King for a Day

## Single by Pierce the Veil featuring Kellin Quinn

"**King for a Day**" is a song by Pierce the Veil featuring guest vocals by Kellin Quinn of Sleeping with Sirens. It was released as the lead single from their third studio album, *Collide with the Sky*, on June 5, 2012.

## Background

Fuentes said of the track, "This song is about getting pushed past your breaking point. Sometimes I feel like there are just too many things weighing on my mind at once and I can't control my thoughts or even my body at times. Mike came up with the title and I thought it was a perfect way to describe the song. We wrote the music for this song with my friends Curtis Peoples and Steve Miller in a cabin that we converted into a studio in Big Bear, California. For months, fans had been tweeting at me to do a song with Kellin Quinn from the band Sleeping with Sirens. I had never met him before, but we started talking on Twitter due to our mutual fans. I asked him if he'd be down to do a song together and the rest is history!"

To *Alternative Press*, Fuentes said that from online, fans would insist on him collaborating with Quinn. He believed that "King for a Day" was the perfect energetic song for them to work on, and added, "It just felt like the right one. I didn't really know off the bat. It formed organically from those tweets and from us connecting after that." Fuentes was outside the studio in New Jersey, talking to Quinn over the phone for the first time. Quinn responded to this, "Yeah, it was funny because I remember you talking to me and sending me the song. And at the time, I was living in this small, really tiny apartment. And I didn't really know anybody that could track my spot except for this kid Johnny, who had the shittiest computer. [...] I was tracking parts, and it took him forever to get my parts done, and his brother was banging on the wall to tell us to shut up because I'd scream parts. So I'd have to retrack it, and I remember getting you the final version and just waiting for you to respond. I think you were in a session, and I was like, "Dude, he hates it. He hates the part." And then you finally responded, and you were like, "I love it." And I was like, "OK, cool." It was really funny." This surprised Fuentes, who thought Quinn recorded with an actual producer.

Fuentes continued the conversation, "I had purposely left a lot of the song blank for you to sing on and to add your style and do whatever you wanted to it. And that was scary for me because who knows what you were going to do. You could have freaking rapped over it. I would have had no idea. But when I got it back, I was literally jaw dropped. We all were blown away. It was perfect for the song."

## Music video

The official music video was uploaded to the band's YouTube channel on August 6, 2012. It was directed by Drew Russ, and depicts coworkers Vic and Kellin who enact revenge on their unpleasant boss, who has embezzled funds from the bank.

Fuentes also met his future girlfriend, Danielle Victoria, on the set. He told *Kerrang!* in 2015, "I thought the redhead from this video was super attractive, so I turned on what charm. I had, and managed to get her number that day. She is now my girlfriend, and we've been dating for almost two years now. It's such a clichéd rock 'n' roll love story, but we don't care!"

## Lyrics

**Lyrics**
[Verse 1: Vic Fuentes, *Kellin Quinn*]

Dare me to jump off of this Jersey bridge

*I bet you never had a Friday night like this*

Keep it up, keep it up, let's raise our hands

*I take a look up at the sky and I see red*

Red for the cancer, red for the wealthy

Red for the drink that's mixed with suicide

*Everything red*

[Pre-Chorus: Kellin Quinn]

Please, won't you push me for the last time?

Let's scream until there's nothing left

So sick of playing, I don't want this anymore

The thought of you's no fucking fun

You want a martyr, I'll be one

Because enough's enough, we're done

[Chorus: Vic Fuentes]

You told me, "Think about it," well, I did

Now I don't wanna feel a thing anymore

I'm tired of begging for the things that I want

I'm over sleeping like a dog on the floor

[Post-Chorus: Vic Fuentes]

Yeah!

[Verse 2: Vic Fuentes]

The thing I think I love will surely bring me pain

Intoxication, paranoia and a lot of fame

Three cheers for throwing up, pubescent drama queen

You make me sick, I make it worse by drinking late

[Pre-Chorus: Kellin Quinn]

Scream, scream, scream, scream

Scream, scream until there's nothing left

So sick of playing, I don't want to anymore

The thought of you's no fucking fun

You want a martyr, I'll be one

Because enough's enough, we're done

[Chorus: Vic Fuentes, *Kellin Quinn*]

You told me, "Think about it," well, I did (*Well, I did*)

Now I don't wanna feel a thing anymore

I'm tired of begging for the things that I want

I'm over sleeping like a dog on the floor

*Imagine living like a king someday*

*A single night without a ghost in the walls*

*And if the bass shakes the earth underground*

*We'll start a new revolution now*

Now!

[Post-Chorus: Kellin Quinn]

Alright, here we go

[Bridge: Vic Fuentes]

Hail Mary, forgive me

Blood for blood, hearts beating

Come at me, now this is war

Fuck with this new beat, oh

[Breakdown: Vic Fuentes, Kellin Quinn]

*Now terror begins inside a bloodless vein*

I was just a product of the street youth rage

*Born in this world without a voice or say*

Caught in the spokes with an abandoned brain

*I know you well, but this ain't a game*

Blow the smoke in diamond shape

*Dying is a gift, so close your eyes*

*And rest in peace*

[Chorus: Vic Fuentes, *Kellin Quinn*]

You told me, "Think about it," well, I did

Now I don't wanna feel a thing anymore

I'm tired of begging for the things that I want

I'm over sleeping like a dog on the floor

*Imagine living like a king someday*

*A single night without a ghost in the walls*

*We are the shadows screaming, "Take us now!"*

We'd rather die than live to rust on the ground

[Outro: Vic Fuentes]

Shit

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Owens, Paige (February 6, 2020). "Vic Fuentes, Kellin Quinn on why they couldn't "ever beat" "King For A Day"". *Alternative Press*.