"The Prize" by Emma Ogier follows a love that has become a wounding contest. Fighting, crying, and bending before breaking give way to the ache of being left waiting while everyone needed is busy. The hidden hand under the table suggests a game with unspoken rules, and the repeated question about keeping eyes on the prize turns love into something to be won. Even cut open and blue, the heart stays broken until the beloved is finally made theirs.
The Prize Lyrics by Emma Ogier
Fight off the grievance
Cry till you pray
Shoot blanks ’til you’re bleeding
Fight ’til we’re even
Bend ‘fore you break
All the people you’re needing are busy tonight
No better reason to put it on ice
Hotel AC’s broken, Tennessee’s smokin’ most of the time
The hand that you dealt me is underneath the table
All that I’m askin’, are your eyes still on the prize?
Leave the door open, this heart will stay broken
‘Til I make you mine
Thought it’d be easy, walk in the park
The way that I’m needin’ you in my arms
Season is frozen, stare at the roses
That died passin’ time
The hand that you dealt me is underneath the table
All that I’m askin’, are your eyes still on the prize?
Leave the door open, this heart will stay broken
‘Til I make you mine
I’m right where you left me, underneath the table
Crammed in the backseat, and never was the prize
You cut me open, beat blue and broken
‘Til I make you mine
Leave the door open, this heart will stay broken
‘Til I make you mine
