Tainted Love: From Nina Simone to Kendrick Lamar

Titled after Soft Cell's version of the original 1965 Gloria Jones track, Tainted Love is the first book-length inquiry into the subject of the twisted romantic ballad, giving a sense of both its history and contemporary currency. Sometimes extreme, this twist to the conventional romantic ballad spans across gender and generational boundaries to subvert our understanding of both the genre's function and its behavior. Each chapter of Tainted Love explores a single twisted ballad in depth, examining both its inner workings--lyrics, melody, and vocal approach--and its broader cultural resonance. The analysis developed in the chapters turns on the question: what compels songwriters to compose--and us to listen to--these warped songs?

Perhaps the most extreme example of the twisted romantic ballad is Serge Gainsbourg's "Lemon Incest," sung as a duet in 1984 with thirteen-year-old daughter, Charlotte. Playing on the French use of the word zest and its proximity to the word incest, Gainsbourg, ever the provocateur, fashions the ultimate twisted romantic ballad to his daughter. The track's euro-pop eighties' synths provide a cushion for both Gainsbourg's louche rapping and his daughter's high-pitched warble. Close to three decades later, Lana Del Ray's "Off To The Races" pictures a dysfunctional relationship. Underpinned by cloud rap, the track showcases Del Ray's deep, mannered voice as she delivers the lyrics detailing the unusual economy of her romance. In the same period, Tyler, The Creator's "She" details a romantic relationship through the voyeuristic gaze of a previous partner, with the boom-bap beat propelling forward Tyler's rapped lyrics to deliver a further development in the ongoing trajectory of the romantic ballad.