"I kind of spilled blood all over this project" Speace said of her third album, The Killer in Me. It marked a quantum creative leap from the artist's 2006 breakthrough effort Songs for Bright Street. While that release won her widespread critical acclaim and a loyal international fan base, The Killer in Me found the singer/songwriter forging into deeper, darker lyrical and musical terrain, borne largely out of relationships gone wrong, then right and wrong again. "This is the record that I needed to make," Speace states. "In many ways, it was the hardest thing I've ever done. And in some ways, it was the easiest. Writing the songs was emotionally difficult, deep and intense--it was kind of an exorcism. But in the end, the songs flowed pretty quickly. You write the things that you're afraid to say out loud."
The Killer In Me
Amy Speace Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The killer in me loves the killer I see in you
I'm a gonna tell you what I need
Cut so deep just to watch me bleed
The killer in me loves the killer I see in you
The lover in you don't mean the things you say
The lover in you don't mean the things you say
Hurts so good, I wanna share the blame
The lover in you don't mean the things you say
The liar you hide has found the thief in me
The liar you hide has found the thief in me
Held up the truth with a loaded gun
Shot at its feet just to watch it run
The liar you hide has found the thief in me
So shade your eyes and cover up your heart
So I can bear my breast with its crooked scar
Float on our backs beneath the stars
We'll leave it all behind in the resevoir
Because the leaver in me can't quit the leaver in you
The leaver in me can't quit the leaver in you
Won't keep nothing when we go
Burn the bridge that's all we know
The leaver in me can't quit the leaver in you
Cause the killer in me loves the killer I see in you
The opening line of Amy Speace's song 'The Killer In Me' is a bold statement, one that suggests the singer is 'a killer' herself - this doesn't mean that she has been physically violent towards anyone, but rather that there is a part of her that is capable of darkness-driven thoughts and actions, an aspect in her that is drawn to the dangerous and thrilling side of human nature. When the killer in her sees the killer in someone else, she falls in love with that twisted energy. The lyrics convey that she is not alone in this and that there's a 'liar', 'thief' and 'leaver' in the other person that aligns well with her own demons. She knows that this person will cut her deep, hurt her, and won't necessarily mean the things that they say but she's willing to share the blame and fall for them anyway.
The lyrics also reveal that the singer is willing to be vulnerable in order to seek intimacy with this person - she urges them to cover their eyes and hearts so that she can reveal her own emotional scars. They seek solace in each other's arms and aim to forget the world's pain together.
Overall, the song is a passionate tribute to the human psyche's darker qualities, drawing on the notion that opposites attract, especially in the shadowy realm of desire.
Line by Line Meaning
The killer in me loves the killer I see in you
I am drawn to the dark and dangerous parts of you that reflect my own inner killer.
I'm a gonna tell you what I need
Cut so deep just to watch me bleed
The killer in me loves the killer I see in you
I am asking you to hurt me and make me suffer because the killer in me finds pleasure in pain.
The lover in you don't mean the things you say
When you cut my heart like you got no shame
Hurts so good, I wanna share the blame
The lover in you don't mean the things you say
You don't really love me because your actions don't match your words, but when you hurt me it makes me feel alive and I want to take some responsibility for it.
The liar you hide has found the thief in me
Held up the truth with a loaded gun
Shot at its feet just to watch it run
The liar you hide has found the thief in me
You lied to me and I responded by doing something dishonorable, because the thief in me was exposed by the liar in you.
So shade your eyes and cover up your heart
So I can bear my breast with its crooked scar
Float on our backs beneath the stars
We'll leave it all behind in the resevoir
We should cover up our vulnerabilities and embrace our flawed selves, forget our troubles, and start anew under the stars and by the water.
The leaver in me can't quit the leaver in you
Won't keep nothing when we go
Burn the bridge that's all we know
The leaver in me can't quit the leaver in you
I know that we will leave each other eventually and I won't hold onto anything when we do, I will burn bridges because that's what we always do. The leaver personality in me is attracted to the leaver personality in you.
Cause the killer in me loves the killer I see in you
Repeating that the dark parts of me love the dark parts of you.
Contributed by Olivia O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.