Okay, so this is gonna be kind of a wild ride. (Well, not really, but hang with me.) Okay, so in 2011, the original Ode to Sleep was released. It was pretty similar to the one in 2014. I noticed while listening to Tøp today that Ode to Sleep has lyrics that match up with Goner. I noticed other things while listening to both Blurryface and Vessel. So here's where the theory starts. At the time of the release of Vessel, Tyler had, in a sense, accepted the fact that he was 'gone' and/or 'dead.' He alludes to this in most of the songs on Vessel, save for a select few. For example, in Migraine he used lyrics like "The Shadows will scream I'm alone." (In a sense, gone.) In the same song he also uses lyrics like "sundays are my suicide days...sometimes death seems better..." This is just one example. In the song Guns for Hands he says "I must forewarn of my disorder, or my condition..." Again showing us that he is gone, or close. In Holding Onto You he demonstrates the fact that he is dead or gone using the lyrics "Like flesh is all I got, not anymore flesh out the door swat!" I could type all night showing you more examples, from the album, but the thing I found most intriguing was the lyric from Ode to Sleep where he says "I swear I heard demons yelling, those crazy words they were spelling. They told me I was gone, they told me I was gone." While he's fighting in the album, he's still accepted a state of nonexistence: Of being GONE. Now, flash forward to Blurryface. Instead of acceptance, Tyler has started to fight again. He doesn't want to be gone. He feels like he has this new persona that has pushed him out. Now the connection to Ode To Sleep comes where he says in the song "Don't let me be gone." Could he be saying to the demons from Ode To Sleep that he doesn't want this? That he wants to fight? It seems like Blurryface is the 'redemption' album. He's clawing himself out of this place of being gone, or again, dead. In Heavydirtysoul he says "DEATH inspires me like a dog, inspires a rabbit." Now the immediate thought is he's referencing death as a reason to write as much music as possible, to live as fully as he can. But what if what he's referencing is much more eminent? What if he sees himself as 'dead' and he's inspired to pull himself out? He's trying to conquer it. I think this also ties into the iconic |-/ symbol. It could have double meanings. The first could be seen as this part '|-' is a 'demon' and this part is '/' Tyler. The demon is pushing him down into the darkness, making him gone. The second could be that the pieces have the same characterization, but that in this case, Tyler is climbing past them, out of the bad place, and back into the world. "Don't let me be gone." He asks for your help, as he's pulling himself out of the bad place. I hope this made sense. Summary: Tyler went from accepting that he was 'gone' to fighting to solidify his existence again. But hey...That's just a theory... A TWENTY ONE PILOTS THEORY! (Carly Wood) If you use this theory, give credit!!!