‘Killed A Man’ by Post Malone - Lyrics & Meaning

Post Malone has single handedly taken over the country genre since he began teasing that his debut country record was on its way.

With blockbuster singles that included 'I Had Some Help' with Morgan Wallen, 'Pour Me A Drink' with Blake Shelton and 'Guy For That' alongside Luke Combs, the stage was set for the highly-anticipated release of F-1 Trillion.

Already notching a hefty 18 songs, the standard version of the project includes features with the likes of Sierra Ferrell, Chris Stapleton, Lainey Wilson and a running list of the who's who in the genre. However, in the middle of the album's release day on August 16, Post Malone shocked fans yet again with the news that he had an expanded version of the album up his sleeve.

With an additional nine songs, F-1 Trillion - Long Bed consists of song's solely from the genre-blending hitmaker. What it may lack in guest vocals, though, it makes up for in substance and style.

One of the newly added songs, 'Killed A Man' is a foreboding track that comments on killing off your old self and demons for the sake of self-growth and the betterment of people around you.

From the first seconds of this three-minute ballad, it evokes an eery, moody vibe that almost gives off an outlaw feel. Of course, without knowing the song's full context and just basing it off the title, this checks out as you're expecting to hear a tale of some illicit behaviors.

With mostly acoustic and subtle instrumentation, as well as Malone's beautiful falsetto fowl, the tune is effective in providing a cinematic sonic backdrop to a song with a powerful message of self improvement.

“I killed a man last night
Gave him what he deserved
Dug a midnight grave and I put him in that dirt
I woke up this morning
My conscience fully clear
Felt closer to Jesus than I ever had in years”

The song opens with a confession of sorts from Malone who simply explains that this guy got what was coming to him last night.

Coming to the next morning, he explains that he slept like a baby, not holding on to any guilt for his actions, and actually feeling a sense of redemption for the decisions he made the night before.

“He can't hurt the ones I love
He can't break no angel's heart
He can't take that whiskey bottle and tear my world apart
He can't stand there in the mirror
He can't tell me no more lies
Yeah, I killed a man
I killed a man last night”

With the chorus, we learn a little bit more about his motivations for killing off this bloke, offering that now he won't be able to hurt anyone or let his bad decisions effect other people around him.

However, by the fourth line, it becomes clear that the man Malone killed last night was actually the worst version of himself, rather than an actual human being (yay for no murder!).

Now that his old self is gone and dead, he no longer has to believe the lies he used to tell himself about who he is. Now, it's like he has a fresh slate and can be the best version of himself.

“Lord knows he had it comin'
His sins were adding up
But when he drove that girl away I finally had enough
I coulda plead the fifth
But I poured it down the drain
Said that sinner's prayer and I sent him on his way”

Explaining that he had this fate coming as his transgressions were becoming too many to count, we get a bit of context for some of his unfortunate choices, mostly pertaining to breaking it off with what could've been the love of his life.

In a clever turn of phrase, Malone sings that while he could have "plead the fifth," which in court protects against self-incrimination in the US court of law, he's instead referring to a fifth of alcohol, which he proudly poured down the drain instead of downing the night before.

"He can't hurt the ones I love
He can't break no angel's heart
He can't take that whiskey bottle and tear my world apart
He can't stand there in the mirror
He can't tell me no more lies
Yeah, I killed a man
I killed a man last night

Wish it didn't take this long
But now he's finally gone"

Post Malone has not spoken about 'Killed A Man’ specifically just yet, but the New York native has touched more broadly on how welcoming the country music community has been to him since he announced his foray into the genre.

In an interview with Anthony Mason for CBS in Nashville, the ‘Chemical’ singer-songwriter shared, “Everyone here was so accepting and kind.” When Mason described this as a testament to Post Malone's genial, warm character, Posty immediately responded with an endearing dismissal, “I disagree. I think it's a testament to them.”

I killed a man last night
Gave him what he deserved
Dug a midnight grave and I put him in that dirt
I woke up this morning
My conscience fully clear
Felt closer to Jesus than I ever had in years

He can't hurt the ones I love
He can't break no angel's heart
He can't take that whiskey bottle and tear my world apart
He can't stand there in the mirror
He can't tell me no more lies
Yeah, I killed a man
I killed a man last night

Lord knows he had it comin'
His sins were adding up
But when he drove that girl away I finally had enough
I coulda plead the fifth
But I poured it down the drain
Said that sinner's prayer and I sent him on his way

He can't hurt the ones I love
He can't break no angel's heart
He can't take that whiskey bottle and tear my world apart
He can't stand there in the mirror
He can't tell me no more lies
Yeah, I killed a man
I killed a man last night

Wish it didn't take this long
But now he's finally gone

Now he can't hurt the ones I love
He can't break no angel's heart
He can't take that whiskey bottle and tear my world apart
He can't stand there in the mirror
He can't tell me no more lies
He's gone for good this time
I killed a man
I killed a man last night

I killed a man
I killed a man last night

Oh, I killed a man
I killed a man last night

––

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