“City Walls Lyrics” by twenty one pilots

City Walls is the opening track on twenty one pilots’ eighth studio album Breach (released Sept 12, 2025). As an album opener it immediately positions the listener inside a tense moment — equal parts tactical mobilization and intimate plea — and many listeners read it as a pivotal scene in the band’s long-running Dema/Clancy storyline (themes of control, escape, and self-liberation). The song combines boxing/war imagery with confessional lines, setting up the emotional arc that follows. 🧱🥊🌑

Lyrics 📜

Square up with me, I can take your right, throw a left
Pair up with me, I’ma take you right to the chest
Warpath etched in the surface
Lines of the yellow tape, they’re movin’ quiet like a
Serpentine in a formation
Buddy, that’s my team, pretty impatient
Now they’re waitin’ on me
It might be the furthest we’ve reached
Now move it up, move it up, it’s a breach

I wonder where you are
I wanted you to show me
The way around the city walls
The way on through
I wonder where you are
I wanted you to show me
But now the night has fallen
Abandoned by the Sun

Square up with me, I can come to you, tell me when
Pair up with me, I can run on you, in the end
I write a promise in pencil, but my loyalty’s in pen
Use a mistake as a crooked stencil, then we trace it back again
From the mainland to the island of violence
It was the same plan for a while, decided
To send me up and rip you out of your seat
You see, in a city with no entrance, there is not a retreat
I’m wonderin’ what you thought would happen, who you thought I would be
Was this a sideswipe or did you picture this in a dream?
Buckle down, this is possibly the furthest we’ve reached
Now move it up, move it up, it’s a breach

I wonder where you are
I wanted you to show me
The way around the city walls
The way on through
I wonder where you are
I wanted you to show me
But now the night has fallen
Abandoned by the Sun

Abandoned by the Sun

My smile wraps around my head, splitting it in
Two, two, two, two
I don’t have a clue how I can keep the top half
Glued, glued, glued, glued
My smile wraps around my head, splitting it in
Two, two, two, two
I don’t have a clue how I can keep the top half
Glued, glued, glued, glued

I wonder where you are
I wanted you to show me

Entertain my
Entertain my
Entertain my
Entertain my
Entertain my
Entertain my
Entertain my

Entertain my faith
This is the last time, this is the last time
Entertain my faith
This is the last time that I try
Address my soul, address my soul, address my soul
Entertain my faith
This is the last time that I try

Lyrics — important lines / key verses (block quotes) 📜

“Square up with me, I can take your right, throw a left / Pair up with me, I’ma take you right to the chest.” 🥊

“I wonder where you are / I wanted you to show me / The way around the city walls / The way on through.” 🧭🧱

“But now the night has fallen / Abandoned by the Sun.” 🌑☀️

“My smile wraps around my head, splitting it in / Two, two, two, two … I don’t have a clue how I can keep the top half / Glued, glued, glued, glued.” 🙂💔

“Entertain my faith / This is the last time that I try.” 🙏🛑

(Full lyrics you provided are embedded below in the annotated sheet and breakdown sections.)

Step-by-Step Breakdown — line-by-line analysis 🔎

(I keep each original line/phrase, then a direct, concise interpretation.)

Verse 1

1. Square up with me, I can take your right, throw a left — A direct challenge; boxing imagery signals confrontation and readiness to fight. 🥊

2. Pair up with me, I’ma take you right to the chest — Asking for partnership in that confrontation; aiming for the vulnerable center (the chest = heart). 🤝💥

3. Warpath etched in the surface — Conflict is engraved into the environment or relationship; the battle feels preordained. ⚔️

4. Lines of the yellow tape, they’re movin’ quiet like a — Yellow tape evokes danger scenes or cordoned-off areas, hinting at forbidden or hazardous territory. 🚧

5. Serpentine in a formation — Continues the previous line: a snake-like, winding formation — stealthy, coordinated movement (team tactic). 🐍

6. Buddy, that’s my team, pretty impatient — Camaraderie and impatience; the team wants action now. 👥⏳

7. Now they’re waitin’ on me — Pressure on the speaker as the one expected to lead or deliver. 🎯

8. It might be the furthest we’ve reached — Acknowledgement of limits and that this is a peak moment of risk/progress. 📈

9. Now move it up, move it up, it’s a breach — Command to escalate; the plan culminates in breaking through a barrier (literal/figurative). 🚪💥

Chorus
10. I wonder where you are — A sudden, intimate shift: searching for a person who’s absent; vulnerability. 🤔
11. I wanted you to show me — The speaker sought guidance or a path from someone trusted. 🧭
12. The way around the city walls / The way on through — “City walls” work as metaphors for defenses, trauma, institutions, or emotional barriers that block passage. 🧱➡️
13. I wonder where you are / I wanted you to show me — Repetition emphasizes longing and unresolved dependence. 🔁
14. But now the night has fallen / Abandoned by the Sun — Loss of hope, warmth, or guidance; the speaker now feels left in darkness. 🌑☀️

