Sometimes I feel I've got to
Run away I've got to
Get away
From the pain that you drive into the heart of me
The love we share
Seems to go nowhere
And I've lost my light
For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night
Chorus
Once I ran to you (I ran)
Now I'll run from you
This tainted love you've given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that's not nearly all
Oh...tainted love
Tainted love
Now I know I've got to
Run away I've got to
Get away
You don't really want any more from me
To make things right
You need someone to hold you tight
And you think love is to pray
But I'm sorry I don't pray that way
Repeat chorus
Don't touch me please
I cannot stand the way you tease
I love you though you hurt me so
Now I'm going to pack my things and go
Tainted love, tainted love (x2)
Touch me baby, tainted love (x2)
Tainted love (x3)
Review:
This cover by Soft Cell is by far my favorite version of the 1960's classic by Gloria Jones (The second being Marilyn Manson's cover). It speaks of lost love and the change in attitude of the singer towards a former lover (or otherwise).
Although the song was not originally intended to be meant as a song that talked about AIDS, many people drew taht reference when it was released as a bonus track in Soft Cell's album. This was due to the fact that the vocalist for Soft Cell was openly gay and many of their songs were about homosexuality and transvetite-lism (or something).
Analysis of the song:
"Sometimes I feel I've got to
Run away I've got to
Get away
From the pain that you drive into the heart of me"
This stanza clearly states the singer's desire to get away from the pain caused by the subject.
Obviously, it about a lover or someone that the singer was close to but not now.
"The love we share
Seems to go nowhere
And I've lost my light
For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night"
This stanza also shows that the singer is in pain with his/her lover. Evident by this line, "The love we share
Seems to go nowhere" it shows that the singer is still with the said subject which means that the singer is contemplating whether being together with the subject is a good choice. The singer is so troubled by this that he/she has lost the freedom and is losing sleep.
"Once I ran to you (I ran)
Now I'll run from you
This tainted love you've given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that's not nearly all
Oh...tainted love
Tainted love"
The chorus is about how the singer used to feel toward the subject and how he/she feels now. The lines, "Once I ran to you (I ran) Now I'll run from you" insist so obviously that the singer once did anything for the subject and now hates the subject even to the point of fleeing from it. Ah, at this point, we discover that the singer is male.
"Now I know I've got to
Run away I've got to
Get away
You don't really want any more from me
To make things right
You need someone to hold you tight
And you think love is to pray
But I'm sorry I don't pray that way"
He repeats that he wants to leave. The lines, "You don't really want any more from me To make things right You need someone to hold you tight" imply that the person he had loved was being unfaithful. He sings that the subject doesn't want him anymore but needs someone else to "hold it tight". The last few lines shows the singer's insistence that what the subject is doing is not right and he would not stand for it.
Don't touch me please
I cannot stand the way you tease
I love you though you hurt me so
Now I'm going to pack my things and go
Tainted love, tainted love (x2)
Touch me baby, tainted love (x2)
Tainted love (x3)
At this point he is resisting the subject's offer to stay together despite the infidelity. He finally has enough of the farce that he "packs his bags and leave".
Rating:
I totally love this song