Twenty One Pilots: Trapdoor Meaning

Trapdoor Lyrics

He wakes up early today
Throws on a mask that will alter his face
Nobody knows his real name
But now he just uses one he saw on a grave

He pretends that he's OK,
But you should see
Him in bed late at night,
He's petrified

Take me out...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   Hojeba

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   Nov 21st 2017 !⃝

   "He wakes up early today, throws on a mask that will alter his face."
   
   (I believe that this one means he will smile, and try to look as happy as possible, when he's not really happy.)
   
   "Nobody knows his real name."
   
   (Nobody knows who he really is, because of this altered image he puts out.)
   
   "But now he just uses one he saw on a grave."
   
   (This is talking about the image he lets others see. He acting as a completely different person, to hide who he really is, what's really going on.)
   
   "He pretends he's okay, but you should see."
   
   (He pretends he's okay, not depressed, but, in reality, he's torn up inside.)
   
   "Oh, him in bed late at night, he's petrified."
   
   (When he's all alone, he let's himself feel sad and depressed, because there's no one to see it happen.)
   
   "Take me out, finish this waste of a life."
   
   (He feels like he should just die, because he sees himself as worthless.)
   
   "Everyone gather around for a show, watch as this man disappears as we know."
   
   (Watch this boy slowly die, getting deep into depression.)
   
   "Do me a favor and try to ignore."
   
   (He's saying, ignore this boy's suffering, ignore the signs, and let it happen.)
   
   "As you watch him fall through a bleeding trapdoor."
   
   (I think this trapdoor symbolizes depression, and the bleeding part is all the people who are suffering or have suffered. The bleeding part could also mean cutting.)
   
   "He thinks that faith might be dead."
   
   (Faith means hope, and he could think it's dead, because everything seems worthless.)
   
   "Nothing kills a man faster than his own head."
   
   (If you don't believe in something, it will probably never happen. In this case, if you don't believe in your life or worth, you would most likely kill yourself in the process, because you don't believe it's worth it.)
   
   "He used to see dreams at night."
   
   (He used to have hopes and dreams, but they were crushed.)
   
   "But now he's just watching the backs of his eyes."
   
   (His goals are all gone now, so he's just living in a constant state of nothing.)
   
   *Skip over what we already know*
   
   "'Cause nobody knows his life."
   
   (Nobody knows what he's going through, nobody knows he's constantly having fights with depression.)
   
   
   
   --Thanks for reading that. I tried. These are all my beliefs.--

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Dec 8th 2016 !⃝

   This song is about how loneliness and depression can eat away at someone’s sanity, Nobody knows his real personality, all they get is one he made up. This is also a possible reference to how dead he feels inside. He's afraid of dying but wants to kill himself. "me" here is a gun or a method of suicide, I believe. The singer is taking the position of the suicidal thoughts or depression observing the sufferer. Also personally I know People who are depressed often melt away from their friends, leaving them wondering where the person they used to know has gone. The singer is telling the sufferer's friends that they should ignore his problems, which is probably a reference to the oft-repeated mantra "I'm fine." Still, the friends can see he's in trouble but they don't want to put unwanted pressure to get help on him.
3. anonymous

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   Nov 15th 2021 !⃝

   I agree with what everyone else aid, but I’d love to emphasize the “Nobody knows his real name, but now he just uses on he saw on a grave.” Because I don’t think it’s getting enough recognition. To me it seems he is so deep in this pit of anguish, despair, depression, etc. He has put on a show so well that he has truly died inside-like at this point he’s better off dead so he takes the name of someone who is. Like he hides his real self so well he’s faded into nothing, until he is alone and becomes Tyler once more. But otherwise I agree with everyone.
4. anonymous

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   Mar 17th 2020 !⃝

   I think it's about a person who's depressed but he keeps it secret then kills himself..
   
5. anonymous

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   Aug 20th 2018 !⃝

   Firstly imagine this song as a literal show. Tyler is on stage, dark and glooming with blackened eyes and black cloths, he's a performer. Now imagine the audience is colourful, with smiles and no black or dark colours anywhere, they're happy.
   You need to do this as it plays well with what I see the song as and believe it to be. So the song is about Tyler now, he's successful and people watch and take him seriously , he is who he is, but the man who he brings on stage is him but from the past. There are a lot of lyrics to abck this up.
   Altering his face is what I perceive as him trying to look like what everybody wants, he's trying to get noticed so I'm order to do so he does what he needs to, whether it's really to him or not.
   And the unhappiness i believe comes from the fact he may be making music that everyone wants. Or in this idea, he's doing shows that people want to see not what he want to do.
   Him falling through a blatant trapdoor is the fact people can see he's in pain, maybe he's showing is, but they ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist.
   Him not seeing dreams anymore is what I suspect is him losing the dreams of what he once thought he would be and what he would do but instead had ended up at this fake performer. That also relates to his faith being dead.
   The fact the show is consisted of the new and old Tyler also goes to the lyrics, "take me out" instead of "take him out" he's relating to a past him.
   Obviously if finishes with him falling through the trapdoor of his metaphorical mind or physical stage.
   The "nobody knows he's alive" means the fact that nobody literally knows who he is. He not famous yet, and that means people literally don't know he who he is so its just stating a fact. And it's spoke with sadness as the new Tyler knows whats coming but unable to tell him so old Tyler suffers.

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