“Sacrifice” by The Weeknd
It has already been put forth on this platform that “Dawn FM” is an album which, in relation to the rest of the mainstream musical landscape of the day, features somewhat complex lyricism.
For instance, on this piece (“Sacrifice”), it is not abundantly clear what the vocalist means when he tells the addressee, his romantic interest, that “I don’t want to sacrifice for your love”. But all Sacrifice‘s lyrics considered, what it appears that expression is meant to convey is like the vocalist’s way of saying that he doesn’t want to toy with the addressee’s heart.
And the reason he seems to be coming off like this has something to do, once again, with The Weeknd’s total inability to be monogamous.
Honestly there’s a lot to dissect in the narrative, which is full of innuendos. But as far as can be readily determined in the first verse, The Weeknd depicts himself as someone who is devoid of normal human compassion, so to speak. And what that notion leads to is the vocalist explaining to his lady that at the end of the day he is someone who can’t be “fixed”, which, in this context, we will take to mean that no matter how hard she tries, he will never be the committed type.
That said, he does possess feelings for her, and therefore when she gets to crying and such, he lies in the name of comforting her by saying he “will never leave”.
So it’s as if these sorts of arguments, if you will, are a recurring theme in their relationship. And along those lines, what the vocalist appears to be telling the addressee in the third verse is that even though they continue to deal with each other, she shouldn’t get her hopes up too high.
Song’s Title (“Sacrifice”)
Going back to what the title is meant to convey, the thesis sentiment this song boils down to the vocalist’s inability to completely leave the addressee. He sticks to her even though he knows prolonging their romance is going to make things worse once he ultimately dumps her or when she finally comes to the realization that locking him down is impossible.
Takeaway
So again, this isn’t the first Weeknd song we have come across of this nature, and in all likelihood it won’t be the last. By the looks of things there are quite a few women who would love to exclusively call Abel their own, but currently he isn’t on it like that. So how these situations tend to play out song-wise is The Weeknd painfully explaining to one lady or another that their relationship cannot exist as she idealizes.
Facts about “Sacrifice”
This song was released on 7 January 2022, as part of the playlist of “Dawn FM” and also as the second single from said Weeknd album. The labels behind its issuance are XO Records alongside Republic Records.
The Weeknd produced this song not only with accomplished behind-the-scenes’ men Oscar Holter and Max Martin but also in conjunction with Swedish House Mafia, a well-known musical act in their own right.
Swedish House Mafia members Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and Steven Angello are also individually credited as co-writers of this song, as are the following:
- The Weeknd
- Max Martin
- Kevin McCord
The Weeknd first teased this song with a snippet featured on the music video of “Take My Breath” (2021), i.e. the first single from “Dawn FM”. He first revealed the name of the track on 5 January 2022. This was on the same day he made the playlist of “Dawn FM” public.
“Sacrifice” samples a classic African-American dance tune entitled “I Want to Thank You” (1981) by Alicia Myers.
The music video to Sacrifice was helmed by a duo of directors who are collectively known as Cliqua. And the clip, which apparently utilizes some creative lighting techniques, was actually released alongside a warning that it may trigger epilepsy.
