She had a face straight out a magazine
God only knows, but you'll never leave her
Her balaclava is starting to chafe
And when she gets his gun, he's begging, "Babe, stay, stay
Stay, stay, stay"
[Chorus]
"I'll give you one more time
We'll give you one more fight
Said one more line
Will I know you?"
[Verse 2]
Now if you never shoot, you'll never know
And if you never eat, you'll never grow
You got a pretty kind of dirty face
And when she's leaving your home, she's begging you to stay, stay
Stay, stay, stay
[Chorus]
"I'll give you one more time
We'll give you one more fight
Said one more line
There'll be a riot 'cause I know you"
Well, now that you've got your gun
It's much harder now the police have come
And I'll shoot him if it's what you ask
But if you just take off your mask
You'd find out everything's gone wrong
[Outro]
Now everybody's dead
And they're driving past my old school
And he's got his gun, and he's got his suit on
And she says, "Babe, you look so cool
You look so cool
You look so cool
You look so cool (One more time)
You look so cool (One more fight)
You look so cool (One more line)"
('Cause I know you)
About
This is a love song about a toxic relationship. They are too focused on each other to notice the destruction they cause each other.
The title “Robbers” refers to how the lovers are robbing each other of happiness and chances in this world apart from one another. They can’t move on and grow in love because they are so caught up in their toxic relationship.
The 1975 frontman, Matty Healy said the following about the song:
‘Robbers’ was originally inspired by my love of the Quentin Tarantino film True Romance, the story of an Elvis-obsessed loner who falls in love and marries a prostitute. In the movie, the couple run away to California after killing her pimp and stealing his drugs to start a new life financed by a once in a lifetime drug deal. It’s the sentiment behind the film that appeals to me, the hopelessly romantic notion that two people can meet and instantly fall in love, an escape story where love is the highest law and conquers all against the odds. Characters like Bonnie and Clyde always appealed to me as a teenager – couples so intoxicated with one another that they fear nothing in the pursuit of the realization of each other, actions fueled by blind unconditional love. ‘Robbers’ is an ode to those relationships. The type of relationship all humans long for. All or nothing. This video is about when love makes two people feel they are the centre of the universe.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Matty shared some insight about what he’d do differently for the music video at their show in Toronto, stating:
I love “Robbers”… but If I could do it again, I would do it without guns. because retrospectively it feels a bit weird watching that, seeing as I’m all like, “I stand for all that stuff” but then there I am, fucking around with a gun and all that. It’s not really cool.
Matty Healy, lead singer of the group, has said:
‘Robbers’ was originally inspired by my love of the Quentin Tarantino film True Romance, the story of an Elvis-obsessed loner who falls in love and marries a prostitute. In the movie the couple run away to California after killing her pimp and stealing his drugs to start a new life financed by a once in a lifetime drug deal. It’s the sentiment behind the film that appeals to me, the hopelessly romantic notion that two people can meet and instantly fall in love, an escape story where love is the highest law and conquers all against the odds. Characters like Bonnie and Clyde always appealed to me as a teenager – couples so intoxicated with one another that they fear nothing in the pursuit of the realization of each other, actions fueled by blind unconditional love. ‘Robbers’ is an ode to those relationships. The type of relationship all humans long for. All or nothing. This video is about when love makes two people feel they are the centre of the universe.
- 1.The 1975
- 2.The City
- 3.M.O.N.E.Y.
- 4.Chocolate
- 5.Sex
- 6.Talk!
- 7.An Encounter
- 8.Heart Out
- 9.Settle Down
- 10.Robbers
- 11.Girls
- 12.12
- 13.She Way Out
- 14.Menswear
- 15.Pressure
- 17.Facedown
- 19.Antichrist
- 20.Woman
- 21.Intro/Set3
- 22.Undo
- 23.Sex (EP Version)
- 24.You
- 25.Anobrain
- 27.HNSCC
- 29.Me
- 31.Haunt // Bed
- 33.Fallingforyou