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Katie Adams

Professor Barnes

Eng. 1201.502

16 February 2022

Analysis of Two Versions of the Song, “Tainted Love”

The song “Tainted Love” released in 1981 by Soft Cell discusses how love is not

always what it seems, sometimes it is “tainted” with manipulative behaviors. This is

shown throughout the Tainted Love music video, where astrological figures show a

young man that there is troubled love in his future. An artist named Milky Chance

created a cover of “Tainted Love” in 2021, accompanied by a music video. “Tainted

Love” by Soft Cell and the cover of “Tainted Love” by Milky Chance share the similar

message that love can sometimes be used to manipulate others. However, the cover

version of “Tainted Love” illustrates the message that loving yourself can be difficult by

strategic use of symbolism and music style throughout the video.

The music video of the original version of “Tainted Love” has a futuristic ascetic.

This is especially shown by the music style, which is electronical and upbeat. Within the

video, there are human figures, outlined in stars, trying to get a young man out of bed.

Occasionally, the scene switches to the singer of the song, Soft Cell, belting the lyrics in

front of an outer space background while looking down, as if he is up in space looking at

the struggling young man below. The main claim of this music video is to illustrate that

love can sometimes be hurtful and evil.

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In the cover music video of “Tainted Love”, Clemens Rehbein (a member of the

Milky Chance Band), is chasing a large cat through the old, abandoned apartment

building where the video takes place. After much of the video, he finally reaches the cat

who then takes off his head and reveals it was Clemens himself dressed in a cat

costume. The song has more of an acoustic and calming tone compared to the

electrical and upbeat tone of the original song. The main claim of this video is that it can

be difficult to love yourself.

Both music videos share the claim that love can sometimes be vindictive and

manipulative. This is shown mainly in the lyrics of the song. Within the song “Tainted

Love”, lyrics state that the singer is feeling heartbroken because of a significant other.

Specifically, the artist sings “I’ve got to get away from the pain you drive into the heart of

me” (Soft Cell). These lyrics help the listener to visualize the pain love is causing him

because of a manipulative partner. Another line from the chorus of the song states,

“Once I ran to you, now I'll run from you” (Soft Cell). This line exemplifies the feelings of

betrayal. By purposeful lyric selection, the artist helps listeners grasp the idea that at

first, he was in love, but now that he knows his partner’s true intentions, he does not

want to be with her anymore. The lyrics sung in both music videos help to show that

both versions have a similar message that love can be deceitful.

Although both music videos send a similar message to viewers, the cover music

video of “Tainted Love” sang by Milky Chance takes a different approach to the idea of

love. By use of symbolic figures, Milky Chance illustrates the claim that it can be difficult

to love yourself. Throughout most of the video, the main character, Clemens, is chasing

a very large cat. At the very end of the music video, Clemens finally catches up to this
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cat. When he and the cat are face to face with each other, the cat takes off his head and

reveals that he is Clemens himself dressed up in a cat costume. This scene is symbolic

because the cat represents self-love, and the action of Clemens chasing the cat

symbolizes a longing for self-love. This meaningful scene shows the idea that loving

yourself can be a difficult and long journey.

Struggles with self-love is also shown in the cover music video of “Tainted Love”

through the opening scene. The video starts with the main character lying on the ground

with a large scratch across his face and blood on his shirt. As soon as he notices his

injury, he looks up to see the large cat that caused the scratch standing in the window of

a building. Since the cat is Clemens himself, the wound symbolizes that the journey to

loving yourself can be grueling and hard. This second use of symbolism aids in

communicating the message that the video’s main idea is about loving yourself.

The difference of music styles in both videos helps to convey the message that

the two versions have similar claims but different ideas of love. The original “Tainted

Love” music video is upbeat and electrical while the cover music video is acoustic and

calming. The upbeat and electrical music style of the original version can illustrate anger

and stress within relationships. While the cover video’s acoustic musical style

encourages a calmer listener to look deeper within their own self-love. The difference in

music styles help to show that the two versions of “Tainted Love” have different

messages regarding types of love but share that the main idea of both music videos is

about love.

The original and cover music video demonstrate the rhetorical appeal of pathos

(emotion). The main reason for this is because the song “Tainted Love” is focused on
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feelings of love. This is generally an emotional topic for most people. The original music

video appeals to pathos because it is centered around a young man being summoned

to get out of bed and go find love. The struggle with self-love shown in the cover music

video appeals to pathos because it pushes the audience to reflect on their own journey

of loving themselves. Although the music videos display some differences, they both

use emotion to appeal to their audiences.

The two versions of “Tainted Love” appeal to the same audience. This audience

is people of younger ages who have complicated feelings about loving relationships with

either themselves or others. The videos appeal to the younger generation because, in

both music videos, the main character was young. So, the group of people that would

likely relate to this video are the people that are the same age as the actors. The videos

also appeal to people who have trouble with relationships because the main idea of

both videos is that love is strenuous and cunning, whether that love is with yourself or

with others.

In conclusion, the two different versions of the song “Tainted Love” have a similar

yet different messages. Both videos share a similar message that love can be

manipulative, the second video, however, illustrates that self-love can also be difficult by

using symbolism and a different music style. Everybody at one time or another has

experienced their own version of tainted love. This is what gives the song the ability to

instill its powerful message into anyone who listens to it.

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Works Cited

Chance, Milky. “Milky Chance - Tainted Love (Official Video).” YouTube, 30 Nov. 2021,

Milky Chance - Tainted Love (Official Video). Accessed on February 11, 2022.

SoftCellVEVO. “Soft Cell - Tainted Love (Official Music Video).” YouTube, YouTube, 18

Sept. 2014, Soft Cell - Tainted Love (Official Music Video). Accessed on February

11, 2022.
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