Boy! What Has Love Done to Me!

Song Meaning

The narrator paints a picture of domestic servitude, fetching slippers and filling pipes, all while enduring her partner's infidelity. She's trapped in a cycle of catering to his needs and laughing at his stale jokes, a stark contrast to the life she might have had, perhaps with a 'banker.' This opening sets a tone of weary resignation, a life dictated by routine and unreciprocated effort. The central tension lies in the narrator's conflicting emotions. Her partner is actively 'wrecking' her life, out 'necking somebody else's frau,' yet she confesses, 'And still I love him.' This paradox fuels the song's emotional core: a deep, perhaps irrational, affection that persists despite clear evidence of betrayal and mistreatment. The lyrics suggest a profound sense of being bound, emotionally and perhaps practically, to this flawed individual. The craft here hinges on stark, almost brutal, contrasts and a recurring, almost desperate, refrain. The mundane tasks of domesticity clash with the partner's illicit activities, and the narrator's self-awareness of his 'faker' status battles with her enduring love. The repeated phrase 'Boy, what love has done to me!' acts as both a lament and an admission, a testament to love's bewildering power to override logic and self-preservation. The imagery of being 'all at sea' or 'up a tree' if she were to leave highlights her perceived helplessness. This song hits hard because it captures the bewildering, often illogical, grip of love. The narrator's voice is raw and unvarnished, detailing a life of quiet suffering and profound attachment. The effectiveness comes from its unflinching portrayal of a complex emotional state, where devotion coexists with deep dissatisfaction, making the listener question the very nature of commitment and its hold on us.