"It's Only Pain" is the seventh single by

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

-born singer-songwriter

Katie Melua Ketevan Katie Melua (; ka, ქეთევან "ქეთი" მელუა, ; born 16 September 1984) is a Georgian and British singer and songwriter. She was born in Kutaisi and raised in Belfast and London. Under the management of comp ...

and the fourth from her second album, '' Piece by Piece''. The song had been thought to be about her pain at breaking-up with her boyfriend,

Luke Pritchard The Kooks () are an English pop-rock band formed in 2004 in Brighton. The band consists of Luke Pritchard (vocals/rhythm guitar), Hugh Harris (lead guitar/synthesizer/bass) and Alexis Nunez (drums). Their music is primarily influenced by the ...

. This is not true. The song was written in New York by Mike Batt as a single for her but with no reference to Melua's own life events.Mike Batt memoir

Music video

In the music video, (directed by Melua's producer and songwriter Mike Batt and shot in the old Alexandra Palace Theatre before its refurbishment), shows Melua walking forward slowly into the disused auditorium. She sits on a wooden chair in front of the stage and observes a version of herself dressed as a doll-like vaudeville/dance character. The character's hair is sticking out at odd angles and her make-up is eccentric, complete with a teardrop. She wears a shabby red dance costume. As the "doll" character sings to the real Melua , a ghostly dancer appears and starts to dance around behind her. The ghost is that of Giselle, the ballet character, played by Georgian ballerina

Elena Glurdjidze English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scotti ...

, who wears the traditionalGiselle character costume while sadly dancing choreography drawn from the Giselle ballet. Occasionally we see a glimpse of the prince from Giselle lying motionless, stage left. The ghost dancer goes over to the prince. Reaching her hands down to him, he and she come back to life and the pair dance gracefully, while the sad shabby dancer can only skip awkwardly. The Katie in the auditorium has been watching this with

empathy Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position. Definitions of empathy encompass a broad range of social, co ...

. Near the end of the video, the stage Melua comes down off the stage, and steps forward to embrace the audience Melua. But the "real" Katie vanishes during the embrace, so that the doll character ends up almost hugging herself. The camera then tilts down to her fidgeting black-nailed fingers, and the video ends.

Track listings

# "It's Only Pain" (

Mike Batt Michael Philip Batt, LVO (born 6 February 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer, director and conductor. He was formerly the Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry. Having achieved substantial ...

) # "

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. It was written primarily by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partners ...

" (

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

) # "It's Only Pain" (acoustic version)

Recorded

* ''It's Only Pain'' was recorded when Melua was in New York City. * ''Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'' was recorded at Abbey Road Studio 2 during a

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

tribute to

Charts

References

External links

Katie Melua web site
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' August 11, 2006
Video download
(at the bottom of the page) 2006 singles Katie Melua songs Songs written by Mike Batt Song recordings produced by Mike Batt 2006 songs {{2000s-pop-single-stub