Everyone loves a good old-fashioned revenge story and SZA delivers a stellar one with “Kill Bill.”
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The track has become an undisputed standout on her latest record, SOS. With TikTok users making it the latest track to get viral treatment, it peaked at No. 1 on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart and remained there for three weeks. Though she has no shortage of hits, “Kill Bill” might be the biggest song of her career thus far.
The song is a cleverly coded reference to Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 film, starring Uma Thurman. SZA takes the storyline about an ex-bride getting revenge on her boss and applies it to her own life, to great appeal. We’re going through the meaning behind the song and detailing all the Tarantino references she makes along the way, below.
Behind the Meaning
I’m still a fan even though I was salty
Hate to see you with some other broad, know you happy
Hate to see you happy if I’m not the one drivin’
I’m so mature, I’m so mature
I’m so mature, I got me a therapist to tell me there’s other men
I don’t want none, I just want you
If I can’t have you, no one should, I might
Given that the song gets its title from the Quentin Tarantino film of the same name, it stands to reason that the song would follow a similar plotline.
In the Uma Thruman-helmed film, her character sets out to get vengeance on her boss and his team of assassins after he attempts to gun her down. In SZA’s version of things, it’s her ex that has moved on that has prompted her to start plotting her own revenge story.
In the opening verse, the singer likens herself to Bill from the film, who reveals his motive for attempting to kill Thurman’s character was jealousy. “Not only are you not dead, you’re getting married to some fucking jerk and you’re pregnant. I overreacted. […] There are consequences to breaking the heart of a murdering bastard,” he says at the end of Kill Bill Vol. 2.
SZA switches her perspective in the chorus, aligning herself with Thurman’s character and her want of revenge. Her ex and his new girl are on the prospective hit list and SZA is determined to cross both of them off, despite her better judgment.
The final line of the chorus (Rather be in jail than alone) gets switched out for the final refrain: Rather be in hell than alone. Escalating the lengths to which she is willing to go in the wake of her breakup.
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I might kill my ex, not the best idea
His new girlfriend’s next, how’d I get here?
I might kill my ex, I still love him, though
Rather be in jail than alone
Oh, I just killed my ex, not the best idea (Idea)
Killed his girlfriend next, how’d I get here?
I just killed my ex, I still love him, though (I do)
Rather be in hell than alone
Music Video
SZA goes full Tarantino for the accompanying music video.
The visual opens up with the singer weathering a shoot-out from her ex-beau and his group of lackeys. Soon after, she starts her revenge journey by suiting up in a Thurman-inspired latex number. A badass motorcycle ride and a katana fight scene later, SZA cuts out the heart of her ex and licks it for an eerie twist ending.
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Elsewhere, the Christian Breslauer-directed video nods to O-Ren Ishii’s anime sequence in the original film. Check out the video below.
Photo by Erika Goldring/WireImage
