Why You Gotta Kick Me When I'm Down?

Album: Amo (2019)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The writing process for Amo served as therapy for Bring Me the Horizon vocalist Oli Sykes following his very public split with his then-wife Hannah Snowden in 2016. This song finds him talking about his relationship with the band's fans and the hurt caused by them sprouting opinions about his personal life.

    Yeah, I know it's all in good fun, but
    Don't say it's coming from love now
    I see those arms in akimbo
    (They always wanna kick you when you're down)


    Keyboardist Jordan Fish told Kerrang: "It comes from a personal place, from a time when things weren't necessarily going his or our way."
  • Musically, this is the closest that Bring Me the Horizon have come to a grime track. "That came quite late," Fish said. "I made the beat ages ago and we weren't even gonna use it. Then Oli had a meltdown/breakthrough halfway through the writing process and went back to it."
  • The song features Fish's local village's children's choir. He told Kerrang that it reminded him of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall" or Jay-Z's "It's a Hard Knock Life."
  • The band weren't sure if the children's choir was going to work out. Oli Sykes explained to Kerrang: "Jordan went and recorded those at a primary school in his village. It was a bit up in the air at one point, because there's some swearing on the song and it's a Catholic school. But in the end the parents were like, 'No it's cool, we'll let 'em do it.' I think we said we'd make a censored version just for them."
  • This is the Bring Me the Horizon song that Jordan Fish is proudest of writing. He explained to Kerrang, April 3, 2019: "It's one of our most adventurous songs, and I'm really pleased with how it came out. I love the lyrical content, the hook is great and it's got a cool vibe."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Angelo Moore of Fishbone

Angelo Moore of FishboneSongwriter Interviews

Fishbone has always enjoyed much more acclaim than popularity - Angelo might know why.

Alan Merrill of The Arrows

Alan Merrill of The ArrowsSongwriter Interviews

In her days with The Runaways, Joan Jett saw The Arrows perform "I Love Rock And Roll," which Alan Merrill co-wrote - that story and much more from this glam rock pioneer.

Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty

Rob Thomas of Matchbox TwentySongwriter Interviews

Rob Thomas on his Social Distance Sessions, co-starring with a camel, and his friendship with Carlos Santana.

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus WainwrightSongwriter Interviews

Rufus Wainwright on "Hallelujah," his album Unfollow The Rules, and getting into his "lyric trance" on 12-hour walks.

Classic Metal

Classic MetalFact or Fiction

Ozzy, Guns N' Roses, Judas Priest and even Michael Bolton show up in this Classic Metal quiz.

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."