Ellie said on twitter that this song was inspired by the book The Girls by Emma Cline, a novel about a young teenager falling in with a Charles Manson-like cult. The lyrical references heavily allude to a Manson-like subject who inspires fear and respect to command a following.
[Verse 1]
He's got you on your knees
With that formidable cool
Infected you like a disease
With that formidable cool
[Pre-Chorus 1]
I know it's all an act
I can practically hear the pen planning
[Verse 2]
The moment that you meet him
Your name shoots up, up on the list of the deathpool
You’ll find him in his seedy setup
At the community dance hall
Pink lights flicker
His hand in somebody's knickers
He only has to look at you twice
To claim you, his love fool
[Pre-Chorus 1]
And I knew it was all an act
I can practically hear the pen planning
Yeah, I knew it was all an act
God never needed another stand in
[Chorus 1]
Believe in the chorus
Believe in love
Believe in the chorus
Believe in love
Believe in the chorus
Relieve in my touch
I believe in the chorus
I believe in love
[Verse 3]
You listen to his lectures on life
Without one of your own
When he tells you death is pure
It reverberates right into your bones
So you ask him for information
On why you once wanted to die
And he gives you satisfaction
In whatever form he likes
To heal the wounds you have
And not to open any more
But that's all he fucking did
When he fucked you on the floor
[Pre-Chorus 2]
And if you knew it was all an act
Then what are you crying for?
Yeah, if you knew it was all an act
Then why are you crying?
[Chorus 2]
What did you think when you saw us?
I thought it'd be fun
I believed what he taught us
I believed in love
Believed in the chorus
Relieved in his touch
I lived by the chorus
Believed in love
Formidable Cool was written by Wolf Alice & Joel Amey & Joff Oddie & Theo Ellis & Ellie Rowsell.
Formidable Cool was produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen.
Wolf Alice released Formidable Cool on Fri Sep 29 2017.
I was inspired by the book The Girls by Emma Cline."
– Ellie Rowsell
“Formidable Cool” again comes from a demo; it was realised properly in our rehearsal room. This song specifically I think shows off Ellie’s vocal versatility the most — there was a long time spent on whispers and screams. It was...