Wicked Games

Album

Trilogy

Label

XO

Genre

Quiet storm

Composer(s)

Abel Tesfaye;Doc McKinney;Carlo Montagnese;R. Millar Blancheur;C. Ray Garza

Entered Chart

Nov 17, 2012

Peak Date

Jan 26, 2013

Released

September 25, 2012

Recorded

Site Sound Studios, Toronto

Catalog #

XO Digital (Republic)

This was originally recorded by Abel Tesfaye under his stage name of The Weeknd for his 2011 mixtape House of Balloons. The song was later remastered and released as the lead single for his 2012 debut album Trilogy, which is a compendium of his first three mixtapes. When asked by NME if a 'Trilogy' was something he always set out to do, Tesfaye replied: "I knew the second I finished the first record – House Of Balloons - and had all this material leftover that a trilogy would be best." The Weeknd wrote the song with Doc McKinney and Illangelo. The two producers also performed all the instrumentation. Raised in Minneapolis, Doc McKinney grew up in the heart of the Twin Cities indie scene playing in various punk rock and hip hop based groups there before settling in Toronto, Canada, in 1994 as an aspiring Producer. Before linking up with The Weeknd, McKinney has worked with a variety of artists ranging from Sting and Maroon 5 to Kelis and Santigold. In 2011 he linked up with Weeknd's Toronto associate Drake to co-write two Take Care tracks, "Crew Love"and "The Ride." Toronto native Carlo "Illangelo" Montagnese is a long-time collaborator of The Weeknd, having collaborated with him on all three of the mixtapes that Trilogy is compiled from. Other credits include Wiz Khalifa's second O.N.I.F.C. single, "Remember You." It was Drake who first generated public awareness for The Weeknd after he quoted a line from this track on Twitter and linked to the R&B singer's music on his website. The Weeknd made his television debut on November 27, 2012, when he performed a censored version of this song on the UK's performance-based show Later... with Jools Holland. Trilogy sold 90,000 in the US in its first week despite the fact that it was almost entirely made up of songs that are available for free on The Weeknd's first three Mixtapes. When he was 17, The Weeknd dropped out of school and left home. He and two friends moved into a one-bedroom house at 65 Spencer Avenue, in the Toronto neighborhood of Parkdale. 65 Spencer Avenue inspired the title of House of Balloons. "We'd throw these s---ty parties and have girls over, and we'd try to make it celebratory, so we'd have balloons," The Weeknd told Rolling Stone.

I left my girl back home
I don't love her no more
And she'll never fucking know that
These fucking eyes that I'm staring at
Let me see that ass
Look at all this cash
And I emptied out my cards too
Now I'm fucking leaning on that

Bring your love, baby, I could bring my shame
Bring the drugs, baby, I could bring my pain
I got my heart right here
I got my scars right here
Bring the cups, baby, I could bring the drank
Bring your body, baby, I could bring you fame
And that's my motherfucking words too
Just let me motherfucking love you

Listen, ma, I'll give you all I got
Get me off of this, I need confidence in myself
Yeah, yeah, yeah, ohh, yeah, ohh
Listen, ma, I'll give you all of me
Give me all of it, I need all of it to myself
Whoa-whoa, whoa
So tell me you love me
(Only for tonight, only for the night)
Even though you don't love me
(Oh-whoa, oh-whoa)
Just tell me you love me
(I'll give you what I need) Ohh-yeah
(I'll give you all of me)
Even though you don't love me
(Oh-whoa) Yeah, yeah
(Oh-whoa) Yeah, yeah

Uh, let me see you dance
I love to watch you dance
Take you down another level
And get you dancing with the Devil
Take a shot of this
But I'm warning you
I'm on that shit that you can't smell, baby
So, put down your perfume

Bring your love, baby, I could bring my shame
Bring the drugs, baby, I could bring my pain
Oh, I got my heart right here
Oh, I got my scars right here
Bring the cups, baby, I could bring the drank
Bring your body, baby, I could bring you fame
And that's my motherfucking words too, ayy
So let me motherfucking love you

Listen, ma, I'll give you all I got
Get me off of this (off of this), I need confidence (confidence) in myself
Ohh, oh, ayy, ayy, ayy
Listen, ma, I'll give you all of me (ooh)
Give me all of it, I need all of it to myself
I need all of it, so tell me you love me, yeah
(Only for tonight) Ohh
(Only for the night)
Even though you don't love me, yeah
(Oh-whoa) Ohh
(Oh-whoa)
Just tell me you love me
(I'll give you what I need) Ohh-oh
(I'll give you all of me)
Even though you don't love me, ohh, yeah
(Oh-whoa, oh-whoa) Ohh