Songfacts®:

• Throughout his career, The Weeknd has consistently portrayed himself as a free bird unable to tie himself down to one girl. Here, despite his lover's attempts to fix him, he can't stop himself from spending time with other women. For The Weeknd, it's too big a sacrifice to commit to one partner.
• The Weeknd wrote the song with:
  
  Swedish writer-producers Max Martin and Oscar Holter. They contributed to five of the After Hours tracks and several of the Dawn FM songs, including its lead single, "Take My Breath."
  
  Axwell, Steve Angello, and Sebastian Ingrosso of The Swedish House Mafia. It serves as the second collaboration between the Weeknd and the Swedish trio following the release of the 2021 single "Moth To A Flame." They also contributed to another Dawn FM track, "How Do I Make You Love Me?"
  
  Swedish producer Carl Nordström. He has been a frequent collaborator with Swedish House Mafia since the group's return from their hiatus in 2018.
  
  The Weeknd, Max Martin, Oscar Holter and The Swedish House Mafia also produced the dance funk track.
• This samples a guitar loop from Alicia Myers' 1981 gospel number "I Want to Thank You." The Weeknd revealed in a Zoom press call it was Swedish House Mafia who showed him the funky guitar loop that ended up anchoring "Sacrifice." Kevin McCord, the writer of "I Want to Thank You," accordingly gets a credit on "Sacrifice."
• Other artists that have snagged from "I Want to Thank You" include Mariah Carey on "Make It Happen" (McCord had to resort to legal action), E-40 featuring Suga-T on "I Wanna Thank You," and Busta Rhymes featuring Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Q-Tip on "Thank You" in 2013.
• The Los Angeles duo Cliqua directed the video. It continues the story from the "Take My Breath" clip as we see The Weeknd dragged by a hooded cult and attached to a giant wheel.
• The music video opens with a spoken interlude by Jim Carrey in the voice of a radio DJ:
  
  You are now listening to 103.5 Dawn FM
  You've been in the dark for way too long
  It's time to walk into the light
  And accept your fate with open arms
  
  Scared? Don't worry
  We'll be there to hold your hand and guide you through this painless transition
  But what's the rush?
  Just relax and enjoy another hour of commercial-free-yourself music on 103.5 Dawn FM
  
  On the album, this section is part of the opening track, "Dawn FM," and introduces the Jim Carrey announcer motif that runs throughout.
• The Weeknd dropped a Swedish House Mafia-helmed remix that doubles down on Dawn FM's vintage disco-inspired sound. The new version is accompanied by a video set in an indoor basketball court. The revamp is one of three additional tracks on Dawn FM (Alternate World) along with techno duo Agents Of Time's remix of "Take My Breath" and Swedish House Mafia's The Weeknd-featuring single "Moth To A Flame."