About The Song
“Love Is a Stranger” is a song by the British pop duo Eurythmics. It is the opening track off their second album, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). Originally released in late 1982, the single peaked outside the top 50 in the UK, but it was re-released in 1983, reaching the top 20 in several counties, including number six in the UK. The single was re-released again in 1991, to promote Eurythmics’ Greatest Hits album.
Both the 7-inch single and the 12-inch single were backed by “Monkey Monkey” as a B-side; the 12-inch single also included “Let’s Just Close Our Eyes”, a song that borrowed musical elements from “The Walk”, which was the second single from Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This.
“Love Is a Stranger” was created around nine months prior to its initial release as a single. During the song’s first chart run, Dave Stewart began to receive requests from musicians such as Billy Mackenzie to produce their records.
Lennox sought to encapsulate the dichotomy of love and hatred when writing the lyrics to “Love is a Stranger”. She explained that her goal was to “put opposites together, because love and hate are so close to each other.” The song’s grunts were provided by a chef from a neighboring restaurant; his vocals were processed with a reverb effect. Some of the high vocal harmonies were sung by Kiki Dee, who was friends with Stewart at the time.
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Lyrics
Love is a stranger in an open car
To tempt you in, and drive you far away
Ooh, love is a stranger in an open car
To tempt you in, and drive you far away
And I want you, and I want you, and I want you so
It’s an obsession
And I want you, and I want you, and I want you so
It’s an obsession
Love is a danger of a different kind
It’ll take you away and leave you far behind
And love, love, love is a dangerous drug
You have to receive it, and you still can’t get enough of the stuff
It’s savage, and it’s cruel and it shines like destruction
Comes in like the flood and it seems like religion
It’s noble, and it’s brutal, it distorts and deranges
And it wrenches you up, and you’re left like a zombie
And I want you, and I want you, and I want you so
It’s an obsession
It’s gilt edged, glamorous and sleek by design
You know it’s jealous by nature, false and unkind
It’s hard and restrained and it’s totally cool
It touches, and it teases as you stumble in the debris
And I want you, and I want you, and I want you so
It’s an obsession
And I want you, and I want you, and I want you so
It’s an obsession
And I want you, and I want you, and I want you so
It’s an obsession
And I want you, and I want you, and I want you so
It’s an obsession