sin. This is kind of a difficult topic, and I'm no theologian, but I'll do my best to explain :) It's a sin like any other sin really. I mean sin is despicable no matter what, there are no good sins if you know what I mean. The thing with suicide is that it is a decision you make once, and there is no turning back. But it isn't an unforgivable sin, and God in his mercy would surely forgive it. Now Christians often get depressed, but we have the incredible hope of eternity with God, so suicide is so unnecessary.
  You are entirely correct about how God is the only one to decide when life ends.
  You have done very well on a tricky topic, and you've helped me appreciate this song even more, so thanks mate :)
  I love your interpretation!
  Stay alive I-/
  

  Flag markl03on October 16, 2017  

  0

  @Underthisrain Mate I like your interpretation. You haven't made any major mistakes about Christianity at all, so well done :) We don't believe that you have to be a GOOD Christian to go to Heaven (we all make mistakes), but that a person has to at some point in their life repent to God of their sin, acknowledge his death on the cross, and ask him to forgive them. "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:13. Because everyone continues to sin, Christians included, we need to continue to repent to God whenever we sin. Abusing grace is when a person is like "oh well, since God will forgive me even though I sin, I can just do whatever I want." This is wilful defiance of God, and it is not ok. it also suggests that the person never truly accepted God.
  
  Suicide is certainly something God considers a sin. This is kind of a difficult topic, and I'm no theologian, but I'll do my best to explain :) It's a sin like any other sin really. I mean sin is despicable no matter what, there are no good sins if you know what I mean. The thing with suicide is that it is a decision you make once, and there is no turning back. But it isn't an unforgivable sin, and God in his mercy would surely forgive it. Now Christians often get depressed, but we have the incredible hope of eternity with God, so suicide is so unnecessary.
  You are entirely correct about how God is the only one to decide when life ends.
  You have done very well on a tricky topic, and you've helped me appreciate this song even more, so thanks mate :)
  I love your interpretation!
  Stay alive I-/
  

  Flag markl03on October 16, 2017  

QuestionDoes anybody know, why Tyler pronounces fall as "farl"? Is it some kind of reference to something or is it North State accent or...?

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  @TOPlover