According to vocalist Alisa Xayalith, the song is about her losing her mother to breast cancer at a very young age, admitting that "[She] felt insecure singing about something so infinitely painful and blatantly autobiographical."[1] The title comes from a comic book of the same name by Joe Kelly.[2]
Though intended for inclusion on debut album Passive Me, Aggressive You, the tune was not finished in time for that album.[3][4]
Video
The music video, which debuted on the same day, features two women performing theatrical dance in front of a church congregation, and was directed by Joel Kefali.[1]
Critical reception
The song is described by Kyle Ryan of The A.V. Club as being the song that has a large 3 note chorus with staccato synthesizer that lifts the tempo of the album following the tranquil song "Golden Girl".[5] Matt Collar of AllMusic describes the composition as "particularly epic in proportion and cinematic in its emotional momentum".[6]
^"I Kill Giants" (UK promotional CD single). The Naked and Famous. Fiction Records. 2013. NAKED5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)