Of Crime and Passion

I don't understand parts of this song. Like the second verse. But I like it, it's pretty good.

since i was 10 i always thought that this was about a man that fell in love with a woman who was just playing games with him, and his anger at her... he's warning her that he's going to get her back. that is no escaping his wrath

They are together. Loveless. "Standed together". Cf. Antarctica.

To me, this song is about a very bad relationship where someone feel they were manipulated and lied to. The very first line sets the tone: "How could you let me run when you knew I'd fall in the gaping hole where your heart should be?". I mean, wow! "You let me think it was safe to love you and then you showed me that you had zero love or commitment to me."

The next line "Liar! You couldn't cut me deeper with a knife if you tried; just take a look before you run off and hide at your victim arise." - very powerful: her response to his accusation in Line 1 was a complete lie, which causes him as much emotional pain as if she had cut him physically. And what is scary is that she wants to leave and have nothing to do with him, but he says, "I am not going to take this laying down and let you get away with it".

You can probably see where the song is going, since vengeful murder can be a "Crime of Passion". The singer wants to punish the person who jilted him and he sees her as an unfeeling monster: "Bride of Wire" may be his way of calling her a female "Frankenstein"...pretty, but inhuman.

I don't quite get the meanings of "Clouds on your shoulder/Graze on your shoulder", but "How quiet they gather when the storm's about to blow" indicates he is about to let loose on her like a lightning strike.

"Summer of madness or an undertow" - he is wondering how he came to meet and fall in love with this lady that he now despises...was it a brief madness or some deep, hidden under-current that brought them together? - "Dragged me up an alley for the blossoming fire on a stranger's smile". Somehow these forces led him to a place he does not normally go...off his usual path to find this alluring woman. It was love at first sight for him as her smile captivated him.

"Bride of wire-how disguise so easily cracked/Saw your heart turn spade This orchid's turned to black" - As I said, he now sees her as a monster, the pretty woman image is ripped away, her Queen of Hearts image is now the dreaded Queen of Spades. An orchid is an exotic flower, so his love for her quickly withered and died...because she withdrew all sunlight and affection.

No don't look away/Caught in the crossfire And it ain't no wind of change/I'm talking of crime and passion's rage

"Don't Look Away"...this angry jilted and belittled lover wants this woman to look him in the eyes as he does whatever harm to her he feels she deserves...she is now caught in the crossfire of his anger. "And it ain't no wind of change"..no, this is not the slow Winds of Change blowing in, but a sudden violent storm of a Crime of passion. This means he did not take time to slowly and methodically plan his vengeance, therefore his actions are not "premeditated"...it is truly a "Crime of Passion"...and that will be his self-defense.

One other reason for calling her a "bride of wire" is for him to feel okay killing her...if he sees her as a monster that harms men by breaking their hearts, he is actually doing the world a favor by making sure she doesn't harm anyone else...he has to justify why it is okay for him to destroy her just like Frankenstein's monster had to be destroyed. She has no heart; she is not really human.

Sorry, I left parts out:

"Stranded together And the storm is about to blow"

To me, this means the singer is telling her it's too late to stop what has been set in motion..."I have lost all rational thought, we are now locked together as murderer and victim, both of our futures are lost"... the storm is about to blow..."it's inevitable and going to happen right now".

One last equally disturbing thought is that he is not actually going to murder her, but is going to rape her because she spurned all his advances after their first meeting. When she tries to explain that she never meant to lead him on, he of course yells "Liar"...maybe they had sex when they first met, which is why he fell for the "gaping hole" (vagina) and thought it was love "where her heart should be". It may have just been casual sex for her, but it was love for him and he has stalked her since and now decides she is going to look him in the eyes as he takes to her by force. This could also explain the word "afterglow" being used several times...he expected that they shared something special in the "afterglow" of their first sexual contact, but she felt nothing.

And one out-of-left-field interpretation is the choice of an orchid. "This orchid's turned to black"...Orchids are so named for their resemblance to the male genitalia...so did she give him an STD on top of spurning him after their first meeting? Only Simon LeBon will have the answer to that one.