Songfacts®:

• This is the first single from Coheed and Cambria's double album The Afterman, which is split into two parts, The Afterman: Ascension and The Afterman: Descension. As with the band's previous releases, the pair of LPs are part of their ongoing story series called The Amory Wars. The two Afterman records focus on a character named Sirius Amory, a scientist who discovers an energy force known as The Keywork that can connect the universe's 78 planets together. Said frontman Claudio Sanchez: "This is without a doubt, the most honest record I've ever written. Though all the songs can be interpreted through our main character in the story, they were initially written in a very spontaneous manner.
  
  In the past, I've always had a predetermined idea of what the story was going to be when I approached the songs. With The Afterman being a new story within The Amory Wars arc, I allowed the events of my life to drive the concept, and therefore opened up the songwriting to a fuller degree."
• The band explained on their Facebook page how this song fits into the their ongoing The Amory Wars storyline: "When Sirius enters the Keywork, he realizes this energy force is wholly made up of human souls. This is their first contact with a human since they were living - The first soul to take over Sirius, to possess him, is Domino the Destitute. Sirius must now experience Domino's life as he lived it. Keywork Entity Extraction I."
• Robert Schober, whose previous work includes visuals for the likes of The Killers, Mastodon, Metallica and My Chemical Romance, directed the dark, cinematic boxing-themed video.
• Sanchez described this song during a track-by-track interview with Billboard magazine as an anthem inspired by the departure of bassist Mic Todd from the band. "It's sort of a play on the rise of this champion, only to find that that rise is really actually his demise, and all the things that come with that attention," he said.
  
  Todd parted ways with Coheed and Cambria after being arrested for armed robbery and unlawful possession of narcotics. He'd reportedly robbed a Walgreens pharmacy in Attleboro, Massachusetts whilst touring with Soundgarden.