Songfacts®:

• This big ballad was penned by American songwriter Diane Warren, who has previously written hits for the likes of Cher ("If I Could Turn Back Time") and Aerosmith ("I Don't Want to Miss a Thing").
• This is one of several tracks on A Perfect Contradiction that find Faith singing about the dark side of love. "I do think I'm a tragic romantic," she told The Metro. "Actually, the benchmark was Candi Staton's 'Young Hearts Run Free,' that kind of song where you acknowledge hardship or sadness but you inject hope into it."
  
  "When it comes on at a party, everyone just thinks: 'Yeah, some hard things have happened, I'm often my own worst enemy – but screw it, let's dance,'" she added.
• Having trouble playing along to this song? That's because it was recorded slightly out of tune. Whether on purpose or by mistake is unknown, but Sound on Sound suggests it may be the result of fooling around with the playback rate at the end of production to adjust the tempo. While certain software can do the job without affecting the pitch, it can also produce an unwanted warbling sound.
• After "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" blew up on TikTok in 2022, Paloma Faith decided to reissue it as a duet. For that purpose, she collaborated with the American singer-songwriter Teddy Swims with both artists recording their vocals remotely.