Behind the Clock

The characters mentioned (Freddy Madison, Betty Elms, Nikki Grace and Susan Blue) all have a common throughline: they are all characters in David Lynch films with alternate identities. Freddy Madison is stuck in a time loop, perfect for the song title "Behind the Clock."

Given that AFI has often delved into themes around fame and the alternate identity it provides, it makes sense that Davey is relating to these characters since they all have alternate identities. I will provide further analysis after watching the films and listening to the song much more - unless you, dear reader, beat me to it!

Finally, if there is a songmeanings mod here, I apologize for accidentally including the following lines in the lyrics, which should be removed:

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Adding to the what hungryjackman said, I think the song is about an identity crisis and feeling like nobody cares enough to see it. Comparing himself to characters with alternate identities, some of them trying to attain fame, I think Davey is expressing how he's had to put on a face or a filter for his artistry, but it's been draining/damaging ("in glitter hell" "starless walk"). In the music industry, artists often have to edit their music to make it more of a successful record rather than just pure expression. A record like Song the Sorrow, which had a lot of effort in production to make it successful, isn't as honest as something like Bodies, where Davey felt they had more control over how it turned out. The filters are making him lose sight of himself and unable to genuinely express himself.

"Green light lit, the blue remake no one will care to see"

Blue, in filmmaking, is used to invoke sadness, introspection, mystery, etc. I think the "blue remake" might be Davey's way of saying "an honest retelling of my plight" (his plight being the face or filter he's had to wear). But people don't really care about it, they don't want the real AFI, they want the filtered, marketed one. This might be a response to how fans often ask for something like StS, rather than just a new record. They don't want to do another record designed to get them famous, they just want to do whatever they feel like, but they get the sense that no one cares for that.

"Thriller Killer been revealed, he's inside you, she's inside me"

Here, I think Davey is pointing at the purpose of music such as his (the purpose of a killer in a thriller is to make it a thriller), and I think he might be referring to selfish desires. We want music we'll enjoy, and he wants to make music as a form of expression. But that's the problem, what fans want and what AFI wants are at odds with each other

You can conversely as "what kills the thriller," which still leads to the same thing. Why does no one want to watch the blue remake? Because it wasn't made for them, it was made for whoever made it, and to the makers of it, it comes off as nobody cares, or in this case, nobody cares enough to just give it a listen

"One stop, me moving toward the other, back and forth, from utter peril to total disaster"

Utter peril refers to making the blue remake, which is risky because it might disappoint fans and thus be unsuccessful. Total disaster would be making another filtered record, which makes Davey feel like he's sinking further into his mask