Trophy

Album: Trophy (2019)
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Songfacts®:

  • "I love you like man loves a trophy," Kate Davis sings on the title track of her debut album. This desire for possession isn't healthy, but Davis doesn't shy away from these dark corners of the psyche. "I was thinking a lot at the time about obsession, and the things that a person will do in order to have something they desire," she told Songfacts. "I think that as humans, we do things from an animal place more than we like to admit, and everybody goes through a time in their life when they feel possessive over something or someone. I found those tendencies within myself and I was fascinated with the idea of wanting something so badly that you would do anything."
  • Davis is fascinated with sociopaths and is a big fan of the TV series Dexter, which influenced this song. Dexter is about a guy who does forensics, but is also a murderer, killing those who got away with crimes. In her Songfacts interview, Davis explained: "I fell in love with this idea of the vigilante serial killer - the guy who goes around and kills bad people. You identify with him because he's the one who is cleaning up the streets - he's helping other people live their lives without interruption. He talked about a dark passenger, and the darkness that drove him to do what he does, and I feel like the reason people love that show is because he's actually a relatable character.

    For a while, I was in a relationship with someone where it felt like I was so possessive and so jealous of other people that it would bring out really dark sides to my personality and to my everyday existence, because I was so obsessed with cleaning my territory or making sure what was mine was mine. Looking back, it just sounds ridiculous, and it does not identify with who I am at this time in my life."
  • The music video was directed by Holden Brown. It takes place at a macabre talent show, where Davis plays all of the characters: a dancer, a pie eater, a magician, and herself. The real Kate Davis ends up winning by forfeit after all the other contestants are killed in their acts.
  • Davis spent a lot of time coaxing out the other songs on the album, but this one came to her quickly when she wasn't even thinking about writing a song. She says it was almost as if it was written in a dream.

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