Verse 2
15. Square up with me, I can come to you, tell me when — Reassertion of willingness to engage; timing is requested — still ready to act on cue. 🥊🕒
16. Pair up with me, I can run on you, in the end — Continued promise of loyalty and action (I’ll rely on you ultimately). 🏃‍♂️🤝
17. I write a promise in pencil, but my loyalty’s in pen — Contrast between mutable promises (pencil = erasable) and deep loyalty (pen = permanent). ✏️🖊️
18. Use a mistake as a crooked stencil, then we trace it back again — Mistakes become imperfect templates; there’s a cycle of erring and re-tracing choices or attempts to fix things. 🔄
19. From the mainland to the island of violence — Move from familiar ground to isolated, hostile territory — escalation of danger. 🌍⚠️
20. It was the same plan for a while, decided — A plan that’s persisted; the speaker or group has been following it for some time. 📜
21. To send me up and rip you out of your seat — The speaker will act to uproot or shock someone (force them into awareness or action). ⚡
22. You see, in a city with no entrance, there is not a retreat — If the system has no real entrance, once you’re inside you can’t back out; entrapment/claustrophobia. 🚪🚫
23. I’m wonderin’ what you thought would happen, who you thought I would be — Questioning expectations — identity and misperception. 🪞
24. Was this a sideswipe or did you picture this in a dream? — Was this accidental or anticipated? Are actions imagined or real? 💭❓
25. Buckle down, this is possibly the furthest we’ve reached — Brace for impact; recognition of reaching a critical limit. ⚠️
26. Now move it up, move it up, it’s a breach — The repeated refrain of escalation and breakthrough returns. 🚪💥

Chorus repeat
27–33. I wonder where you are… Abandoned by the Sun — Reiterates searching + abandonment; emotional stakes deepen. 🌑

Bridge / Break
34. My smile wraps around my head, splitting it in / Two, two, two, two — A visceral image: the smile (performative happiness) causing a split in identity; fragmentation. 🙂💔
35. I don’t have a clue how I can keep the top half / Glued, glued, glued, glued — Panic about maintaining composure; repetition (“glued”) suggests frantic effort. 🧩🩹
36–37. My smile wraps around my head… I don’t have a clue… — Repeats to underline the fracture and the inability to hold it together. 🔁

Outro / Final Plea
38. I wonder where you are / I wanted you to show me — The plea returns, now more exhausted. 😔
39–45. Entertain my (x7) — Repeated single-phrase demands; a chorus of pleading to be noticed or validated. 🙏🔁
46. Entertain my faith / This is the last time, this is the last time — Explicit exhaustion and ultimatum: this is the speaker’s final attempt. 🛑
47. Entertain my faith / This is the last time that I try — Re-emphasis of finality. 💔
48. Address my soul, address my soul, address my soul — A deepest-level call for recognition, healing, or response. 💀✨
49. Entertain my faith / This is the last time that I try — Final closure: plea + resignation.

Side-by-Side Annotated Lyric Sheet (lyrics + meaning with emojis) 📝➡️💭

Full left column shows the original lyric line (shortened where necessary for table fit). Right column gives the interpretation.

(This two-column sheet is arranged to keep each lyric line paired with a clear, emoji-aided interpretation.)

Song Details 📊

Theme 🌍

• Breach & Resistance — actively breaking barriers; fighting back. 🧱💥

• Longing for Guidance — seeking someone to show the way through walls. 🧭🤝

• Fragmented Identity — performed smiles vs internal fracture. 🙂💔

• Exhaustion & Final Plea — repeated attempts end in a last, weary appeal. 🙏🛑

Meaning — overall interpretation ✨

City Walls operates on two levels: surface tactical imagery (warpath, breaches, team formation) and deeper emotional plea (searching for guidance, fractured identity, exhaustion). The speaker alternates between a militant posture — ready to lead or attack — and vulnerable begging for someone to “show me the way around the city walls.” The repeated image of being abandoned by the sun and the bridge’s splitting smile compresses those opposites into a single truth: outward defiance can mask severe internal cracking, and repeated attempts to connect may culminate in a final, exhausted plea. In the band’s lore (Dema/Clancy), the song reads as both a literal assault on oppressive structures and an intimate portrayal of mental/emotional struggle. 🥊🧭🙂💔🙏

FAQs ❓

Q: What are the “city walls”?
A: Metaphorically: defenses that block connection — emotional walls, trauma, or institutional control (in twenty one pilots’ lore, Dema’s barriers). 🧱

Q: Why boxing/war imagery?
A: To externalize internal struggle—framing emotional breach as a tactical operation helps the speaker feel agency and purpose. 🥊⚔️

Q: What does “abandoned by the Sun” mean?
A: Loss of hope, warmth, or guidance — feeling left alone in darkness. 🌑

Q: Why the fractured smile?
A: Shows the harm of a forced façade — smiling outwardly while the self splits inside. 🙂💔

Q: Is the ending hopeless?
A: It’s ambivalent. The speaker is exhausted and issues a last plea, which can read as either resignation or a final, honest attempt at being heard. 🙏🛑

Conclusion 🎯🎵

City Walls is a compact, emotionally-loaded opener that pairs militant, breach-focused imagery with intimate cries for help. The song traces a trajectory: prepare → push → search → fracture → plead. Tyler Joseph’s lyrics trade bravado for vulnerability, and the repeated “enter my faith / this is the last time I try” lands as a heartbreaking final attempt to be seen and guided. This track works both as a narrative device in the band’s broader lore and as a standalone portrait of the weariness that comes from fighting while feeling abandoned. 🧱🥊🌑🙂🙏