Looking at the opening and closing line:
‘I would die for you’
it’s clear to see why Baz Luhrmann chose this song for the soundtrack to his 1996 film Romeo + Juliet. Garbage didn’t write their song for the film, however, the theme of sacrificing oneself for love fits the theme of Shakespeare’s play perfectly:
‘I will burn for you
Feel pain for you
I will twist the knife and bleed my aching heart
And tear it apart’
Shirley Manson’s lyrics could be sung by either one of the protagonists in the play. Manson actually wrote the song about a stalker and commented on its content in an interview:
“It’s about somebody who wasn’t quite right. The song however were slightly autobiographical. Everybody’s felt obsessive about something or somebody in their life. I’ve felt crazy about somebody before […] that feeling – usually when you’ve split up with somebody – when you’re absolutely obsessed with what they are doing. It’s all to do with being pathetic.”
The dark, grunge feel to the song that backs these disturbing lyrics allows the song to fit in perfectly with Luhrmann’s take on Romeo and Juliet.
Shakespeare in Popular Music 