Corrections:

don't lay a finger I said,
but he held her with five
kissed the crest of her lips and put his hand on her thigh
one million in a week
or the girl is gonna go
I'd kill you in a second
he laughed yeah I know
I won eight hundred thousand on a game show
but it's not enough to win her back
as my tears hit the floor, he still said no
come on man give me some slack
I looked at the case, he said I'll show you her blood
I screamed down the phone line: so is this the price of love?

when I stare in your eyes I see the image of god
well girl listen out for the phonecall and pray for a flood
I called at a quarter past 9 and said I've done all I can
he said you win some you lose some I feel bad for you man

he slammed down the phone, took his coat from the bed
she said what happens now, to your husband you're dead
she said I love you, and pleaded for a hero to save
you knew deep inside that he planned it this way
I gave him my heart now he's left it to die
and I know I can't go back
he walks out the room, shouted see you around
she begged, come on give me some slack
you said, there's no hope but babe you can wait for that door
she screamed from the window, so is the price of love?
said is this the price of love?
said is this the price of love?

so is this the price of love?
so is this the price of love?
so is this the price of love?
so is this the price of love?
so is this the price of love?
so is this the price of love?
so is this the price of love?


1 Reply

Obviously, it's about his girlfriend being held for ransom. He does all he can, and gets most of the ransom, but not all- but the kidnapper takes no pity.

I think his wife ran off with some other guy. They pretended it was a kidnapping, so they could get a million dollars, but the husband doesn't come up with the money, so the boyfriend leaves her, and in the end she's alone.

I think he loved his girlfriend very luch, but didn't show it enough. Then, she left him for some other guy, a mean one. He laughs at de first boyfriend, because he has "won" the girl. He says that de first boyfriend should have loved her more. The first one gives up waiting for her. The girl realizes that the first one really loved her, while the one she's with now is a jerk. So in the end she is punished for being so blind.
But the comment of Blue Bit is also possible.

i agree
the wife left her husband, who truly loved her, and ran off with this other guy, who didnt really
he was only using her, but love blinded her and she couldnt see that he was trouble
however, "she knew deep inside that he planned it this way" tells us that even despite her doubts, she fell for him, ie. love is illogical and dangerous

EITHER they pretended it was a kidnapping, so they could get a million dollars, but the husband didnt come up with the money, so the new man leaves her,
OR he really kidnaps her and as her husband couldnt come up with the whole ransom he takes no pity and has something horrible happen to her trapped in that room

either way, he tells the husband she's dead out of revenge, or spite, so she can't go back to him
she realizes the mistake she made. the girl gets her just desserts
it shows that all is fair in love (and war), so theres a sense of irony in this sick form of justice

all this can just as easily be a metaphor for the same kind of situation in every day life

in the end of the story, all love has brought out is the worst in people, and fucked up peoples lives
and everyone has come to realize "the price of love"
baically it isnt worth it

This is just a rubbish idea but here it is:
I dont believe that its as obvious as a kidnapping with blackmail. I think the man she was in love with didnt give her enough love towards her like he didnt care, so she left him for someone else. Then once she was taken from him, he realised how much he did love her and wanted her back so was going to any lengths for her to get her back, thats where the line comes in, so is this the price of love?

1 Reply

I'm pretty sure it's "and pleaded for our hero to stay" instead of "and pleaded for a hero to save"

Is it "our hero" or "her hero"?
It could also be "a hero" as a sort of planned Srockholm Syndrom thing, where she knows he's just going to walk out on her ("you secretly knew he planned it this way") but she still tris to make herself believe he loves her too, even though it's obvious he doesn't and she realizes this in the end.
Just throwing that possibility put there.

I think it's a story where love actually has been given a price (a million pounds) which the husband can't quite afford. Sadly his wife has faked the kidnapping with her lover who then leaves her (taking the 800 000). She can't go back to her husband because he thinks she's dead and he'll know she screwed him over. So she's alone, the husband's alone - the price of love was too high... Definitely not a real kidnapping!
That's the actual story, I'm pretty sure that's right but maybe it's a metaphor for how much we're willing to give for our lovers but not necessarily in terms of money i.e we risk getting our hearts broken and doing things we hate to keep them happy.
This is just my little guess, I really love this song XD And the band of course

2 Replies

"don't lay a finger I said,
but he held her with five
kissed the crest of her lips
and put his hand on her thigh"

this is saying how defensive the speaker is getting, and how he's trying to protect his wife. it also shows that there's and element of intimacy between the kidnapper and the kidnappee.


"one million in a week
or the girl is gonna go
I'd kill you in a second
he laughed yeah I know
I won eight hundred thousand on a game show
but it's not enough to win her back
as my tears hit the floor, he still said no
come on man give me some slack
I looked at the case, he said I'll show you her blood
I screamed down the phone line: so is this the price of love?"

the kidnapper is specifying his ransom, and the speaker does all he can to earn the money, resorting to a gameshow, but not winning the full amount. he's pretty desperate and has no other way to earn the rest of the money so hopes it will suffice. unfortunately, it will not. the fact that he'll show the speaker his wife's blood is a threat to kill her, saying he is unafraid to harm her.

"when I stare in your eyes I see the image of god
well girl listen out for the phonecall and pray for a flood
I called at a quarter past 9 and said I've done all I can
he said you win some you lose some I feel bad for you man"

calling the kidnapper "god" shows that the speaker see's him as too powerful. i think the flood may be a biblical reference, to noah's ark: he prays for a flood because it wipes out all bad people, and hopes the kidnapper almost gets washed away. this however is slightly ironic since he refers to the kidnapper as a god. having phoned the kidnapper without the full amount of money, he still refuses, implying that this is the end for the wife.

"he slammed down the phone, took his coat from the bed
she said what happens now, to your husband you're dead
she said I love you, and pleaded for a hero to save
you knew deep inside that he planned it this way"

the fact that he takes his coat without much of a reference to the girl shows that he is abandoning her. her confusion at the fact he is leaving without her is shown through the question. he doesn't really kill her and instead was simply using her for money. "to your husband your dead" - the fact it is to her husband shows that he is the only person who has to know, meaning that he was never going to kill her anyway, and she goes physically unharmed. she says that she loves her kidnapper, in hope that he'll stay and turn out to be a hero, but he still leaves.

"I gave him my heart now he's left it to die
and I know I can't go back
he walks out the room, shouted see you around
she begged, come on give me some slack
you said, there's no hope but babe you can wait for that dove
she screamed from the window, so is the price of love?"

i think that "my heart" is a reference to the speakers wife. the fact that he gave it away shows that he was not treating her properly, even though he really loved her & the left it to die part is pretty self explanatory, as he believes his wife is now dead. as the wife begs, there is an element of parallelism as she shouts the same thing as the speaker ("give me some slack"), which i think represents the fact that they really were in love. the dove in this case represents hope, and once again is a biblical reference to noah's ark. the fact she screams from the window shows that she is still alive but lonely, for she cannot go back to her husband as he will know it was all just a set up.