Battered walls was written in 1994, emerging from a keyboard riff and a story about about a boy growing up in a tough situation with an abusive mother and mostly absent father. It would see some rewrites over the years, but the biggest changes came during re-recording in 2025. It was given a longer opening that changed it to a more guitar heavy song and the middle section shifted away from the main riff to add interest and make it less repetitive. The guitar solo at the end of the song was expanded, but remained the song’s climax as it always had been.