Country Ireland Language English Lyricist(s) Michael Reade | Artist(s) Muriel Day Composer(s) Michael Reade Conductor Noel Kelehan | |
"The Wages of Love" was the Irish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1969, performed in English by Muriel Day with backing vocals by The Lindsays.
The song is an upbeat number, in the style of many pop songs of the time. Day cautions her listeners that "when you fall in love, you pay/The wages of love". In other words, while love is a great thing to experience, "there will be bridges to be crossed/And there'll be teardrops to be lost", and one must be aware of that at the outset of a relationship.
Day performed the song in a bright green dress, made by Northern Irish dress designer Alice Campbell, taking full advantage of the then-innovation of colour broadcasting at the Contest. A brief excerpt from the performance was shown in a montage at the Congratulations special in late 2005.
The song was performed fifth on the night, following Monaco's Jean Jacques with "Maman, Maman" and preceding Italy's Iva Zanicchi with "Due grosse lacrime bianche". At the close of voting, it had received 10 points, placing 7th in a field of 16.
It was succeeded as Irish representative at the 1970 contest by Dana with All Kinds of Everything.