Kode PinK Highlights Heartbreak with a Satirical Twist in ‘How The Great Have Fallen’

Kode PinK infuses humor into heartache with their latest release, “How The Great Have Fallen.” Teaming up with singer-songwriter bnji, the track offers a witty exploration of post-breakup emotions. It captures the blend of exasperation and irony perfectly. Yet, instead of wallowing, Kode PinK flips the script by pairing these reflections with bright, lively production.

What began as a raw iPhone recording evolved into a polished, vibrant piece—a perfect example of Kode PinK‘s creativity. Originally conceived as a stripped-back acoustic tune, it grew into a playful and spirited anthem. The accompanying video, featuring the quirky abduction of a girl by a gorilla, embraces the light-hearted, almost whimsical quality of the track.

This release speaks volumes on Kode PinK‘s unique mix of pop energy and electronic flair. In just two years, they’ve amassed over a million Spotify streams, forged exciting collaborations with artists like Justin Park, and stayed true to their message: chase every dream, without hesitation.

To dive deeper into the inspiration and creative process behind “How The Great Have Fallen,” we sat down with Kode PinK for an exclusive interview—where they share their thoughts, challenges, and a behind-the-scenes look at how this vibrant track came to life.

Check out the full interview below!

Kode PinK, can you share the inspiration behind “How The Great Have Fallen”? What emotions or experiences fueled this satirical anthem?

Kode Pink: When Ben sent us his iPhone recording of the topline, we immediately resonated with the meaning behind the song. Guy meets girl, girl breaks guy’s heart, and consequently, guy gets a comical satisfaction from karma doing its thing.

We feel that innately, as humans, part of growing up is creating filters that prevent our childish impulses from coming out; aka “maturing.” We wanted to write a song that portrayed shedding those filters and giving in to those impulses because, well, it just darn right feels good sometimes.

With that goal in mind, we created a lighthearted happy-go-lucky song that accentuated its satirical meaning.

The track opens with a strikingly sarcastic line. How did you come up with it, and what message were you trying to convey through that choice of words?

bnji: “It can be weird to see an ex moving on from your relationship, so I tried to capture the surprise, disappointment, and even humor in watching your ex deal with the consequences of their actions and poor attitudes.

It’s okay to look back sometimes. We all do. But the point of the song is that it’s ‘over now,’ and we should work on our own lives after a breakup.”

You mentioned an iPhone recording was the starting point for the song. Can you walk us through the process of transforming it into the final production?

Kode PinK: When Ben initially reached out to us to flesh out the production, we immediately felt Panic! At the Disco vibes from the style and tone of Ben’s voice. Typically, we lean more towards a hybrid style of EDM and Pop in our music, but this song felt more deserving of a marching band type of pop production, so we decided to trust our guts and roll with our initial idea.

It took a lot of tinkering to reproduce that “live band” sound through MIDI programming, especially with trying to add a natural swing to the instrumentation, but we think it turned out really cool!

The music video concept sounds quite humorous and unique. What was the thought process behind featuring an insufferable girl being abducted by a gorilla?

Kode PinK: When we first sat down together with our good friend and talented director/DP, Julien York, we knew that we wanted to make the video as ridiculous as possible while keeping cost in mind.

Our initial idea was to replace Michelle, the lead female in the music video, during each scene with an inflatable dummy so that we could do things like throw it in the ocean or off a building. But once we thought deeper on it, we knew it was going to be hard to execute some of the ideas we had in mind and maintain any sense of realism. So we asked Michelle if she would be down to take one for the team and endure some Nickelodeon-esque comedic torture, and she was SO DOWN!

During one meeting, the idea of having an escaped gorilla capture her from a date came up. We all laughed hysterically at how ridiculous the notion was until we found a way to actually make it work. So we went with it, and it ended up being so much fun to film.

As professionals with demanding careers outside music, how do you balance your roles and still manage to create such impactful songs?

Kode PinK: Life has a way of keeping you busy with everything else but your passions. So when we discovered music production, it finally felt like the escape we’d always needed. We both literally leave our day jobs in the afternoon and go straight to work for the music career until we go to bed. And most times, it doesn’t feel like work at all.

Sure, there are times that you have to do boring arbitrary tasks to maintain the project’s integrity, but that’s a price gladly paid to do something we love. We both feel so grateful to be able to pursue music to the capacity that we do and hope to inspire people to do the same.

Listen to the track below!