Who Wrote Moth To A Flame And What Inspired It?

Question

Just finished reading Moth to a Flame and those themes got me searching for the author's real life inspirations behind it all.

ipuolepatrick03 · Answer

Moth to a Flame by Z. R. Vu was another favorite of mine. Author Vu found inspiration in the 80’s music and film (specifically the film noir of that time period), creating a unique setting for the story of intense, destructive attraction of obsession. In contrast, I found another story with similar themes very compelling – Flames of Desire. The story is a ruthless political marriage and follows the forced proximity and power struggles of the two leads as they are drawn to each other inevitably with intense emotions.

Flynn · Answer

I still put “Moth to a Flame” in my workout playlist because it’s just so moody and huge. “Moth to a Flame” was a core creative effort from The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) pairing up with Swedish House Mafia (Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso, Steve Angello). It was further produced and written by a host of other writers and producers. The idea behind “Moth to a Flame” is that of a moth to a flame: something inevitable that draws something towards destruction.

This song is also really great because it can be both a pop club song and a really emotional and deep ballad all at once. It sits in this really great spot of tension and it’s really amazing to listen to. You can even imagine this song being played in a really cool and glossy TV commercial or even at the climax of a really intense rooftop party and it would fit perfectly. The song is about wanting something that you know is going to hurt you and it’s just really great. The song is a really great guilty-pleasure track that actually even deserves to be a guilty-pleasure.

Henry · Answer

I was really surprised by the song ‘Moth to a Flame’ by Swedish House Mafia & The Weeknd when I first heard it. It was clear that two worlds had collided in order to create this song. The song is written by Swedish House Mafia (Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso) and The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye). In addition to these 3 writers and creators there are also many other songwriters and producers involved in the song. For example I believe Rikard Göransson, Peter Svensson and Ali Payami have also been involved.

You can tell from the title that the song was inspired by the classic “moth to the flame” metaphor. The Weeknd has always explored late-night lust and “destructive romance” in his songwriting, while the three members of Swedish House Mafia are notorious for creating massive, cinematic “club” tracks that are designed to be played on huge sound systems. Together, they’ve created a song that is equal parts massive, glossy “dance” track and deeply troubled emotional landscape. The images in the video and promo for “Moth to the Flame” were all shot in dark colors, with plenty of neon, and aimed to explore the contradictory ideas of attraction and danger in the of night.

It’s a grown-up dance track, it’s really pleasant as an anthem, and at the same time it’s really dramatic for a couple of minutes. It feels really good.

Ulysses · Answer

This is a crossover song of high class. It was written by the Swedish House Mafia and The Weeknd. It’s a big collaboration between two big acts who respect each other’s work. Swedish House Mafia wanted a vocalist to to carry the melancholy hook of the track and chose The Weeknd because of his late-night, noir-themed songs and romances.

In terms of inspiration for the song imagery, I would say it is fairly straightforward yet very rich. The comparison of a moth to a flame is a metaphor that has been around for ages, and for this song it relates to the feeling of being drawn to something that may be bad for you. Inspirationally for the track itself, I would say that the late-night house vibe has been a huge source of inspiration for the chord progression, which also has a very cinematic, melancholy feel to it, while the production has a very modern, pop feel, with a big drop at the end to make it a club track. It’s a track that can be played in a pop playlist, a dance playlist, or even on a late-night drive. The track is one of those that I revisit from time to time, and it always has the same effect on me – it makes me feel dramatic and slightly melancholic, but in a good way.

Isaac · Answer

I get this song! ‘Moth to a Flame’ by Swedish House Mafia & The Weeknd! This record is a collaboration between Swedish House Mafia and the troubled pop singer The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye). The primary writing on this single record was done by Tesfaye and the three seminal dance-music producers Axelwell, Ingrosso and Angello (of Swedish House Mafia), with additional writing and production from Ali Payami and Frank Dukes (known for his production work with many pop-music acts).

This song was clearly inspired by the classic ‘moth to a flame’ trope of attraction to something that is unhealthy for you. In terms of The Weeknd’s typical songwriting, he’s exploring themes of toxic desire and regret. However, the producers of the track created a magnificent bittersweet dance track that allows listeners to explore that complex tension and relate to it on the floor. In interviews, both The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia members spoke about how the two entities were merging to create a new sound – that of The Weeknd’s nocturnal pop-R&B songs and that of Swedish House Mafia’s more euphoric yet somber dance tracks. Temptation has always sounded so beautiful and detrimental to one’s health.

It’s a very radio-friendly track but still has the core of The Weeknd’s emotion in it. It’s one of those collaborations where the artist names are big but the little touches of production and the specific lyrics that the writers chose to use really make it come together to a finished product. To me, it feels like lighting a match in a dark room. It still gives me chills every time the chorus kicks in.

Scarlett · Answer

'AGEMoth to a Flame' is a song written and performed by Swedish House Mafia and The Weeknd (Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso vs. Abel Tesfaye). It explores the notion of irresistible attraction and the corresponding destruction it can bring. The title 'Moth to a Flame' refers to the metaphor that describes how moths are attracted to flames even though they can be destroyed by them. In terms of production 'Moth to a Flame' blends big room dance music with dark moody RnB vocals, creating a huge contrast to the conflict and warning in the lyrics of the track. This tension between the production and the song’s lyrics makes 'Moth to a Flame' an amazing track to play in the club, but also a great late night song to add to a contemplative playlist.

Leah · Answer

Moth to a Flame is a fascinating listen. The song is a slick electronic anthem but it explores a fundamental human experience – being powerless against something bad for you. Written by and featuring The Weeknd, better known to most as Abel Tesfaye, the song is a ‘bruised and regretful’ take on things, all set against a cinematic and dancefloor-friendly backdrop from Swedish House Mafia (Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello). It was released late last year as part of the bonus tracks for Swedish House Mafia’s Paradise Again album, and indeed was written with the aid of several other songwriting and production heavyweights.

