What does Sex Sells mean?

Lovejoy: Sex Sells Meaning

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Album cover for Sex Sells album cover

Song Released: 2021


Sex Sells Lyrics

You think he'd realize
But he's infatuated with ideas
Of possessions and far-flung social policy
His daddy works on the Council
The missus loves the silver spoon
Swore she'd never kiss a Tory
But this boy was too good to lose
And I'll...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Jun 24th 2021 !⃝

    I think it's about a couple who aren't financially stable so the girl is having to prostitute herself in order to make money. The guy is put off by this and can't sleep with the lights on because he knows she's not there and is going out with else besides him. I assume it's someone he knows or who they've both been close to, it mentions that he's downstairs and that the guy can hear them through the floor. I believe at some points in the song it explains what they did and how the guy the relationship can hear every bit of it.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Jul 14th 2021 !⃝

    This is probably not true, but heres what I think. I think the song is about a boy who was recently in a relationship with a girl, but it didnt work out. I think that in this relationship the boy was the financially stable one. He paid bills, a house if they had one, groceries etc. The woman just let him buy everything because she didnt have money. Now that they have broken up, shes poor with nothing. So she gets into a relationship, but the catch is shes only in it because shes getting paid by the new guy shes dating. Hence, “Sex Sells” In the beginning of the song, the first boyfriend talks about the new boyfriend, when he explains the new guy it sounds like he has a lot of money and it sounds as if he is a businessman. So thats where the new boyfriend is getting his money from. As well, its a stereotype that businessmen are hardworking and don’t have time to settle down and find the one, which could be why he is paying someone. In the song the old boyfriend states, “Swore she’d never kiss a tory.” Now what people say isn’t always true, but this could be hinting that she’s dating the new boy for money only because otherwise he is not the guy she’d usually get with. Also in the song,
    “Cultured man, Venetian suntan, Red wine and club bands” Also hints the new guy has money. In the song the main chorus is, “I’ve been scared of sleeping with the lights on. Know shes not there, I know she’s going to his flat.” I believe this means that when the lights are on, he’s able to see clearly that his ex is not with him anymore, for, she has a new guy. Anyways, this was just my perception of the song.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Jul 17th 2021 !⃝

    I personally interpret this song to be about a couple that is broken up due to financial issues. After they break up, the girl takes it as an opportunity to go after a "tory". She wins him over with sexual favors. However her ex is still hoping she will "do what's right" instead of doing "what's easy" which is marrying into wealth. He's aware that she feels alone, but she'll do anything to ensure herself a happy ending of financial stability.

  4. anonymous
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    Jul 7th 2023 !⃝

    Explained from wilbur himself at a lovejoy gig (june 2nd 2023) - the woman is on the third floor, she goes down to the first floor and has an affair with the man down there. Wilbur is on the 2nd floor, so he hears everything. The woman ends up paying wilbur to not tell her husband, leading to the lyric "you can buy my scilence if you've got none to lose."

  5. musicmaster996
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    May 31st 2023 !⃝

    1.(this has the real meaning to the song in it according to Wilbur at the Denver Colorado concert) So it's about the woman in the flat above you sneaking down to the flat below you to have s*x with the man in the flat below you. And then you go and extort her for money so you won't tell her S/O (threaten to tell her S/O but stay quiet for money so basically blackmail)
    2. my thought before that was she was cheating on her S/O with a tory which she wasn't supposed to do, the "..now it's dead" part is talking about the relationship with the person she's cheating on the tory is a capricorn (which the narrator might not like) the tory could be buying her body for large sums of money
    (that is just my random train of thought on it)

  6. joceyb23
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    May 7th 2023 !⃝

    This song to me is about a man who falls somewhere under the asexual spectrum. His girlfriend breaks up with him, but the two remain friendly. While she never says this, he suspects the fact that she isn’t asexual and very much would like a sexually active partner is a part of it. She starts dating this guy, and the asexual man is very aware that this guy is satisfying her in ways that he never could. This leads him to believe that he is inadequate compared to allosexual people and never will be able to experience relationships in the same way as his peers. He has no ill feelings towards his ex and her new lover, but he does yearn to not have this aspect of his sexuality, so that maybe in another world they could remain with the girl he loves.

  7. anonymous
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    Apr 8th 2023 !⃝

    From what I understand, the song is about a guy who's crushing on a girl who is in a one-sided relationship for money. The singer, knowing the girl's values, is frustrated knowing that she's dating such a shallow and greedy dude she doesn't actually love, but she's willing to do anything for financial security. This is also highlighted by the lyric "Will you do what's easy, or will you do what's right?"

  8. anonymous
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    Apr 3rd 2023 !⃝

    I think it’s about a girl who’s in a relationship with a boy, and they aren’t financially stable, and she’s cheating on him with another guy who has a lot of money and who’s a Capricorn, cause they mention that. And the boy who she is in a relationship with, knows that she’s cheating

  9. anonymous
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    Jun 20th 2022 !⃝

    I think the "sex sells" part is because the couple is financially unstable, which compels the girl to take up a job to satisfy this rich guy who would most likely be in the apartment under the guy. Or the guy singing would be the ex and the girl went off with the guy downstairs because he's rich.

