Love, Try and Die

Song Meaning

Gal Costa's "Love, Try and Die" isn't a gentle bossa nova breeze; it's a stark, almost brutalist, command. The lyrics strip romance down to its primal components: yearning, striving, and the inevitable fade. The repeated imperative, "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," feels less like an invitation and more like a demand issued from some pleasure-and-pain cult leader. The simplicity is the point; the directness, unnerving. Costa isn't offering a tender sentiment; she's laying bare the fundamental, often harsh, contract of human connection. The genius, and the potential discomfort, lies in the juxtaposition of the grand concepts—love, effort, mortality—with the almost childish simplicity of the language. It’s a playground taunt turned existential scream. The progression itself charts a lifecycle, albeit a compressed and accelerated one. We begin with the call to love, move into the realm of trying (the work, the compromise, the sheer effort of maintaining connection), and finally arrive at death, the ultimate surrender. Each phase is rendered not as a choice, but as an order, a preordained sequence. The final lines, "C'mon, c'mon and try my love/C'mon, c'mon and die for me," ratchet up the intensity. The dynamic shifts from a general exhortation to a personal plea, even a challenge. It’s no longer about love in the abstract but about *her* love, and the ultimate price of admission. This shifts the entire song meaning. Is it a power play? A genuine offer of profound connection that demands total sacrifice? Or a darkly humorous commentary on the inherent imbalance within relationships? The song offers no easy answers, only the insistent, echoing command to love, try, and ultimately, face the void.