Meaning of “Only Love Can Hurt Like This” by Paloma Faith
Paloma Faith is a singer from England who has a UK Albums Chart topper, 2017’s “The Architect”, under her belt. Her studio album that came directly before that, 2014’s “A Perfect Contradiction”, has proven Paloma’s biggest commercial success to date, in that it not only achieved BPI double-platinum status but has also gone gold in down under.
“Only Love Can Hurt Like This”, which is featured on that LP, contributed greatly to its success in that it is likewise marks Faith’s signature hit.
This track reached number one on the ARIA Top 50 singles (once again in Australia) and also broke the top 10 of the Scottish Singles Chart and UK Singles Chart. But more importantly has been its commercial achievements, whereas “Only Love Can Hurt Like This” has gone multiplatinum in Australia, the UK and Mexico.
The primary writer of this song is recognized as Diane Warren, though she is also credited, according to Genius, alongside Keith Uddin. And the producers of the track are AC Burrell and Kyle Townsend.
There are two official videos to this song, in a manner of speaking. The original is known as the “off the Cuff” version, with Anthony Saul serving as its director. And the mainstream version was directed by Paul Gore.
Also to note, in light of the tune catching on via TikTok, Paloma Faith dropped a reissue of “Only Love Can Hurt Like This” in 2022, that time around featuring Teddy Swims.
The Lyrics of “Only Love Can Hurt Like This”
One way of interpreting what’s being put forth is as alluding to the notion that with the blessing of romantic love, also comes the curse of romantic love. Or relayed in a more down-to-earth way, when a person falls in love, that tends to result in developing a natural emotional and physical dependency on the other person.
Meanwhile, Paloma comes off as the type of individual who takes pride in not needing anyone. Or in any event, the vocalist goes about trying to convince herself that she doesn’t need the addressee. Yet it is confessingly obvious that he possesses a power over Faith such that it ‘cuts right to her souls’ for instance every time the addressee departs her side.
So on one hand, as in with the bridge, this song may be taken as a celebration of being in love. But in that regard, the singer refers to that sensation as “the sweetest pain”. And relatedly, the chorus doesn’t necessarily paint a pretty picture of what it feels like to be under the spell of smittenness.
Instead it’s almost as if the vocalist is expecting the worst, i.e. her lover to eventually bounce, and therefore is wary of getting too attached. Yet concurrently, she cannot help but to be so.
