Songfacts®:

• Alt-J frontman Joe Newman has been heavily influenced by cinema all his life. For instance, the An Awesome Wave album title comes from a line in American Psycho, while the lyrics for this gentle acoustic folk ode are an ode to Natalie Portman's 12-year-old character in Luc Besson's thriller, Léon. "I originally wanted to write all my songs about film and have that novelty," he told Loud and Quiet magazine, "but as I've developed I've got more self-involved and started writing about break-ups and being beaten up. So it's gone down the more traditional path, but I haven't retired the idea of doing more film-based music."
• Why did Newman choose to base the lyrics on Natalie Portman's character? He explained to NME: "When I was about 12, the film Léon had a major effect on me. Matilda is this amazing character. All her family are killed and she forces Léon the hitman to be friends with her so she can get revenge. I was sucked in by her. I had a boy crush on Léon and a girl crush on Matilda."
• The studio where An Awesome Wave was recorded wasn't soundproofed and at one point if you listen carefully to this track, you can hear the sound of a bus braking.
• The line "Just like Johnny Flynn said, 'the breath I've taken and the one I must' to go on" is a reference to a lyric from alternative-folk singer-songwriter Johnny Flynn's song "The Wrote And The Writ." The tune is a track from his 2008 debut album, A Larum.