Songfacts®:

• The song's title references Ares, better known as the Greek god of war. It is one of Intimacy's many references to Greek mythology. Singer Kele Okereke admitted on the band's record label's website that the song is about a physical fight.
• Okereke told the story of the song on their record label's website: "(Drummer) Matt Tong came up with a drumbeat 'that we edited and f---ed with. That was pretty much it. We made it sound really harsh. Then I kind of rapped over it. I was listening to a lot of Afrika Bambatta. I was trying to get something that sounded like old school hip-hop - two guys rapping over each other. Then Garrett ('Jacknife' Lee, producer) did this great thing on the chorus where he sampled a vocal from 'Mercury' and f---ed with it - that's what the vocal is on the chorus. It's one of my favorites and it seemed like it really had to open the record."
• Tong told Paste Magazine that the instrumentation was inspired by the big drum sound on The Chemical Brothers song "Setting Sun." He added: "That's me playing the drums, but it's been cut up and sampled."