Jared Leto described the meaning of the song as, "It's really about a relationship with yourself. It's about confronting your fear and confronting the truth about who you are." He has also said it is about "confrontation as a crossroads" — coming face-to-face with who you really are. In September 2007, "The Kill" was re-released again in the UK. It is currently available as a Compact Disc with a A Beautiful Lie poster and two stickers, and a special limited edition 7" vinyl version. The song is played in 6/8 time, commonly found in ballroom songs and almost all waltzes.
Being entirely based on the American film The Shining, several scenes are versions from the movie, such as when Shannon Leto enters Room 6277 and encounters the woman in the bathroom, when Matt Wachter being served drinks at the bar by an apparition while both films culminate in an elegant ballroom.
As for the cinematography, Jared Leto has clearly adopted the split screen visual from working with Darren Aronofsky in Requiem for a Dream.
The number 6277 is used for the room number because it spells out "Mars" on a telephone keypad. The number also makes an appearance in the video for "From Yesterday".
Scenes from the music video - Top: Jared Leto confronting himself. Bottom: The band perform their song to the 1920s-themed audience.
The music video was selected as the second best video of 2006, falling short only to "Savin' Me" by Nickelback. And it was voted the 2nd greatest of the 21st century on Scuzz TV. It was also selected as the greatest rock video ever in the Kerrang Rock 100 on 27th June 2009.
At 1:29, the papers that Jared Leto has been typing are briefly made visible and the words on them appear to read, over and over, "This is who I really am." This is another allusion to The Shining, in which Jack Nicholson's character types up pages and pages of the same line, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", over and over in the same sense.
Also, it is shown at 2:18, a negative of what appears to be the woman's corpse appears on the screen briefly. This image also reappears at 3:18. However, on YouTube, the version from Capitol Music doesn't show the corpse as a negative, but rather in its raw form, with blood. This may be to emphasize the song title because she looks as though she was only killed recently.
When the press release info for "The Kill" video was released, Jared stated that the video was directed by an albino Danish man named Bartholomew Cubbins. This was intended as a joke as Cubbins is the main character of the Dr. Seuss book The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, however airings of the video on music channels still list Cubbins as the director.
The music video features the band exploring a hotel which they are care-taking. At the start, Jared Leto states that they have the hotel all to themselves for three days; although, later on, after the first chorus, it comes on the screen saying "One Week Later", before showing the pages saying "This is who I really am". In the extended version of the video the other band members complain that they have been at the hotel longer than expected and have canceled shows because of Jared's peculiar behavior, explaining the discrepancy.
A letter from the hotel owner tells the band to "Enjoy your stay and please stay out of Room 6277." The band does not heed the warning and opens Room 6277. Following the opening of the door, each band member begins to experience the effects of the room. Each member experiences the effects differently, but one thing remains constant for each individual — they encounter a tuxedoed version of themselves. Several other apparitions then take up residence in the hotel, dispelling the promise Jared made in the beginning of the video that the band will have the hotel all to themselves and that "there's not gonna be a single fucking soul". The video reaches its climax when the tuxedoed bandmates are shown performing the song in the hotel's ballroom in front of an elegantly-dressed crowd dancing with themselves.
The Kill
Thirty Seconds to Mars Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Laugh it all off in your face
What would you do?
What if I fell to the floor
Couldn't take all this anymore
What would you do, do, do?
Come, break me down
I am finished with you
What if I wanted to fight
Beg for the rest of my life
What would you do?
You say you wanted more
What are you waiting for?
I'm not running from you
Come, break me down
Bury me, bury me
I am finished with you
Look in my eyes
You're killing me, killing me
All I wanted was you
I tried to be someone else
But nothing seemed to change
I know now, this is who I really am inside
I've finally found myself
Fighting for a chance
I know now, this is who I really am
Come, break me down
Bury me, bury me
I am finished with you, you, you
Look in my eyes
You're killing me, killing me
All I wanted was you
Come, break me down
Break me down
Break me down
What if I wanted to break
What if I, what if I, what if I (bury me, bury me)
"The Kill" by Thirty Seconds to Mars is a song about the struggle to find one's true self, and the often painful process of shedding the layers of identity that we build up over the years. The lyrics speak to the idea that sometimes we need to break down, to fall apart, in order to rebuild ourselves and emerge stronger than before.
The song begins with a series of hypothetical questions, with the singer asking what would happen if he were to break down, or if he were to fight for his life. The chorus then enters with the repeated refrain "come, break me down," a plea for the listener, or perhaps for one's own inner demons, to do their worst and allow the singer to start over.
The second verse suggests that the singer has been trying to be someone else, but has finally found himself and his voice. The final chorus brings the song full circle, with the singer reiterating his plea to be broken down so that he can move on and find his true self.
Overall, "The Kill" is a deeply introspective and personal song that speaks to the universal struggle of self-discovery and personal growth.
Line by Line Meaning
What if I wanted to break
What if I wanted to give up and no longer continue in this relationship?
Laugh it all off in your face
What if I were to react with humor to your emotional reaction?
What would you do?
How would you react to my emotional disengagement?
What if I fell to the floor
What if I were to give up after being overwhelmed by the relationship?
Couldn't take all this anymore
What if I can't handle this relationship stress anymore?
What would you do, do, do?
How would you act or respond to my decision to leave?
Come, break me down
Break me down emotionally and let me leave this relationship
Bury me, bury me
Let this relationship end and forget about me
I am finished with you
I'm done with us and our relationship
You say you wanted more
You claim that you want more from our relationship
What are you waiting for?
What actions will you take to make our relationship work?
I'm not running from you
I'm not trying to escape this relationship, I'm trying to make it work
Look in my eyes
See the truth in me and understand who I really am
You're killing me, killing me
You're hurting me emotionally and making it hard for me to continue this relationship
All I wanted was you
All I ever wanted from this relationship was you
I tried to be someone else
I tried to change myself to suit your expectations
But nothing seemed to change
Even after I tried to change myself, things didn't get any better in our relationship
I know now, this is who I really am inside
I understand now that I can't change who I am and I accept myself for who I am
I've finally found myself
I have found my true self and identity
Fighting for a chance
I am willing to fight to make this relationship work
Come, break me down
End this relationship and let me go
Break me down
Let this relationship end and let's move on
What if I, what if I, what if I (bury me, bury me)
What if I were to fully resign myself to the end of this relationship?
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JARED LETO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@imnothingbutastreetcat7996
Who's here after Chad nailed it in Drumeo 😂
@Redd0718
Me AHHH
@Lucas_magnus
Bro that episode was phenomenal
@gregliles6387
This guy
@ninobalza881
Me
@richardmullins4894
Right here 😂
@ethanhymon4519
Ten years later I’m realizing this is Jared Leto
@gabrielg3617
Just realized this is the joker
@Johnisutt
I literally just realized it...
#lame
@christopherquintero6910
Really?