Song of the Day — September 28
Nazareth — “Love Hurts”
Nazareth — “Love Hurts”
28.September.2020
Nazareth
“Love Hurts”
1975
“Love Hurts” was written by Boudleaux Bryant who, along with his wife Felice Bryant, wrote some of the most well-known songs in music, including:
“Bye Bye Love” — The Everly Brothers, Ray Charles
“Wake Up Little Susie” — The Everly Brothers
“All I Have to Do Is Dream” — The Everly Brothers
“Take A Message to Mary” — Bob Dylan
“Raining in My Heart” — Buddy Holly
As a couple, the Bryant’s wrote more than 6,000 songs, some 1,500 of which were recorded. As songwriters, Boudleaux & Felice Bryant earned 59 BMI country, pop, and R&B music awards. The duo has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
“Love Hurts” was first recorded by The Everly Brothers in 1960, but never made it to an A-Side of a single. The following year, Roy Orbison covered it and scored a hit in Australia, where it went into the top five of Australia’s country chart. Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons recorded it for what would become his posthumously released Grievous Angel album. Harris has kept the song in her setlist for her live performances since Parson’s untimely death in 1973.
Former Traffic member and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Jim Capaldi had a hit with “Love Hurts” in 1975. His cover reached #4 on the UK charts.
Cher covered the song twice, once in 1975 and then again in 1991.
Other artists who have covered “Love Hurts” include:
Joan Jett
Rod Stewart
Jennifer Warnes
The Osbourne Brothers (bluegrass version)
Julian Lage (jazz guitar version)
The most successful cover of “Love Hurts” was the power ballad version by Scottish rock band Nazareth in 1976. The song was a precursor to the heavy metal power ballad blitzkrieg of the 80s and 90s.
The band Nazareth took its name not from the childhood home of Jesus but rather from Nazareth, Pennsylvania. The city referenced in the first line of the classic The Band song, “The Weight” — “I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin’ about half past dead…”).
Nazareth’s cover of “Love Hurts” was on the band’s sixth studio album, Hair of the Dog. The album would be the band’s best known and highest-selling release. The single “Love Hurts” would be a top ten hit for Nazareth in both the UK and the US and ultimately reach #1 in six countries worldwide.
The transcendent power of the song speaks to the universality inherent in love. Love knows no limit of joy, no limitation of pain, and no limit of sorrow. As the song says, “Love is like a cloud, it holds a lot of rain.”
And the emotions surrounding love are not confined by race, region or religion making “Love Hurts” one of the most resonant songs in pop culture.
The bittersweet sorrow of love ending is the spine of this song. The more subtle beauty of the piece is its lack of gender. Having been covered by both men and women, the song loses none of its power when sung by either.
The song “Love Hurts,” much like love itself, is genderless.
If you’re lucky enough, it’s a dialogue between two people.
If you’re not so lucky, it’s one-sided.
“Love Hurts” reads both as a one-sided love and a love affair that has run its course.
The simplicity of the lyrics belies the pain and loss that accompany watching your love die or not being shared.
Love Hurts
Love hurts
Love scars
Love wounds and marks
Any heart not tough or strong enough
To take a lot of pain, take a lot of pain
Love is like a cloud, it holds a lot of rain
Love hurts
Ooh love hurts
I’m young
I know
But even so
I know a thing or two, I learned from you
I really learned a lot, really learned a lot
Love is like a flame, it burns you when it’s hot
Love hurts
Ooh love hurts
Some fools think
Of happiness, blissfulness, togetherness
Some fools fool themselves, I guess
They’re not foolin’ me
I know it isn’t true I know it isn’t true
Love is just a lie made to make you blue
Love hurts
Ooh love hurts
Ooh love hurts
I know it isn’t true
I know it isn’t true
Love is just a lie made to make you blue
Love hurts
Ooh love hurts
Ooh, love hurts, ooh
CRITICS:
Donald A. Guarisco at AllMusic wrote of the album Hair of the Dog: “The American edition of this album also included a surprise hit for the group with their power ballad reinterpretation of the Everly Brothers classic “Love Hurts.” All in all, Hair of the Dog is the finest album in the Nazareth catalog. It is a necessity for both the group’s fans and anyone who loves 1970s hard rock.”
“Love Hurts” has been heard in numerous movies and television shows like:
Deadpool
Spaceballs
Wayne’s World
Sid and Nancy
This Is Spinal Tap
High Fidelity
Dazed and Confused
This Nazareth cover of the Boudleaux Bryant penned classic does sound rooted in a different era but transcends that with the simplicity of the lyrics. Sometimes it’s the most simple things that provide the most power.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
— Leonardo da Vinci