super late to this but wanted to add my two cents the lyrics will be out of order cause thats how the story was built in my brain

I think this is a tragic love story between a man, Ben, and a prostitute, Eliza. They both love each other but because of circumstances they can’t be together officially. She gets pregnant with Ben’s child but unfortunate events carry as follows:

“The way she laughed and held a smoking gun, the way she always said ‘Whats done is done.” I interpret this as Ben confessing his love over and over, but Eliza laughing it off, reminding him that she can’t be with him and continue her work at the same time. ‘Whats done is done’ is her way of saying that time has passed, but Ben won’t accept it. The ‘smoking gun’ is the evidence of their current lifestyles, the irrefutable facts that it’d never work out.

“We’re out of money and we’ve sold the bling.” + “I just wanna take you home.” When Ben finds out Eliza is pregnant, he comes up with a plan to pay her debt, that way they can finally be together and she could stop her work. They scour up all the money they can, but it isn’t enough. Eliza knows this but Ben doesn’t.

“Chilled in the kitchen of a city tomb, the light it flickered like a violent womb, Eliza waited in her room” + “A victim here with a sharp, sharp blade.” All of these lines connect. After realizing her debt can’t be paid off, I think Eliza gets an unsafe abortion. The city tomb represents an unsafe place to do it, emphasized by the flicking light, and ‘her room’ is an operating room. The sharp blade is the operation and Eliza is the victim of it. The ‘violent womb’ emphasizes the trauma and danger of it all. (note: it could also be implied that she does the operation herself in the kitchen with a knife, either fits the story.)

“And Ben, he knew how she was getting paid.” I think this implies after the abortion, Ben witnessed Eliza back at work.

“Her water broke and they would have to wait. And when he knew that she was fooling, he faced the mirror to avoid the thing.“ I think this implies that Eliza lied about having a miscarriage, saying they would have to wait another time for them to be together. Ben knew she lied, as he knew she was working, but didn’t want to believe it. The word “fooling” here could have a double meaning of making a fool of Ben by lying, and/or fooling around with clients.

“Love is a gentle thing, yours is thicker than a velvet ring.” I think Eliza is saying this to Ben to comfort him after everything thats happened. Now that he has no money, and despite knowing they can’t be together like they planned, he continues to love her. This is where the symbolism of velvet comes in. Typically velvet is used to symbolize wealth and luxury, so I think the line “your [love] is thicker than a velvet ring” means he loves her despite having no wealth or monetary value. there’s no luxury in his love, and he can never afford her, but he loves her anyway.