Songfacts®:

• A magnet is an object that forms a magnetic field. When a magnet goes near an object with magnetic properties, and the poles (sides) touching are opposite, it will pull, or attract the other object closer. This song is about someone so attractive, it pulls you toward them like a magnet, even though you know they won't be good for you.
  
  Disclosure's Howard Lawrence told MTV News: "The thing that I learned from Sam Smith is when you're thinking of an actual concept for a song, it's really important to pick one that everyone can relate to. For example, [for this song], I think most people have been in a kind of situation where you like someone and you know you're not supposed to. That's quite a relatable thing."
• New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde co-wrote this song with the Lawrence brothers and their songwriting partner Jimmy Napes. The Disclosure pair had been trying to get together with Lorde for a long time. "The last thing we said to each other was, 'We'll get in the studio and make a song,'" Howard Lawrence explained to The Sun. "But it just didn't happen for, like, two years and then towards the end of the writing this she just called us and was like, 'I'm in London, do you still want to write a song?'"
• Guy Lawrence told Billboard magazine regarding their teenage New Zealand collaborator. "I don't think we knew how much of a great writer she was, or how involved she would. Every little detail was covered, down to the drums and even the volume levels."
  
  Added Howard Lawrence: "She's got a lot of strong opinions, especially for someone so young."
• Guy Lawrence recalled the collaboration with Lorde to Spin. "'Magnets'" was a really nicely written song," he said. ""She was involved with every aspect of the song as opposed to just doing the lyrics and melodies and then leaving the rest to us. It was like someone challenging us, someone saying, 'We can get that extra ten percent.'"
• Magnetism have been used in a number of a songs to illustrate something (usually a person or a groove) that is so attractive, it pulls you toward it like a magnet. Some examples are:
  
  "Magnet And Steel" by Walter Egan
  "Magnets Caught in a Metal Heart" by Thursday
  "Magnetic" by Earth, Wind & Fire
  "Magnetic" by Flyleaf
• Did you know?
  
  A magnetar is a neutron star that has fields so magnetic, it can rip you apart from over 600 miles away.
  
  When radiation from an explosion on the magnetar SGR 1806-20 reached Earth, it was the most magnetic object ever perceived by mankind, with a magnetic field of over 1015 gauss in intensity.
  
  Magnetism can levitate organic matter if given enough energy.
  
  Birds can see the Earth's magnetic field.
  
• Lorde plays a femme fatale engaged in an affair with a much older man in the song's provocative video. It all ends violently after his wife gets wind of what is happening. Discussing the clip's concept in a posting on Tumblr, Lorde wrote, "The most important detail is the girlfriend's black eye, when she's by the window... watch it with that moment in mind. that's the point the whole video hinges on."
• The Disclosure pair were joined by Lorde for a performance of the song on the November 14, 2015 episode of Saturday Night Live. Following the show's transmission, there was some speculation on social media that the New Zealander did not sing live. "Wow – the fact that some people thought I was lip syncing on SNL is an awesome compliment!," Lorde responded. "Goes without saying I have never/will never haha."