ABSTRACT
In “Bonds,” peace bonds are being sold (in contrast to war bonds). The peace bonds that were sold in Europe in the early 1800s, by the famous financier Nathan Rothschild and others, were coupon bonds – where the bond pays some amount of interest each year. Today’s coupon bonds tend to pay some amount of money annually for a certain number of years, and then at the end of the set period of time (ten years or 30 years, for example) the person receives back their initial investment. The bonds in the early 1800s offered interest payments in perpetuity (i.e., forever). 1 At the beginning of the song – the bonds are selling for 23, then drops to 22, and keeps dropping all the way to 5.
