‘Death Wish Love (From Twisters: The Album)’ by Benson Boone - Lyrics & Meaning

One of the more surprising inclusions on the blockbuster 2024 Twisters: The Album soundtrack, Benson Boone's ‘Death Wish Love’ is an intricate, heartfelt reflection on the power his lover holds over him as he endearingly underlines his undying devotion.

Although Benson Boone's appearance on the project among country stars such as Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson, Miranda Lambert and more was unexpected, given how Boone comes from a more pop-leaning background, his contribution to the Twisters record is quickly cementing itself as one of the stand-out moments.

During an interview at the Twisters premiere, Benson Boone explained that ‘Death Wish Love’ arose from a two-week stint where he experimented with country and folk textures, with the Washington native teasing that he wrote a number of other songs during this period, which will hopefully see the light of day before too long.

Benson Boone's commanding vocals drift breezily across a delicate acoustic strum and driving drum pattern, with Boone showcasing his stellar falsetto delivery throughout the hook, which in turn accentuates the emotional weight of his evocative lyrics.

‘Death Wish Love’ builds and builds towards the powerful climax, which finds Benson Boone doubling down on his willingness to die for his partner, accompanied by haunting, ethereal backing vocals that add gravitas to his sweet, visceral lyrics.

“How could something so delicate also be dangerous?

Kinda afraid of it, darling believe me

I’m just praying you keep me

And you look like an angel there, you and your braided hair

Oh, it’s just so unfair you’ll never see

You’ve got a hold on me

And it feels like suicide looking into your eyes

I get so terrified that I’m gonna lose you

And I’ll die if I do”

‘Death Wish Love’ finds Benson Boone emphasising he's so in love with his partner that if he lost her, he'd die - but this is a risk he's willing to take, such is the joy she brings him.

He begins by wondering how something as ‘delicate’ as his lover - or, on an alternative reading, the love they share - could be dangerous enough to pose such a threat to his life, before admitting he's scared of how all-consuming the love he feels for her is.

The death-based imagery that pervades the track is juxtaposed starkly with Boone's description of his partner as an angel. The way in which he puts her on this pedestal seemingly exacerbates his sense of inferiority and his anxiety about one day losing her, with Boone describing the feeling of looking into her eyes as ‘suicide’.

“It’s a death wish, love

Take my heart I’ll let you spill my blood

Cut me down again

I love you and I’ll love you to death

On and on and only you can kill me now

I’ll scream your name until my lungs give out

Pull me down again

I love you and I’ll love you to death

Love you for as long as I get”

The hook pivots around the titular phrase, which can be heard both as Benson Boone describing their romance to his partner as a ‘death wish, love’, as well as him portraying their relationship as a ‘death wish’ kind of love. The chorus is packed with death-inspired images, which both underline Boone's dedication to his partner as he professes his keenness to die for her, in addition to conveying how he happily loses himself in their love in a way that feels like the ‘death’ of his solo self.

“The way that you make me laugh

Nobody else does that

You’ve got the upper hand and if you squeeze

I would fall to my knees

And I’ll ask the stars at night, how I can slow the time

God, I’m so terrified that I’m gonna lose you

And I’ll die if I do”

The second verse continues Benson Boone's array of compliments and honeyed descriptions of his lover, as he shares that she's the only one who can make him laugh this easily, before again underlining how she holds his life in her hands.

Benson Boone poetically confesses that he looks up and asks the stars each night how he can slow down time so that he can spend a little longer in the arms of his lover. The ‘Beautiful Things’ hitmaker heartwarmingly repeats the earlier expressed fear of losing her, again stressing he would die if he ever had to part ways with her.

“Oh, I’m gonna love you to death

Oh, I’m gonna run ‘til I wreck

Go until there’s none of me left

No there’s nothing of me left

Oh, I’m gonna love you to death

Oh, I’m gonna run ‘til I wreck

Go until there’s nothing left”

Towards the conclusion, Boone cleverly flips this recurring link between death and love by using the common phrase, ‘I'm gonna love you to death’. He outlines his desire to keep the flame of their love burning bright until their lives come to an end.

While chatting to Variety on the Twisters premiere red carpet, Benson Boone explained how his involvement with the disaster movie's soundtrack came about, “It's very country-esque...I like to experiment with a little bit of rock, and a little bit of indie, and a little bit of pop, and a little bit of this and that. I had a couple weeks where I got really into trying country and folk stuff, and in that week I wrote the song called ‘Death Wish Love’, and I really loved it. I loved the feel of it, I liked the song. The show reached out and were like, ‘Hey, we're just kinda looking for folk and country songs’, and I was like, ‘Well, perfect, I got this one for you’”.

In another red carpet chat with iHeartRadio, Benson Boone expanded, “There was a period of time for a couple of weeks where I wrote a couple of country and folk songs. I'll always dip my toes into new genres here and there, but a lot of songs I really love came out of that couple weeks, and ‘Death Wish Love’ is one of them, and I just loved the feel of the song because I didn't know it was gonna be part of the movie yet. So this was just a song that I just genuinely loved. It's about someone that I love and appreciate very much, and so it has a special place in my heart. I love the lyrics of the song, and I'm very excited for people to hear it”.

“How could something so delicate also be dangerous?

Kinda afraid of it, darling believe me

I’m just praying you keep me

And you look like an angel there, you and your braided hair

Oh, it’s just so unfair you’ll never see

You’ve got a hold on me

And it feels like suicide looking into your eyes

I get so terrified that I’m gonna lose you

And I’ll die if I do

-

It’s a death wish, love

Take my heart I’ll let you spill my blood

Cut me down again

I love you and I’ll love you to death

On and on and only you can kill me now

I’ll scream your name until my lungs give out

Pull me down again

I love you and I’ll love you to death

Love you for as long as I get

-

The way that you make me laugh

Nobody else does that

You’ve got the upper hand and if you squeeze

I would fall to my knees

And I’ll ask the stars at night, how I can slow the time

God, I’m so terrified that I’m gonna lose you

And I’ll die if I do

-

It’s a death wish, love

Take my heart I’ll let you spill my blood

Cut me down again

I love you and I’ll love you to death

On and on and only you can kill me now

I’ll scream your name until my lungs give out

Pull me down again

I love you and I’ll love you to death

I’ll love you for as long as I get

-

Oh, I’m gonna love you to death

Oh, I’m gonna run ‘til I wreck

Go until there’s none of me left

No there’s nothing of me left

Oh, I’m gonna love you to death

Oh, I’m gonna run ‘til I wreck

Go until there’s nothing left

-

It’s a death wish, love

Take my heart I’ll let you spill my blood

Cut me down again

I love you and I’ll love you to death

On and on and on

And only you can kill me now

I’ll scream your name until my lungs give out

Pull me down again

I love you and I’ll love you to death

Love you for as long as I get

Oh, as long as I get”

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