Kill V. Maim is a single by Grimes. It is the sixth track on her fourth studio album, Art Angels, and was released as the fourth single.
Composition[]
Meaning[]
She told Q Magazine the following about the song:[1]
❝ "Kill V. Maim" is written from the perspective of Al Pacino in The Godfather: Part II. Except he's a vampire who can switch gender and travel through space. ❞
This vampire is named Kill V. Maim.[2]
Media[]
Artwork[]
The artwork features two humanoid entities, but the sideways text on the right side spells out "Ангел", which is 'Angel' in Russian.
Video[]
| Video | Credits | |
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Title | Kill V. Maim | |
| Premiere | 19 Jan 2016 | |
| Length | 4:37 | |
| Location | Bay station, Toronto | |
| Featuring | Matthew E. Duffy, Tei Shi, Kate Ray Struthers | |
| Director | Grimes, Mac Boucher | |
| Producer | Mac Boucher, Ryan Tremblay, Neil Hansen | |
| Production company | Route 11, Crimson Fish | |
| Editor | Grimes | |
| DP | Mac Boucher, Neil Hansen | |
Additional Credits
- Art Direction: Grimes
- Production Design: Mac Boucher
- Direction Assistance: Kurtis Chen (1st), Tommy Molnar (2nd)
- Production Assistance: Peter Lilly
- Additional Animation: Grimes
- VFX: Artjail
- VFX Supervising: Christopher Fung
- VFX Production Jon Skeffington
- Composition: Leslie Faye Chung, Tiffany Chung, Christopher Fung
- Flame Artistry: Ben Vaccaro
- CG Artistry: Christopher Fung, Shawn Lipowski
- Additional CG: Alain Cisneros, Nick Dubois, Madeline Jackson
- Mattepainting: Ben Zylberman
- Styling: Turner
- Styling Assistance: Alissa Alikpala, Meika Wagner, Ida Jokinen
- Fangs: Taro Hanabusa
Behind the Scenes
Background
According to Grimes, in an interview with Stella McCartney,[3] the original Grimes is killed off-screen in this video, and is instead replaced with a character called Screechy Bat.
In a later interview Grimes said that she "regretted the decision," and so the character was reinstated as part of the lore later on.[citation needed]
V magazine talked with co-director Mac Boucher about the insider details of the video:[4]
On finding inspiration in a semi-immortal Wesley Snipes circa 1998:
"Claire and I usually discuss the videos far in advance, so we were brainstorming this while filming “Flesh Without Blood.” The “vampire underworld” was more or less the starting out point, so we kind of conglomerated visuals that fit that idea until we landed on Blade which had this bleak, cold, cyberpunk vibe, as well as the blood rave. That set us in the direction of leaving California for colder, grittier, climes. Toronto—where I live—was the natural step."
On Grimes’ s tricked-out Barbie car:
"Our broken down family van also happened to be in Toronto, which we were both looking to utilize—at one point thinking of blowing up. I have a genius friend in Montreal who can build anything out of anything. He’ s built sets for X-Men and stuff, so I asked him what that damage would be if he could rip apart our van and turn it into a Spawn mobile. Not so much Mad Max, definitely more Spawn. But pink!"
On creating a digital metropolis:
"I reached out to Artjail VFX, and I'd like to say I needed to convince them to create a Neo-Tokyo cyberpunk in a ridiculously short amount of time (over the holidays, too), but they were so on board that the process was far less stressful than I imagined. Although, I think Chris at Artjail may still be sleeping."
On directing an indulgent blood bath party scene:
"The blood rave was more or less improvised. It was literally a party, and we just let everyone go nuts, and move around with the camera."
On the perils of playing party host:
"The blood rave clean up took three days. Us producers were in the abandoned warehouse, on the outskirts of Toronto, cleaning up a giant puddle of blood at 2am...It was weird."
On the hype man powers of Sean Paul:
"Ah, blasting [his track] Temperature for the car sequences—when not lip-synching—was pretty dope. Can't really beat that track."
On trying to control chaos:
"We had a mosh pit scene with a bunch of dudes, and their direction was "be aggressive as possible, try not to punch each other in the face or break bones, and if you need to step out for a minute, you can." No one stepped out, and they were all flying around, hitting each other, falling on the ground. It was really bizarre and kind of shocking, but amazing."
On the future of a trilogy, or, well, “qualogy:"
"We've already finished filming the third video. I can't say what, but Claire may have hinted, and we're planning a fourth. Is that a qualogy? We won't be returning to these characters but all the videos will exist in the 'Grimes Universe.'"
Lyrics[]
I got in a fight, I was indisposed
I was in, despite all the wicked prose
But I'm only a man, and I do what I can
I got friends in high places
I get out for free
I got in a fight but they don't know me
Cause I'm only a man
And I do what I can
B-E-H-A-V-E
Arrest us
Italiana mob star
Looking so precious
B-E-H-A-V-E
Never more
You gave up being good when you declared a state of war
Eh
I don't behave, I don't behave, oh eh
I don't behave, I don't behave, oh eh
I don't behave, I don't behave, oh
Are you going to the party? Are you going to the show?
Cause I'm only a man, do what I can, oh
Cause I'm only a man, do what I can
Are you going to the party? Are you going to the show?
I did something bad, maybe I was wrong
Sometimes people say that I'm a big time bomb
But I'm only a man
And I do what I can
B-E-H-A-V-E
Arrest us
Italiana mob star
Looking so precious
B-E-H-A-V-E
Never more
You gave up being good when you declared a state of war
Eh
I don't behave, I don't behave, oh eh
I don't behave, I don't behave, oh eh
I don't behave, I don't behave, oh
Are you going to the party? Are you going to the show?
Cause I'm only a man, do what I can, oh
Cause I'm only a man, do what I can
Are you going to the party? Are you going to the show?
Oh, the fire it's all right
Cause we can make 'em all go crazy
We can make 'em wanna die
Oh, the fire it's all right
The people touch it
I can't touch it
Even though it's mine
Eh
I don't behave, I don't behave, oh eh
I don't behave, I don't behave, oh eh
I don't behave, I don't behave, oh
(Are you going to the party? Are you going to the show?)
Cause I'm only a man, do what I can, oh
Cause I'm only a man, do what I can
B-E-H-A-V-E
Arrest us
Italiana mob star
Looking so precious
B-E-H-A-V-E
Never more
You gave up being good when you declared a state of war
War
Trivia[]
- Kill V. Maim is one of Grimes' favourite tracks off the album.[5]
- This song is included in the official NBA 2K17 tracklist.[6]
- It is the third act of Art Angels.[7]
References[]
- ↑ https://loveyouclaire.tumblr.com/post/131387825958/people-are-strange-inspired-by-billy-joel-and
- ↑ https://youtu.be/k5v-Yrcka0s?si=DJHOLIFNWGa4lm7O&t=37
- ↑ https://youtu.be/dkwMf0BpgSU?t=392
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20170501121236/https://vmagazine.com/article/an-insiders-look-at-grimes-new-video/
- ↑ https://x.com/Grimezsz/status/658754592897806336
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FcBEx08pGk
- ↑ https://youtu.be/c2EJMd7ZN7w?si=7DTKYo1-vpy0vQD2&t=10