It's a human sign
When things go wrong
When the scent of her lingers
And temptation's strong

Into the boundary
Of each married man
Sweet deceit comes callin'
And negativity lands

Cold, cold heart
Hard done by you
Some things lookin' better, baby
Just passin' through
And it's no sacrifice
Just a simple word
It's two hearts living
In two separate worlds
But it's no sacrifice
No sacrifice
It's no sacrifice at all

Mutual misunderstandin'
After the fact
Sensitivity builds a prison
In the final act

We lose direction
No stone unturned
No tears to damn you
When jealousy burns

Cold, cold heart
Hard done by you
Some things lookin' better, baby
Just passin' through
And it's no sacrifice
Just a simple word
It's two hearts living
In two separate worlds
But it's no sacrifice
No sacrifice
It's no sacrifice at all

Cold, cold heart
Hard done by you
Some things lookin' better, baby
Just passin' through
And it's no sacrifice
Just a simple word
It's two hearts living
In two separate worlds
But it's no sacrifice
No sacrifice
It's no sacrifice at all

No sacrifice at all
No sacrifice at all
No sacrifice at all
No sacrifice at all


Lyrics submitted by Novartza, edited by icequeentt, micarli65

Sacrifice Lyrics as written by Elton John Bernie Taupin

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Sacrifice song meanings
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  • +2
    General Comment

    I have this possible explanation which concurs with some below. This song entails an actual married couple. Some unexplained difficulty which he encounters - perhaps usual problems in marriage - made him recall a past but still vivid love that in its moment touched him by hurting quite much, enough to make him hitherto cold and not easily to crack. Then he thinks of himself - he tries to convince himself - to be sufficiently strong to avoid temptation, enough to pass her by without being actually attracted to her (whether if this attraction is provoked by her or not); actually, he attributes this current coldness to her, it was her who made him cold somehow; therefore he thinks that avoiding her does not really entail a sacrifice, in fact, he thinks, how could it be a sacrifice to avoid her if in general terms both of them are not related to anything (here again, he tries to convince himself that she no longer remains in him as a strong feeling). However - and this is the human sign- despite the strong he tries to think of himself, despite the cold he pretends to be, the truth is that her presence is still strong, and suddenly it is too strong to keep it hide in front of his wife. Then, wife and husband face struggle because she discovers ("after the fact" entails a meaning of discovery) that he has striven to keep this foreign feeling unclosed: she discovers that he is in fact a prisoner of this prior but remaining love (this is the final act, the crude reality his condition of being still trapped of this prior love). After this recognition, no longer unclosed - no stone unturned - relationship in in trouble, and, it does not matter how many tears he bursts, she will not be moved, because the jealousy she feels now is just too strong to easily vanish. And there is nothing she or he could have done to avoid it. this reveals the humanity of the sign of being defeated by prior but not buried loves.

    VICHINon April 09, 2008   Link

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