At the end of the video Keys stands up and the street is covered in the names of people who lost their lives due to police brutality, including Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Renisha McBride, Korryn Gaines, Reno Owens, Dante Parker, Jack Lamar Roberson Jr., Darius Tarver and Ahmaud Arbery, among others. In the video, Keys sits behind a piano on an empty street and sings the song while images of victims were displayed on buildings. The video was directed by Chris Robinson and premiered at the 2020 BET Awards. The video is a tribute to people who lost their lives at the hand of police. Atwood Magazine 's Josh Weiner said that the song's lyrics contain "startling imagery of urban protests" while described the song being a "gentle keyboard number". Joe Muggs of The Arts Desk stated that the song contains "fearsomely direct lyrics on police violence, street life and protest" while Nick Smith from musicOMHnoted its "desolate sense of despair". According to BBC, "Perfect Way to Die" is a protest song inspired by the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. Variety described the song as having "chamber pop vibe" and a "light chorus". Īs noted by Sal Cinquemani from Slant, the "spare arrangements of piano and vocal" on the song are "functionally effective at highlighting the lyrical content". Keys sings about "another king and queen lost", which according to Althea Legaspi of Rolling Stone are references to the deaths of Michael Brown and Sandra Bland. In the song, Keys discusses killings at the hands of the police, singing about a mother who receives "a call from the coroner" about her son that has been "gunned down". The song is written in the key of F ♭ major with a 12Ĩ time signature and a tempo of 86 beats per minute.
Keys has stated that the song wasn't going to be on the Alicia album, but decided to include the song on the album "when all that started happening with Breonna, and Ahmaud, and George". In an interview with British Vogue, Keys stated that the song is "a musical expression of what we’re seeing every day, this police brutality that is completely out of hand". "Sometimes I don't have the words and music is the only thing that can speak", she went on to say. "I hope this speaks to you."
While posting the single on her Twitter account, Keys commented on its relevancy and condemned "the destructive culture of police violence" as senseless as the song's titular phrase. The songs release coincided with Juneteenth and amid weeks of civil unrest across the United States in response to police brutality against African Americans. Keys officially announced the song on Twitter on June 19, 2020, posting the cover art, and a message explaining the inspiration and meaning of the song. Keys appeared on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah on June 15 2020, to talk about the song and the killings of Mike Brown and Sandra Bland, where she stated that "you hear their stories in these lyrics and the devastating thing is that it's never not going to be relevant".
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