King

"King" can be read as the more rare but perennial plight of the lover that pleads to be let go from lack of love or interest on the part of the beloved.

It begins with the writer creating a space for the conversation that is about to take place:

"I caught you watching me under the light | Can I realign?"

With this he has brought the question into literal light in order to address his concern. Right away, it is exposed:

"They say it's easy to leave you behind | I don't want try."

That is to say, that the writer does not want to be the one to end the relationship, though it should be "easy". What he further expounds in the pre-chorus, reveals the nuances of the writer's problem. He begins with the fact that what he's about to ask for takes courage (Cut cover, take that test | Hold courage to your chest), but that in essence he pleads a merciful end that reveals the hopeful remnants of his love.

"Don’t wanna wait for you Don’t wanna have to lose All that I've compromised to feel another high I’ve got to keep it down tonight."

Thusly, he attempts to keep his composure in light of the emotional distress he's experiencing due to the compromises he's made to his lover (in the "high" of a new relationship), which he does not want to feel were a waste or about to be lost.

He continues in the chorus, furthering the description of the intricacies of his emotional state:

"I was a king under your control I wanna feel like you’ve let me go So let me go."

In the chorus, the writer recognizes his value and the power under which he was, that is, the influence and power of his lover, who, presumably, does not recognize that value. Therefore, the writer pleads for his lover to let him go because he cannot bring to come to the emotional state of having been let go on his own power or volition (still under the lover's influence).

In the next verse, the writer reminisces on the relationship. He reminds the lover of various examples of the writer's commitment with phrase with multiple meaning: "Don’t you remember how I used to like | Being on the line?" In this case, "being on the line" can have the multiple meanings of conversing on the phone "line", or the fact that there was once an enjoyable time when he felt a sense of risk as the relationship developed.

Then, the writer evokes an image within an image to further maintain the theme of feeling a lack of control within the relationship: "I dreamed you dreamed of me calling out my name". He feels so much out of control that his own identity is framed within the power or will of his lover, about which he asks -- to himself, the lover, and the listener -- "Is it worth the price?" "It" being that relinquishing of self-direction or will.

Next comes the bridge, which carries forward the complexity of the writer's dilemma. He "had to break [himself] to carry on" in the relationship, though he clearly realizes the unhealthy situation where he does not feel valued by the lover ("No love and no admission"). He uses a Biblical phrase, where a distraught Christ pleads with God to "Take this from me tonight" in a critically distressed and bloodied sweat. And finally the writer suggests the ultimate show-down that will garner the freedom he desires, a thorough and continuous argument that echoes and persists into the musical hook: "Oh, let’s fight (x3)."

Finally (and presumably after the fight), the song's coda resolves the dilemma for the writer, where they both have finally let go of each other and everything regarding the relationship with a mantra-like quality:

"Let go, let go, let go of everything Let go, let go, let go of everything Let go, let go, let go of everything Let go, let go, let go of everything."

I agree that this song has a double meaning and could be about a destructive love or (and) a drug addiction.

“I used to like being on the line” can refer to being tied to addiction and drugs like cocaine that are often consumed in lines.

“Don’t wanna have to lose all that I've compromised to feel another high. I’ve got to keep it down tonight“ The character is rehabilitating and knows that drugs are not good for him.

But still he feels this hunger (craving).

“I was a king under your control” Under the influence of uplifting drugs you can feel like a king.

“I had to break myself to carry on
. No love and no admission
. Take this from me tonight
. Oh-oh, let's fight.” It’s hard to stop an addiction. Certain areas of the mind keep crying for more substance for a long time. Stopping an addiction can be compared with a fight.

This song empowered me often in my fight. Thank you.

The name of the song, the lyrics, the single album cover... Everything points that it's about Candy Crush addiction.

I feel like on the surface this is about drugs, but the drug is a metaphor for a person that creates an unhealthy relationship, but the singer keeps going back to anyways.

Don't wanna have to lose All that I've compromised to feel another high I've got to keep it down tonight

The writer probably made progress having detached themselves form the unhealthy relationship, and would lose that progress if they were drawn back to them again.

Taking the drug metaphor a step further, I wonder if it is mental health that has inspired the lyrics of this song.

"I am a King, under your control" goes some way to describing the awful helplessness of chronic mental illness, and "don't want to lose all that I've compromised to feel another high" is reminiscent of the urge to self medicate, regardless of the cost.

Ollie Alexander has been public about his past and present struggles with anxiety and depression, and if you've had any experience with these sort of things, there is a haunting familiarity in this song.

Vocalist Olly Alexander wrote the song's lyric at two different stages in his life. He explained to Digital Spy: "It's about being in a relationship with someone and how that can feel really intoxicating, but that can be really addictive and you can feel like a king. You know it has to end and you feel it's going bad, but you don't feel strong enough to end it yourself. You want the other person to end it. That's what I felt like I was going through over the period of a year, and then towards the end, I wrote the song."