Figure 8 is the second single off of FKA twigs' third EP, MXLL155X. The song was announed as a second single on August 3, 2015 through Zane Lowe's Beats 1 Show. The song was featured in the EP's short movie.
Background
Twigs revealed to the DJ that the evocative tune was written during a period of confusion that followed the success of her LP1 album in 2014, and that it was partially inspired by voguing. "I was feeling a bit sad and quite a bit lost," she said, "and I went to New York and I started to vogue." "Every hand movement that you do in voguing is a figure of 8, and that is eternity," Twigs added. "Every single move has to flow into the other like the eternal move that never stops moving."
Lyrics
Let me live
Through your vice
Mass appeal
I feel in ten breaths it's a miracle if we're still alive
Can you touch it? Is it real?
Paper cards that I feel
The slightest rip is a river that's overflowing me
Something happened, just above me
I've a baby inside
But I won't give birth till you insert yourself inside of me
I hear you whining, baby lively
I am an angel (hush now)
My back wings give the hardest slap that you've ever seen
Figures of 8 around your face
Elaborate, your eternity
You're so fucking fake that it’s hurting me
I'm just jealous cause you're more alive than what I'll ever be
I take a step, I break my neck
Teach me how to lead with my middle finger
Boys growing boys growing girls into women
Teach me how to live life like I'm not a singer
3-3-3-3-3-3, Hold that pose for me
Hush now, Hush now...
Let me live
Let me live (hush now, hush now)
Let me...