Kiss Me Deadly displayed a developing complexity in the songwriting partnership of lead singer Billy Idol and bassist Tony James, as they transitioned from their origins as musicians in the London punk rock scene of the late 1970s into a more sophisticatedly nuanced sound, and mature lyrical and thematic content, at the initiation of the British New Wave movement in 1980.

[8] Idol's lyrics for "Untouchables" reflected on his daydreaming at school about pop music stardom, being fascinated by its distant glamour; of the driving impulse to avoid the 9-to-5 employment existence of adulthood that lay beyond school years, and reflecting his fears of the potential for failure of his attempt at a professional career in pop music with a return to that world.

[9] "Poison" was about Idol's increasing dalliance with heroin, and the psychological dangers that he sensed were present in the lifestyle that he had embarked upon in pursuance of pop music stardom.

[10] "Heavens Inside" was written about Steve New, whom Idol and James had wanted to be Gen X's guitarist until they abandoned the idea due to New's narcotic addiction that rendered him a professional liability.

Idol and James, Generation X's singer/frontman and bassist, had afterwards rebranded the act with a new drummer (Terry Chimes), a modified name and a conversion into the nascent New Romantic movement's look and sound.