Songfacts®:

• The phrase "by the skin of your teeth" means only just, by a very narrow margin. The expression is biblical, stemming from Job's suffering in Job 19 v 20.
  
  I am nothing but skin and bones
  I have escaped with the skin of my teeth
  
  Demi Lovato recounts here how her addiction issues took her a hair breadth from death.
  
  I'm alive by the skin of my teeth
  
  Lovato had used prescription drugs, cocaine, and alcohol since her teen years to numb the pain of her emotional issues. In July 2018, the former Disney star nearly lost her life because of an opioid overdose. Now sober, Lovato wrote "Skin Of My Teeth" as an anthem for all those struggling with addiction.
• Won't you try and have some mercy on me?
  Askin' why doesn't make it easier
  Go easier on me
  
  Many don't understand that for people like Lovato, addiction is a lifelong battle. Here, the singer asks for empathy rather than judgment. "It was really important for me to talk about that," she told Genius, "because it was my way of saying it's nobody's business, go easier on me and have compassion for the struggle that I have along with many other people."
• Lovato wrote this exploration of addiction with Nashville songwriter Laura Veltz and rapper/singer-songwriter Lil Aaron. They penned it in mid-January 2022, during a productive week when Lovato knocked out five songs that made it onto Holy Fvck. The star released it as the lead single from the album on June 10, 2022.
  
  Veltz's other credits include Maren Morris' "The Bones," and Dan + Shay's "Speechless."
  
  As well as releasing his own material, Lil Aaron has also written songs as Aaron Jennings for Liam Payne ("Bedroom Floor") and Lizzo ("Coconut Oil").
  
  Warren "Oak" Felder produced the rock-laced track, assisted by Alex Niceforo and Keith Sorrells. Oak helmed nine tracks on Lovato's Dancing with the Devil... the Art of Starting Over album, including "I Love Me."
• When Lovato hired Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker to give "I Love Me" a pop-punk makeover in 2020, it hinted at a new rock direction. Lovato continues to lean into heavy music on "Skin Of My Teeth," and the rest of Holy Fvck. "When I say heaviness, I don't mean lyrically, but heaviness as in some of the sound that I haven't done before, which is exciting," she told Rolling Stone.
  
  Lovato added it's a new era reminiscent of her rock-infused first two studio albums, Don't Forget (2008) and Here We Go Again (2009).
• Lovato gave "Skin Of My Teeth" its debut live performance on the June 9, 2022 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.