[3] The song was co-written and produced with composer Tyler Bates, who was scheduled to begin scoring music for the US television series Salem shortly after work on The Pale Emperor was completed.

"Cupid Carries a Gun" was still in an embryonic, "draft" stage when Bates started work on the score, who said that the track "immediately came to mind" when watching the opening title sequence to the show.

After playing the sequence to Manson, the pair then began work on the track, which developed from its "draft" stage to the final album version over the course of a single night.

[8] A 51-second portion of the track was first heard as the theme to Salem, which premiered on US television on April 27, 2014, with the song marking Manson's debut as a score composer.

[11] The same day, a video containing the audio of "Cupid Carries a Gun" was uploaded on to Manson's official Vevo channel, where it has gone on to receive over one million views.