Songfacts®:

• Over a shimmering bass line and thumping drums, this primal song finds Adam Levine hunting down his prey: A girl who used to be his. Far from an "I want you back" love song, however, this one ventures into stalker territory and gets very sexual. "Don't deny the animal that comes alive when I'm inside you," he crudely croons.
  
  The Maroon 5 singer penned the song with Benny Blanco (with whom he also collaborated with on "Moves Like Jagger" and "Payphone"), and the song's producer, Shellback.
• The song starts with the chorus, which appears three more times in the song. A little over half the song is comprised of chorus, which leaves little room for story, but hammers home the hook. Repetition is the songwriting strategy on this track, as the title is repeated 30 times.
• The disturbing video was directed by Samuel Bayer, who first worked with Maroon 5 in 2012 when he shot their "Payphone" clip. It finds Levine portraying a slaughterhouse worker who spots a beautiful lady (played by his Victoria's Secret model wife Behati Prinsloo), and starts stalking her. It is not a video for the squeamish - one scene, for instance, shows Levine and Prinsloo embracing each other fully naked, covered in blood.
• In the bridge section near the end of the song, Adam Levine lets out a primal howl, which serves as both a musical element and an indication that he has caught his prey. This hunt technique was employed by Duran Duran in their 1982 hit "Hungry Like The Wolf."
• The song was previewed in a commercial for the KIA Soul EV featuring the company's dancing hamsters. For a limited time after the ad first aired, the song was available for free download on the Kia website.
• J Cole features on the song's remix, which was released on September 29, 2014 . He raps a verse detailing his addiction for the woman he desires.
• There are some interesting transitions in this song that get the listener into the verses after the first two choruses. Each chorus begins with Levine singing, "Baby I'm...", and in each of these two sections, he abruptly ends the chorus with that same phrase as the music shifts. This dangling phrase adds to the impression that the guy in the song is a little unbalanced and certainly unpredictable.
• RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network, expressed concern over the video, saying it glorifies stalking behavior. "Maroon 5's video for "Animals" is a dangerous depiction of a stalker's fantasy - and no one should ever confuse the criminal act of stalking with romance," read a RAINN statement. "The trivialization of these serious crimes, like stalking, should have no place in the entertainment industry."
• Hear those "Hey"s in the background vocals? When a technique shows up in a few hit songs, songwriters take notice; previous chart-dominating tracks with this backing include "Wiggle" by Jason Derulo, "Dark Horse" by Katy Perry, and "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea.