Halsey & Amy Lee’s Hand That Feeds, released on 9 May 2025, isn’t a power ballad. It’s not a scream either.
It sits somewhere in between—restless, deliberate, and more fed-up than dramatic.
Written for the Ballerina soundtrack—the John Wick spinoff starring Ana de Armas—the track leans hard into its cinematic roots without losing its grip on emotional detail.
The production doesn’t overreach. There’s a quiet kind of menace threaded through every line, and neither Halsey nor Amy Lee feels the need to make it sound bigger than it is.
Instead, the song turns inward. It doesn’t beg for empathy. It just lays everything out and leaves you with it.
“I know I should have the pride / I know I should have the spirit”
The song opens in a state of disconnection. It sounds like someone listing qualities they used to fake, or still think they’re expected to have.
There’s a strange calm here—not sadness, not rage, just the quiet awkwardness of admitting you’ve come undone and don’t know what to do with what’s left.
“I know you would tell a lie / If you knew I couldn’t hear it”
This is where things start to rot. There’s no sense of shock or heartbreak—it’s just a factual observation.
The line hints at a kind of cruelty that thrives in silence. Not loud, not dramatic, but controlled.
The sort of lie that’s told when the other person’s too exhausted to argue back.
“You’d say it oh-so proudly / But do you know your crimes? / And do you think about me? / And were you ever mine?”
The pre-chorus reads like a confrontation that never made it out of someone’s head. The tone isn’t accusatory—it’s weary.
These aren’t the first questions. They’re the last ones. The ones you ask when you already know the answers but can’t stop them from circling.
“You say I mean the world to you / To keep me on my knees”
This is the gut-punch. Any illusion of love or protection collapses under the weight of control.
The line flips romantic language back on itself—“you mean the world to me” becomes a leash. Affection as leverage.
“Then dig the knife in deeper / Just to watch how much I bleed”
There’s no metaphor here. It’s violent, unvarnished. This line doesn’t need embellishment because it’s not meant to be poetic—it’s meant to sting.
“I’m stripped to the bone / I wanna be alone, no matter how I plead”
This is what happens when pain stops asking for an exit. Even the desire to be left alone isn’t enough—there’s always another demand, another layer being peeled back. The delivery feels tired. Not defeated—just done.
“You do it ’cause you know you can / Turn around and bite the hand that feeds”
The line that gives the song its title feels less like rebellion and more like a final act of self-respect. It’s not revenge.
It’s the first and last line of resistance—choosing not to obey, even when there’s nothing left to protect.
“Every promise that you break / Every time you try to place the blame on me”
Amy Lee takes over here, and there’s an edge of cold detachment in her voice.
The lines stack like a report—evidence listed, calmly and completely. She’s not venting. She’s done justifying.
“I don’t wanna control the pain / Turn it into the fire I need”
There’s something quietly radical in this line. It rejects the narrative of turning pain into strength like some redemption arc.
She’s not trying to own the pain—she just wants to burn through it and move on.
“Can you still hear me cry? / But after all, I’m standing / On my own this time”
The shift here is subtle. The pain’s still there, but it’s background noise now.
The emphasis is on the fact that she’s standing—alone, not collapsed. It’s not triumphant. It’s steady. Which feels more powerful anyway.
“I played your twisted game / Now watch me walk through the flames / Chokin’ on the taste of your mistakes / And now you’re the one on your knees”
The final stretch of the song flips the script. But again, it doesn’t come with a victory march. This isn’t revenge. It’s fallout. The game’s over. The cost is clear. No one wins—but at least now there’s distance.
“That’s why you bite the hand that feeds”
This closing line isn’t a warning. It’s an explanation. There’s no regret in it. Just the quiet logic of a boundary finally drawn.
Produced by Jordan Fish (formerly of Bring Me the Horizon), the song blends distorted electronics with a theatrical build.
It stays just shy of going full Evanescence, pulling back where other tracks might explode.
The verses drift, the drums press forward, and the chorus lingers without ever fully letting loose.
There’s no climactic scream or final key change. Just this steady, gnawing tension—right up until it lets go.
For Halsey, this track marked more than a film feature. As she put it:
“I’ve been a fan of Amy Lee since I was 11 years old. Her and Evanescence created a window for me that allowed my feelings to seem important. They were the place I ran to when I couldn’t stand the outside world. I wouldn’t be the artist I am today without them. Getting to create alongside her on ‘HAND THAT FEEDS’ is one of the most surreal moments of my life. I’ll carry this forever!”
There’s something fitting about that. A song about control, silence, and damage—made by two voices that have, in their own ways, carved through all of that to survive the noise.
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Halsey & Amy Lee Hand That Feeds Lyrics
Verse 1: Halsey
I know I should have the pride
I know I should have the spirit
I know you would tell a lie
If you knew I couldn’t hear it
Pre-Chorus: Halsey
You’d say it oh-so proudly
But do you know your crimes?
And do you think about me?
And were you ever mine?
Chorus: Halsey & Amy Lee
You say I mean the world to you to keep me on my knees
Then dig the knife in deeper just to watch how much I bleed
I’m stripped to the bone, I don’t wanna be alone, no matter how I plead
You do it ’cause you know you can
Turn around and bite the hand that feeds
Verse 2: Amy Lee
Every promise that you break
Every time you try to place the blame on me
I don’t wanna control thе pain
Turn it into the fire I need
Pre-Chorus: Amy Lee
The feeling rushеs through me
Can you still hear me cry?
But after all, I’m standing
On my own this time
Chorus: Halsey, Amy Lee
You say I mean the world to you to keep me on my knees (Keep me on my knees)
Then dig the knife in deeper just to watch how much I bleed
Stripped to the bone, I don’t wanna be alone, no matter how I plead
You do it ’cause you know you can
Turn around and bite the hand that feeds
Outro: Amy Lee, Halsey
I played your twisted game (Played your twisted game)
Now watch me walk through the flames
Chokin’ on the taste of your mistakes
And now you’re the one on your knees
That’s why you bite the hand that feeds
