Only Love Can Hurt Like This

"Only Love Can Hurt Like This"
Single by Paloma Faith
from the album A Perfect Contradiction
Released	11 May 2014 (2014-05-11)
Format	CD single digital download
Genre	Pop soul
Length	3:52 (Album Version) 3:37 (Radio Edit)
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	Diane Warren
Producer(s)	AC Burrell Kyle Townsend
Paloma Faith singles chronology
"Can't Rely on You" (2014) "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" (2014) "Trouble with My Baby" (2014)

"Only Love Can Hurt Like This" is a song by English recording artist Paloma Faith, written by Diane Warren. Released as the second single to promote her third studio album, A Perfect Contradiction (2014), on 11 May 2014,^[1] it was promoted on shows such as Alan Carr: Chatty Man.^[2]

The song peaked at number 6 in the United Kingdom, making it Faith's highest charting single to date,^[3] surpassing her 2012 single "Picking Up the Pieces".^[4] It made its Australian chart premiere on 21 July 2014 after being used on a high-profile TV advertisement for Channel 7's drama series Winners & Losers.^[5] It reached the number one position on the Australian ARIA charts on 26 July. It has also peaked at number 3 on the New Zealand Singles Chart, marking Faith's first top ten and highest peaking single there to date.^[6]

Background and composition

"Only Love Can Hurt Like This" was written by Diane Warren, who has previously written songs for Whitney Houston, Cher, Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears.^[7] Initially, Faith refused to record the song because she hadn't any writing credit for it, however after hearing the song Faith felt overwhelmed by how (lyrically) the song reflected on her relationship and emotion at the time.^[2][8] Warren has also written a song with a synonymous title, "Nothing Hurts Like Love", sung by Daniel Bedingfield. The song "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" was premiered in a stripped back acoustic version on Amazon.com, and was later performed at a Burberry fashion show in February 2014; later this performance was made available on the iTunes Store.^[9]

The song has been described as a Motown-influenced sixties-style ballad and is a largely acoustic song featuring mainly brass and drums, expanding to include backing vocals and heavy use of violins in the final choruses. The song also includes subtle piano accentuation. The iTines album review for A Perfect Contradiction describes the song as: "[a] towering, wall-of-sound ballad ..."^[10] - a reference to the production formula developed by record producer Phil Spector.

Unlike other songs produced by AC Burrell or Kyle Townsend, "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" is not tuned to the widely used concert pitch of A=440 Hz. Instead, it was recorded about 35 cents sharp, about one-third of the way to the next semitone.^[11]

Follow-up material

Diane Warren has written for Faith twice again, towards the single "Leave While I'm Not Looking" (Featured on the outsider's edition of A Perfect Contradiction), and "The Crazy Ones" (Featured as the main theme of the film "Miss You Already").^[12][13]

Music video

The official music video for "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" was preceded by an '"Off the Cuff"' version, released on Faith's official Vevo account and was premiered on 31 March 2014. In this video, is shown just Paloma (looking typically vampish in a trademark vintage outfit) and her pianist (Dom Pipkin, who had previously recorded piano for Faith on the acoustic tracks included in the deluxe edition of Fall to Grace^[14][15]) performing the song alone in a room. This video was directed by Anthony Saul.^[16][17]

On 25 April, Faith uploaded a teaser of the official music video on her official Instagram account, and informed that the video was set to release on 28 April.^[18] The song's official video has been credited to Denna Cartamkhoub (as the producer) and Paul Gore (as the director) who also worked with Faith on her "Can't Rely on You"'s and Trouble with My Baby's music video. The video for this song was shot by Daniel Landin.^[19][20]

Uses in media

The track was used in the promotional video for the upcoming 2015 season for New Zealand's popular soap opera Shortland Street.^[21]

Faith performed 'Only Love Can Hurt Like This' at the 2015 BRIT Awards which was held on February 25, 2015. An indoor rain system was activated to add emotive effect. After her performance, Faith commented: "I am drenched!" and "I just sang my song... in torrential rain!". Wayne McGregor's "Random Dancers" performed in the background.^[22][23]

Track listings and formats

• Digital download^[24]

1. "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" – 3:52

• Digital download – Live Performance for Burberry^[25]

1. "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" (Live for Burberry) – 6:19

• Digital download – remixes^[26]

1. "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" (MS MR Remix) – 3:34
2. "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" (Adam Turner Remix) – 6:53

• Audio CD^[27]

1. "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" (Radio edit)
2. "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" (Instrumental)

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (2014) Peak position scope="row" Australia (ARIA)[28] 1 scope="row" Ireland (IRMA)[29] 26 scope="row" New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[30] 3 scope="row" Scotland (Official Charts Company)[31] 5 scope="row" UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[32] 6

Year-end charts Chart (2014) Position Australia (ARIA)[33] 17 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[34] 22 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[35] 37 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/Sales Australia (ARIA)[36] 3× Platinum 210,000^ New Zealand (RMNZ)[37] Platinum 15,000* United Kingdom (BPI)[38] Platinum 600,000 *sales figures based on certification alone ^shipments figures based on certification alone sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

References