‘Killin’ Me’ by Parker McCollum - Lyrics & Meaning

Arriving as the third and final single from Parker McCollum's keenly anticipated new self-titled album, ‘Killin’ Me’ finds the ‘Burn It Down’ singer-songwriter native serving up a series of sweet nothings to his lover, as he yearns to spend the evening with her.

Penned with Monty Criswell and Randy Rogers and produced by Frank Liddell at New York's Power Station studio - much like the rest of the album - ‘Killin’ Me’ was first teased in 2024, with McCollum keeping us on our toes before dropping it in June 2025.

Throughout 2025's Parker McCollum, the Texas native has made a conscious effort to return to the more stripped-back, rough-around-the-edges and Americana-infused sound that permeated his now-fabled debut studio album, The Limestone Kid.

You can hear it throughout ‘Killin’ Me’, with McCollum's sleek, undulating drawl maintaining the polish of his recent projects, while the composition feels decidedly sparser.

“One more last time

Are you all mine?

Take your sweet time

Go on

Black dress slips off

Dim lights, bedroom wall

Catch me

I'm too far gone”

‘Killin’ Me’ pivots around the tantalising moments before a romantic encounter, with Parker McCollum stepping into the shoes of a protagonist who meets a woman he knows he shouldn't fall back into bed with, but nonetheless cannot resist.

The opening line, “One more last time”, suggests a sense of forbidden love, with the narrator admitting this should be their final rendezvous. He then sets the tone, sensually slipping off his lover's dress and dimming the lights to get the mood just right.

“You turn every head and stop a room on a dime

And when you look at me, I know you know I'm dying inside

You're everything I want

You're the last thing in this world that I need

Yeah, every move you make is killing me”

The protagonist praises how the woman can walk into a room and immediately capture everyone's attention, before confessing he feels as though he's “dying inside” with lust whenever he sees her. He contrasts how she's “everything I want” yet “the last thing in this world that I need”, and extends the imagery of him feeling as though he's “dying” by delivering the titular line, “Every move you make is killing me”.

“Drunk on red wine

Your lips, green eyes

Real love, true lies

Come on”

We get more juxtaposition, as the narrator contrasts the intoxicating red wine with his lover's enchanting green eyes, before implying they're uttering “true lies” to one another.

This oxymoron seemingly conveys how they're saying things they believe to be true in the moment, such as that this is “real love”, even though they know deep down it isn't really.

“Every breath you take, I've never felt so alive

And if I can't have you forever, can I have you tonight?

Just love me like the Devil, then lay me six feet deep

Yeah, every move you make is killing me”

We get another contrast here, with the narrator reneging on his earlier suggestion that he feels like he's dying, because now he is able to give in to his lover's allure, he has “never felt so alive”. The protagonist again hints that this can only be a fleeting romance, even though he would ideally spend much longer with this woman.

He returns to the key death-related theme by pleading with her to love him in a “devilish” way, before leaving him “six feet deep” in the ground, underlining how he doesn't care if it really does kill him - he must indulge his desires and give in to his passion.

“One more last time

Are you all mine?

Take your sweet time

Go on

-

Black dress slips off

Dim lights, bedroom wall

Catch me

I'm too far gone

-

You turn every head and stop a room on a dime

And when you look at me, I know you know I'm dying inside

You're everything I want

You're the last thing in this world that I need

Yeah, every move you make is killing me

-

Drunk on red wine

Your lips, green eyes

Real love, true lies

Come on

-

You turn every head and stop a room on a dime

And when you look at me, I know you know I'm dying inside

You're everything I want

You're the last thing in this world that I need

Yeah, every move you make is killing me

-

You turn every head and stop a room on a dime

And when you look at me, I know you know I'm dying inside

You're everything I want

You're the last thing in this world that I need

Yeah, every move you make is killing me

-

Every breath you take, I've never felt so alive

And if I can't have you forever, can I have you tonight?

Just love me like the Devil, then lay me six feet deep

Yeah, every move you make is killing me”

For more on Parker McCollum, see below: