SONG OF THE DAY
“Kiss With A Fist” by Florence + The Machine (Lungs, Universal Island, 2009). Written by Florence Welch, Isabella Summers, & Matt Alchin.
INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)
– “Kiss with a Fist” is the debut single by indie pop band Florence and the Machine. It is featured on their debut 2009 Mercury Prize-nominated album Lungs.
– It has been featured on the original motion picture soundtrack to 2009 dark comedy film Jennifer’s Body, as well as the 2008 film Wildchild, NBC comedy Community (Season 1, Episode 12 – “Comparitive Religion”), Cougar Town (Season 1, Episode 3 – “Don’t Do Me Like That”), Saving Grace and United States of Tara.
– The single was released through Moshi Moshi Records on June 9, 2008 in the UK and was then released four months later on October 6, 2008 through IAMSOUND Records in the US.
– “Kiss with a Fist” first appeared with the same lyrics under the name “Happy Slap” on Ashok’s (Florence Welch’s previous band) first (and only) album Plans.
– “Kiss with a Fist” was originally released as a non-album single and was later finalized as track five on Lungs.
– Originally, a great deal of confusion surrounded the song’s meaning. With lyrics such as “broke your jaw once before”, “split your blood upon the floor”, “you smashed a plate over my head”, “you gave a kick” and “I gave a slap” – the song was thought by many to be based on domestic violence, which Florence denies.
Florence explained the song’s meaning on her MySpace:
“Kiss with a Fist” is NOT a song about domestic violence. It is about two people pushing each other to psychological extremes because they are fighting but they still love each other. The song is not about one person being attacked, or any actual physical violence, there are no victims in this song. Sometimes the love two people have for each other is a destructive force. But they can’t have it any other way, because it’s what holds them together, they enjoy the drama and pushing each other’s buttons. The only way to express these extreme emotions is with extreme imagery, all of which is fantasism and nothing in the song is based on reality. Leona Lewis’s “Bleeding Love” isn’t actually about her bleeding and this song isn’t actually about punching someone in the mouth.”
– Florence further elaborated on her inspiration behind the song: “I was 16 or 17 when I wrote this. I’d just fallen in love for the first time, and I’d also started hanging out with an older group of people, watching how their relationships worked. There was this one couple who were so cool, but so visceral and so intense. The guy never hit the girl, but I saw her lamp him a couple of times, and she’d always give as good as she got. But it wasn’t really physical violence, it was more about the fact that their animal passion for each other was the thing that was attractive for them. It was how joyful destruction can be, and how alluring it is to be in a relationship so fiery. There was never a dull moment when they were around. I don’t know how they do it! I’m a conflict avoider. I think I write about such intense things because I’m actually really bad at expressing anger.”
– The single is Florence + The Machine’s fourth most successful single to-date.