Only Love Can Hurt Like This

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. 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. 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.

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 ..." - 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.

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").

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) performing the song alone in a room. This video was directed by Anthony Saul.

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. 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.

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.

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.

Track listings and formats

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

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

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

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