"Love Hurts" by Nazareth

Every hard rock group that's anything at all must have at least one ballad, albeit a very manly ballad. This is a fact of life.

For this blog post, I chose to analyze  "Love Hurts" by Nazareth. This is an old song (it was released in 1975), but it is a good song; although most people could probably not recall it by name, I am sure many would recognize the tune.

The subject of this song is essentially love in general. Throughout the song, the speaker laments about the fickleness of love, despairing how "love hurts, love scars, love wounds/ And mars, any heart." As suggested by these two lines of the song, the speaker's diction is impeccable, powerfully conveying the intense emotions he feels towards the subject of love. In effect, the song's diction, with its melancholy connotations, provides it with personal meaningfulness and relevance. Listeners who have shared similar experiences with love in the past, and many people have, would closely identify with the song's lyrical content. In addition to diction, syntax is crucial in shaping the song's tone and cogency. With the above excerpt from the song but one example, the speaker consistently lists adjectives describing his attitude towards love. These strings of descriptive wording further contribute to the song's lamenting tone by emphasizing the speaker's hopelessness and his distaste of love. Figurative language is used quite extensively in this song as well. The following lines reveal the song's lyrical genius for simile: "I really learned a lot, really learned a lot/ Love is like a flame/ It burns you when it's hot." The use of simile in this song not only allows the audience to capture just how strongly the speakers feels but also establishes this piece to be as much of a work of classic poetry as it is a catch tune. Overall, "Love Hurts" is a very touching song, yet it still manages to have some chest hair at the same time.