  10. anonymous
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    Sep 7th 2021 !⃝

    I personally believe the song is about prostitution, the song name itself says that sex sells which is an umbrella term for prostitution. I feel like the narrator is in a relationship where they are sttuggling to financially support themselves to the point the girl has to sell herself for money. The narrator fails to approve of it and fears her not being there with him so he struggles to sleep. The lyrics go from saying he cant sleep with the lights on to saying he cant sleep with the lights off implying he cant sleep at all.

  11. anonymous
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    Sep 5th 2021 !⃝

    I don’t know about other things but he says in the song both that he is scared of sleeping with the lights on and off. He is just saying that he is scared to sleep in the general, whether the lighted are on or off

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  12. anonymous
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    Aug 3rd 2021 !⃝

    When I listen to it I see it as the narrator being the girls friend/neighbor who likes her. He knows her and her values and is frustrated to see her going off with a guy who she clearly is only with for his money, rather than who he is as a person. i.e. the lines "swore she'd never kiss a tory" and so on. I also took the line "hows it feel to be so loved yet so alone?" as a jab in the sense that she's going to get what she's after in the end, but she's essentially alone in the ideals she held and will always be disconnected from the man she's with because of it

  13. anonymous
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    Jul 13th 2021 !⃝

    (for the purpose of this interpretation only, i'll be giving the characters in this song names: the man is jack, the woman is jill, and the narrator is simply just narrator.)

    sex sells is about a golddigger, to put it simply; a woman (jill) marries a wealthy man heavily involved in politics (jack) ("but he's infatuated with ideas / of possessions and far-flung social policy. / his daddy works on the council / and his missus loves the silver spoon.") she married him in spite of his content of character because of his wealth ("swore she'd never kiss a tory / but this boy was too good to lose.")

    the song is written from the perspective of an outsider looking in, someone who knows about the inner workings of their relationship and how incredibly dysfunctional it is; perhaps this person was paid by jack to investigate where jill went at night, or the child of jack and jill who has put the pieces together ("and i'll listen carefully / with ears pressed to the floor / as you make your way downstairs.")

    the theory of the narrator being jack and jill's child becomes more believable in the chorus ("i've been scared of sleeping with the lights on / know she's not there, i know she's going to his flat"). the perspective also could have shifted from the narrator to jack. it also mentions capricorns, who are the most materialistic and greedy zodiac signs ("a capricorn, oh fuck that").

    the theory of a the narrator being someone who caught jill whilst she was out is also raised ("you could buy my silence / if you've got none to lose / if he's still infatuated with the truth / so will you do what's easy? / or will you do what's right? / please could you just let me know.") here it becomes more plausible that the narrator is an outsider who found out by accident what was going on in their relationship, and he's tired of being involved ("please could you just let me know" sounds almost desperate).

    i believe both the narrator and jack are wanting to know what jill is going to be doing, because now the narrator is fully wrapped up in it ("where will you sleep tonight? / where you gonna sleep tonight?"). i also believe that this is hinting to the sexual connotation of sleeping with someone; there has been a lot of hinted sex earlier in the song ("now it's red, now it's dead / now it's everything she needed / now it's four open doors / pillows pressed under your knees / now it's a sad, sappy sucker / to ensure her the ending", which hints at oral sex).

    there is a very brief description of the man jill has been sleeping with is the first thing we know about the man; the man is described to be older, almost like a sugar daddy, which would align with her being a golddigger ("cultured man / venetian suntan / red wine and club bands / viagara pills on the nightstand").

    the narrator eventually tells jack about jill's affair ("how's it feel? / how's it feel to be so loved? / how's it feel to be so loved yet so alone?"). the chorus plays once more, which vents both jack and the narrator's feelings about jill.

    the song ends with the title as well as a rhetorical question ("sex sells, i know that / sex sells, i know that / do you sleep at night?"). the last line can hint at sex as well as guilt, and is most likely aimed at jill, asking her if she is having an affair as well as if she is guilty for what she has done. "sex sells" is most likely saying that, for sex, jill got money through a sugar daddy. in the end, jack confronts jill about her affair.

  14. anonymous
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    Jun 30th 2021 !⃝

    so this is probably wrong, but i think its like a story about a couple but its going back and forth between when they were young, and now when they're married and have a kid, and are having marriage troubles. and now the son has the weight of his parents marriage on his shoulders and yeah idk

  15. anonymous
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    Jun 24th 2021 !⃝

    I think it is about a guy and girl in a relationship, and the guy knows the girl is cheating on him. He also mentions the other guy being a Capricorn and a Tory which are commonly known for being greedy with money. This might be implying that she is a gold digger for his money.

  16. anonymous
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    Jun 14th 2021 !⃝

    I thought the girl killed her self “I’m to scared to sleep with the lights on” the girl killed herself and the boy walked in her self hanged

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  17. anonymous
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    Jun 9th 2021 !⃝

    It’s about a girl obsessed with a boy, but the boy doesn’t want to stay with the girl, or doesn’t feel the same. So she does what any rational person would do. Put out for the boy, and get herself pregnant so he’s forced to stay with her. REASONABILITY, WHATS THAT. I might be wrong so I’d love to hear other ideas, but I do feel fairly confident in this interpretation.


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