Love Doesn't Have to Hurt

"Love Doesn't Have to Hurt" is a song by Atomic Kitten, 

which was released as the band's eleventh single. 

It peaked at number four on the UK singles chart.

Song information

The song was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland instead of "Be With You" which was released internationally at the same time of the release of "Love Doesn't Have to Hurt". The reason for this is that "Be With You" was released as a double A side with "The Last Goodbye" the year before - whereas "The Last Goodbye" was released by itself internationally.

The song was featured on the album Feels So Good, and was written by Susanna Hoffs because she liked Atomic Kitten's cover of "Eternal Flame". The album track varies from the single release as the vocals had been re-recorded to give the song a more powerful vocal range, and the music had been redone to give "Love Doesn't Have to Hurt" a smoother finish. For the single release, the song's length had been extended by 10 seconds.



Track listing
UK CD2

    "Love Doesn't Have to Hurt" (radio)
    "Love Doesn't Have to Hurt" (Uptown Full Vocal Master Mix)
    "Use Your Imagination"
    Love Doesn't Have to Hurt (video)

"Love Doesn't Have to Hurt" contains a remix by Love to Infinity.

    "Love to Infinity" Extended Mix (6:59)
    "Love to Infinity" Radio Edit (3:45).

"Love Doesn't Have to Hurt" also contains an Uptown Vocal Mix (6:20)

Chart performance

The song debuted in the United kingdom at #4, which remained its highest charting position. This made the song Atomic Kitten's ninth top ten single, and their sixth simultaneous top five hit in the UK. However, the song quickly fell out of the top ten the next week, where it gained a place on the charts at #12. The song managed to stay on the charts for 10 weeks, and subsequently sold 61,239 copies in the United Kingdom alone, becoming one of their lowest selling singles.

In The Republic of Ireland, the song got into the top 20 and peaked at #13. It stayed in the charts for 9 weeks.

In The Netherlands, it became the Kitten's lowest chart position, and only managed to peak at #65. However, the song was never officially released here, and had no promotion whatsoever. It subsequently managed to stay on the chart for 9 weeks.

In Europe, the song's peak position was #38, and worldwide, it peaked at #36.