Cruel To Be Kind

Album

Single

Label

Columbia Records

Genre

Power Pop

Media Type

45s

Duration

3:31

Composer(s)

Nick Lowe;Robert Ian Gomm

Entered Chart

Jul 28, 1979

Peak Date

Sep 29, 1979

Released

17 August 1979

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Columbia 11018

B-Side

Endless Grey Ribbon

"Cruel to Be Kind" is a song co-written by Nick Lowe and his former bandmate Ian Gomm while the pair were in Brinsley Schwarz. The song only appeared as the 1978 B-side of Lowe's "Little Hitler" single until Columbia Records convinced him to rerecord it as a potential single for his 1979 album Labour of Lust. Musically, the song was inspired by "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, an influence reflected in more recent performances of the song.[4] The title comes from a quote from Hamlet, which reads "I must be cruel only to be kind." Released as a single in 1979, the song peaked at number 12 on the charts of Australia, Canada, the UK and the US.[5][4] In the US, where it is one of Lowe's most well-known works, it remains his only single to hit the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, whereas in the UK "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass" remains his biggest hit, having reached number 7 on the UK singles chart a year earlier. The song was accompanied by a music video featuring Lowe's marriage to Carlene Carter.

Oh I can't take another heartache
Though you say you're my friend, I'm at my wit's end
You say your love is bonafide, but that don't coincide
With the things that you do
And when I ask you to be nice, you say

You've gotta be cruel to be kind, in the right measure
Cruel to be kind, it's a very good sign
Cruel to be kind, means that I love you, baby
(You've gotta be cruel)
You gotta be cruel to be kind

Well I do my best to understand dear
But you still mystify and I want to know why
I pick myself up off the ground
To have you knock me back down, again and again
And when I ask you to explain, you say

You've gotta be cruel to be kind, in the right measure
Cruel to be kind, it's a very good sign
Cruel to be kind, means that I love you, baby
(You've gotta be cruel)
You gotta be cruel to be kind

Well I do my best to understand dear
But you still mystify and I want to know why
I pick myself up off the ground
To have you knock me back down, again and again
And when I ask you to explain, you say

You've gotta be cruel to be kind, in the right measure
Cruel to be kind, it's a very good sign
Cruel to be kind, means that I love you baby
(You've gotta be cruel)
You gotta be cruel to be kind

(Cruel to be kind), oh in the right measure
(Cruel to be kind), it's a very very very good sign
(Cruel to be kind), it means that I love you, baby
(You've gotta be cruel)
You gotta be cruel to be kind

(Cruel to be kind), oh in the right measure
(Cruel to be kind), yes it's a very very very good sign
(Cruel to be kind), it means that I love you, baby
(You've gotta be cruel)
You gotta be cruel to be kind

(Cruel to be kind), oh in the right measure
(Cruel to be kind), yes it's a very very very good sign
(Cruel to be kind), it means that I love you