Leave the City

Album: Trench (2018)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun are both graduates of Christian schools, and even though Twenty One Pilots aren't a Christian band, both members are believers. However this solemn and poignant piano ballad finds Joseph admitting to a crisis of faith.

    Last year I needed change of pace
    Couldn't take the pace of change
    Moving hastily
    But this year, though I'm far from home
    In Trench I'm not alone
    These faces facin' me


    Joseph began to question his beliefs during the grueling tour cycle for Blurryface. He explained to Alternative Press: "[The song is] definitely about losing faith, which I've been working through on this record. It's something that may have moved the needle for me during the last record and touring cycle. Trench, is like, saying I found the sense that I was there. But [actually saying], 'Guys, I know where it is, follow me,' and you're going to come to our show and I'll tell you about it? I don't have that yet.

    But at the very end of [the song], it says, 'These faces facing me, they know what I mean.' That's me onstage, looking at them, maybe - at least for the record - that was the place I was trying to get to all along."
  • "Leave the City" is the closing track of Trench. The album describes a world in which Tyler is trapped in a walled city called Dema. This song describes the point when he decides he will one day leave Dema, but is content with staying alive for now.

    "I really thought it was a great way to close the record," he said. "Once I started creating [the song], I knew that I [wasn't] going to name the place I'm going: I'm talking about the world I'm from; I'm talking about the world I'm traveling through, but I never really reach the place I'm trying to get to. It's not because I'm holding on to some secret: You're looking at someone who is still trying to figure out where that place is."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

Ian Gillan of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!

Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes

Chris Robinson of The Black CrowesSongwriter Interviews

"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.

Taylor Dayne

Taylor DayneSongwriter Interviews

Taylor talks about "The Machine" - the hits, the videos and Clive Davis.

N.W.A vs. the World

N.W.A vs. the WorldSong Writing

How the American gangsta rappers made history by getting banned in the UK.

Have Mercy! It's Wolfman Jack

Have Mercy! It's Wolfman JackSong Writing

The story of the legendary lupine DJ through the songs he inspired.

Charles Fox

Charles FoxSongwriter Interviews

After studying in Paris with a famous composition teacher, Charles became the most successful writer of TV theme songs.