A new book by the University of Huddersfield's Professor Alex Coles, known for books on art and design including DesignArt and The Transdisciplinary Studio, assesses our ongoing fascination with ballads that go beyond the norm of "I love you, you love me".
Tainted Love: From Nina Simone to Kendrick Lamar published by Sternberg Press looks at twisted romantic ballads, each chapter taking a deep dive in to one song by singers and acts including Nina Simone, Little Simz, Paul McCartney, Roxy Music.
The book takes its title from the song made famous by Soft Cell in 1981 but had been well-known since a version by American soul singer Gloria Jones had become a hit on the Northern Soul scene in the 1970s.
Gloria Jones first recorded Tainted Love in the 1960s and re-recorded it together with partner Marc Bolan a decade later.
"In a traditional love song, the message is 'I love you and here is why'. In a torch ballad (as explored in Professor Coles' other new book Crooner) the message might be 'I love you, don't leave me', whereas with the tainted love song the message is 'I love you, but it's in a slightly strange way'," he says.
"Each chapter explores that strangeness. There is Joni Mitchell's 'All I Want' from her 'Blue' album, all about her doubts in matters of the heart. Kendrick Lamar's 'Love' explores feelings of male insecurity and the need for reciprocation of affection from their partner."
The book also looks at songs by acts well-known for putting a twist on how they express themselves, like with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and PJ Harvey's 'Henry Lee', a murder ballad where a woman stabs her former lover to death after she lures him into a romantic tryst after he tells her he loves someone else.
Paul McCartney released Here Today around 18 months after the death of John Lennon, having already played and sung on George Harrison's tribute All Those Years Ago.
"McCartney really declares his love for Lennon but only after he'd died," says Coles. "He is thinking out loud, he's saying 'if I was to say I love you and I knew you well, what would you say in reply?' McCartney knows they were poles apart and totally different."
The twisted romantic ballad does not necessarily have to be about a person. Roxy Music's 'In Every Dream Home a Heartache' is about a lonely man's feelings for his inflatable doll, while Nina Simone's 'Baltimore' is about the city and is an example about how a song can change in the hands of a different singer. The original version by its writer Randy Newman is a radio-friendly mid-tempo number, typical of the mid-1970s with members of The Eagles playing and singing. But Simone's take on the Oscar-winning singer-songwriter's ballad takes it to a very different place.
Nina Simone's version was released less than a year after writer Randy Newman's original.
"She conveys her empathy for the city's plight. His version was dry and wry, but Simone turned it into this very empathetic response to the city's downturn in the 1970s."
So what is it that compels people to keep finding something they like in the twisted romantic ballad?
"People are always going to be engrossed in something twisted or tainted because it suggests there is a hidden, embarrassing and deeply personal thing at the core of the feelings of love. It is very personal, but it is compelling to find out about that in each case."
Retaining his connection with art and design, Tainted Love is designed by Frazer Muggeridge, known for his work with Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller. The way the book looks and feels in the hand is almost as important as what the writing says.
