Soft Cell - Tainted Love Lyrics

Soft Cell Lyrics

"Tainted Love"
(originally by Gloria Jones)

Sometimes I feel I've got to
Run away, I've got to
Get away from the pain 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

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
Tainted love (oh)
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

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
Tainted love (oh)
Tainted love

Don't touch me, please
I cannot stand the way you tease
I love you though you hurt me so
Now I'm gonna pack my things and go

Tainted love (oh)
Tainted love (oh)
Tainted love (oh)
Tainted love (oh)

Touch me, baby, tainted love
Touch me, baby, tainted love
Tainted love (oh)
Tainted love (oh)

Tainted love
Tainted love

Submit Corrections

Thanks to Mathias for correcting these lyrics.

Writer(s): Edward Cobb

Gloria Jones recorded two versions of "Tainted Love": in 1964 (as a B-side of her single "My Bad Boy's Comin' Home") and in 1976 (released on her album "Vixen"). Both versions failed to chart in the UK and USA.

Marc Almond of Soft Cell called this song "a mixture of cold electronics with an over-passionate, over-exuberant, slightly out of key vocal" according to the book "1000 UK #1 Hits" by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh. Almond recalled, "Dave introduced me to the record and I loved it so much and we wanted an interesting song for a encore number in our show. Dave loved northern soul and it was a novelty to have an electronic synthesizer band doing a soul song."

Ed Cobb, who wrote this song, told Blender magazine, "I had a lover for whom you could say wasn't a good individual. I tried to go into her head and write a song from her standpoint. Once the word 'tainted' had popped into my head, the song was written very quickly, probably 15 minutes."

"Tainted Love" by Soft Cell was number-one hit on the Singles Chart and the best-selling single of 1981 in the UK. In the USA, the song spent 43 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.

album: "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret" (1981)

Soft Cell - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret album cover

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

Where Did Our Love Go?

(1996 Remastered Bonus Track)

Memorabilia

(1996 Remastered Bonus Track)

Facility Girls

(1996 Remastered Bonus Track)

Fun City

(1996 Remastered Bonus Track)

Torch

(1996 Remastered Bonus Track)

Insecure Me

(1996 Remastered Bonus Track)

What?

(1996 Remastered Bonus Track)

...So

(Instrumental)

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"Tainted Love" lyrics

Soft Cell Lyrics