"Destroyer" was initially planned to appear on the band's previous album, Low Budget, appearing in early track listings of the in-progress album.[1] However, the song was dropped from Low Budget because the band could not create a satisfactory mix.

"Destroyer" was ultimately recorded at the Power Station studio. Drummer Mick Avory attributed the song's dense sound to the studio's audio dynamics; he said, "We recorded that at the Power Station in New York in the ambient room, which had a great drum sound. The sound of the room can really affect what you’re doing. When you hear that sound slapping around that big room, you want to cut loose. That’s what I did."

"Destroyer" features callbacks to previous Kinks songs, both lyrically and musically. The track borrows the main riff from The Kinks' 1964 song, "All Day and All of the Night", which was one of the band's first hits. The lyrics feature the return of the transvestite title character from The Kinks' 1970 hit song, "Lola"; in "Destroyer", the singer brings Lola to his place where he becomes increasingly paranoid.

Destroyer
The Kinks
Written by: Dave Davies
Album: Give The People What They Want (Reissue)
Released: 1981

Met a girl called Lola and I took her back to my place
Feeling guilty, feeling scared, hidden cameras everywhere
Stop! Hold on, stay in control

Girl, I want you here with me
But I'm really not as cool as I'd like to be
'Cause theres a red, under my bed
And theres a little yellow man in my head
And theres a true blue inside of me
That keeps stopping me, touching ya, watching ya, loving ya

Paranoia, the destroyer
Paranoia, the destroyer

Well I fell asleep, then I woke feelin kinda queer
Lola looked at me and said, ooh you look so weird
She said, man, there's really something wrong with you
One day youre gonna self-destruct
You're up, you're down, I cant work you out
You get a good thing going then you blow yourself out

Silly boy, ya self-destroyer
Silly boy, ya self-destroyer

Silly boy, you got so much to live for
So much to aim for, so much to try for
You blowing it all with paranoia
You're so insecure, you self-destroyer

(And it goes like this, here it goes)
Paranoia, the destroyer
(Here it goes again)
Paranoia, the destroyer

Doctor, Doctor, help me please, I know you'll understand
Theres a time device inside of me, Im a self-destructin man

Theres a red under my bed
And theres a little green man in my head
And he said, you're not going crazy, you're just a bit sad
'Cause there's a man in ya, gnawing ya, tearing ya into two

Silly boy, ya self-destroyer
Paranoia, the destroyer

Self-destroyer, wreck your health
Destroy your friends, destroy yourself
The time device of self-destruction
Light the fuse and start eruption

(Yeah, it goes like this, here it goes)
Paranoia, the destroyer
(Here's to paranoia)
Paranoia, the destroyer
(Hey hey, here it goes)
Paranoia, the destroyer
(And it goes like this)

Paranoia, the destroyer
(And it goes like this)