Looking for further inspiration, we can of course look to both camps’ previous work. The Weeknd’s forays into nocturnal romance and self-destruction are a perfect bedfellow for the melancholy euphoria of Swedish House Mafia, to create the perfect late-night destination anthem. Allowing for the listener to move through the space of the track, to dance while lost in thought, of emotions felt whilst doing something wonderful. The music video, and accompanying press for ‘Moth to a Flame’ is shot in cinematic and dark ‘noir’ style, in order to hammer home the track’s theme of the irresistible pull to something that’s very, very bad for you. A perfect late-evening track.

Alia Lota · Answer

The author is K.M. Moronova. I associate Gothic and horror with this one, but of dark, fairy tale variety. It is a Grimm or Andersen story for adults. Moronova loves Angela Carter’s ‘The Bloody Chamber’ and so this novel is another attempt to take the basic shape of a cautionary fable (e.g. don’t go into the woods, don’t talk to strangers) and fill it out to novel length with full, rounded characters and complex psychology. The inspiration for the ‘flame’ of this story is the witch’s candy house. The primal, basic warning of such old stories is the true inspiration here.

Rebecca Stone · Answer

Moronova? Yes, it's me again. I wrote it for money, sort of. A breakout serial novel is a product and I tried to make a good one. The title and cover are designed to work well as a metaphor for a good read. The blurb is written to promise the kind of addictive, angsty read that people are looking for. The book is a product for a certain niche market. Yes, there is merit to the work, but the inspiration was not purely artistic. There were many factors that influenced my decisions, including what tropes are currently trending, what kind of cover will get the most clicks, how to pace the story to keep readers. Also, the fact that it's a serial with cliffhangers every so many chapters was a direct influence from the business models of Webnovel and Tapas, two of the biggest platforms for digital storytelling. The real inspiration for Moronova, is the modern digital storytelling ecosystem itself.

Denise Lynch · Answer

This novel by K.M. Moronova has inspired me in a musical sort of way. Not in terms of a playlist of my favorite novels, but rather in terms of musical structure as a whole. The themes in this book are introduced, then reappeared and woven together in varying degrees of emotion as the main subject of ‘moth to a flame’ is explored in full. As I understand it, Moronova is a musician of some sort, and this novel has been written as if it were a composition of some sort. That said, the inspiration was for musical forms, and then the rest of the novel sprang from there. The house in the novel is the orchestration, the characters are the instruments, the pacing is the tempo and the climax a big crescendo of sorts. And that, to me, is not a story that is being told. Rather, the novel is performing said piece to explore the topic of obsession, and the way that we are all just mere mortals drawn to the flame, the tonic note, the home chord that resolves in discord even when the song has seemingly come to an end.

Shirley Calico · Answer

K.M. Moronova I’ve seen this everywhere on my feeds but haven’t actually read it yet (it’s on my list though – the fan art is gorgeous and the paintings of moths and the mansions are all so dark and luminous). Perhaps this thread is just the impetus for me to finally start it though. Did anyone read this in e-book or audiobook format? I’ve heard the audiobook is great and that the narrator is especially excellent at bringing the creepiness to life.

Brandy Lewis · Answer

Moronova. I am drawing this up from memory, but I believe she started posting her work serially on a reader’s forum before it became well known. So the early chapters were highly influenced by reader comments and by the many great theories presented. How the mystery of the house unfold, was largely based on what readers thought was going on. The romance subplot in the story, was given more attention, as many readers were very much into shipping certain characters. In short, the early fandom actually co-inspired the story’s development. As a novel born from the interactive online environment of the serial, “flame” could represent the cycle of posting a new chapter and then getting a burst of feedback instantly from readers. And interestingly enough, the story itself is also exploring the angle of audience approval and its addictive qualities.

Shaina Harris · Answer

I have an unpopular take here. While it is correct that K.M. Moronova inspired this, so many people speak of her work in the deepest, most poetic terms. I think another huge inspiration here was the market for dark, gothic, fantasy romance being serialized on platforms like Radish and Kindle Vella while she was posting. I think The Unchosen and Harrow Faire were probably two of the biggest inspirations here, but, obviously, so much better written than either of those works. The “moth to a flame” trope is something that is found in a great deal of romance, but making the flame a physical location, one that even has its own agency, is certainly a unique take. I imagine that her truly original work was paired with an understanding of what readers of serialized fiction want: high-concept tropes paired with quality writing and a regular update schedule.

Key Gril · Answer

K.M. Moronova wrote this story. It has a lot of cosmic horror in it, but it’s a gothic horror story. Thus, there’s a lot of personal, emotional horror in it as well. The house in this story operates according to rules that are unknown to man and in which man’s suffering means nothing. Thus, the “flame” is not evil. It simply is. And man, by nature, is a moth. He is drawn to the flame. This type of bleak, Existential horror is present throughout the story. Author Moronova is heavily influenced by the works of Thomas Ligotti. Thus, this story explores a rather bleak and unpleasant view of the universe – a universe which is meaningless and even hostile to man. Moronova’s inspiration for this story was to combine typical, emotional, personal horror found in your average gothic horror with the impersonal,often even more horrific, cosmic horror found in weird fiction. This was a very chilling combination.

Who Wrote Moth To A Flame And What Inspired It?

14 Answers

Related Books

The Luna He Left To Burn

Burning Embers: Scorching Tales of Desire

The Fire That Chose Me

Ashes Of Desire

Ashes of Desire

Love Burned to Ashes

Topic