Songfacts®:

• "Take My Breath" is The Weeknd's first single since his hit After Hours album. It finds him keeping to a similar theme as he croons of temptation and desire over a retro pulsing synth riff.
• The Weeknd starts the song by describing meeting a groupie who is bent on seducing him. He illustrates their encounter by nodding to "In Your Eyes," a single from his album After Hours.
  
  I saw the fire in your eyes
  I saw the fire when I look into your eyes
  
  The girl is hot and ready to have sex of any kind – even if it's kinky and dangerous.
  
  You tell me things you wanna try
  I know temptation is the devil in disguise
  You risk it all to feel alive, oh yeah
  
  The Weeknd gives into his lust; he agrees to the young woman's dark fantasy and sets out to take her breath away.
  
  It's like a dream what she feels with me
  She loves to be on the edge
  
  "Songs that tell stories and create worlds have always been why people get lost in music," The Weeknd told Apple Music. "I always try to immerse myself in that tradition and foster that escapism."
• The Weeknd wrote the song with:
  
  Swedish writer producers Max Martin and Oscar Holter. They contributed to five of the After Hours tracks, including the singles "Blinding Lights," "In Your Eyes," and "Save Your Tears."
  
  Canadian rapper Belly. A frequent collaborator of The Weeknd, Belly earned seven writing credits on After Hours.
• Prior to its release, the song featured in a promotional ad for Team USA Women's Track & Field team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Over a backdrop of the synth-heavy beat, Sydney McLaughlin, Dalilah Muhammad, Gabby Thomas and Athing Mu take the breath away with their track feats.
• Cliqua directed the intense video, which follows Tesfaye as he descends into an underground club and sees patrons getting high on oxygen. It culminates with the singer getting beaten up by a love interest, leaving him trying to catch his breath back on the dance floor.
  
  The cinematic clip was originally scheduled to air in IMAX theaters but was subsequently pulled due to epilepsy warnings regarding its liberal use of strobe lighting.
  
  The Los Angeles duo Cliqua (RJ Sanchez, Pasqual Gutierrez) also directed The Weeknd's clips for "Too Late," and "Save Your Tears."