Upon The Illusion of Safety's release, "Deadbolt" was positively reviewed by critics, who commented on its hooks, high energy and technical riffs.
"Deadbolt" has generally been described as post-hardcore,[1] emo and pop-punk,[2][3] and is written in the key of F♯ major with a common time tempo of 135 beats per minute.
The song, which lacks a verse–chorus–verse structure, was described by the BrooklynVegan to have call-and-response mannerisms, with Teppei Teranishi's guitar parts countering Dustin Kensrue's vocals and shifting between post-hardcore and pop-punk.
[5] The song's chorus ("And she calls from the doorway/Stolen water is sweet/So let's drink it in the darkness/If you know what I mean") contains multiple references to Proverbs 9 (below); which is meant to represent how those who don't understand the consequences of their actions will fall to temptation and suffer for it.
She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way, “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says, “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.
It shows the band performing the song at Chain Reaction, Anaheim, Orange County, on August 30, 2002.
The band notified fans on their website ten days prior to the video shooting of the location of the venue so they could participate.
(Laughs) It might be a bridge in the song that gets quiet and it's pretty intense and delicate and then you hear somebody yell, "Deadbolt!"
[30] The band and Dustin Kensrue have also sold t-shirts with the messages "Play Deadbolt" and "I've Seen Thrice Play "Deadbolt" 4000 times" as official merchandise, as a testament/joke to the song's popularity; Kensrue described the t-shirts as "our attempt to embrace the weird thing that is the perception and the requesting of that song.