Sweet – Love Is Like Oxygen

This band had quite a few hits in the seventies. Each of their singles sounded a little different than the previous one. They had songs that included Little Willy, Fox On The Run, Ballroom Blitz, and this one Love Is Like Oxygen. This song marks a change in their sound. You can hear a little Queen and 10cc in their sound.

Sweet guitarist Andy Scott wrote this song and was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for the composition. It lost to “Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty.

Life Is Like Oxygen peaked at #8 in the Billboard 100, #8 in Canada, #9 in the UK, and #6 in New Zealand in 1978. This song was the last hit for Sweet as punk coming in.

 

From Songfacts

Many songs make liberal use of metaphor in the lyrics, but rarely is a song title a direct metaphor, which is the case here. Sweet eschews subtlety as they make the case that love, much like oxygen, must be constantly regulated.

One of Sweet’s more serene song titles, this was Sweet’s last US, UK and German Top 10 hit, as the group left the glam rock scene for the more plush atmosphere of pop-driven music. 

Level Headed was Sweet’s first album for their new label Polydor, in which like ELO they found themselves experimenting with mixing rock and classical sounds.

In 2002, Andy Scott told the Slovakian Box Network: “We had finished with our first record company and had begun on a project for another. At that time the era of the Sex Pistols had started, and how people thought of music reached new dimensions. No one knew what was coming next. We were already a part rock, part metal band. Therefore in the area which was most touched by the changes. That is when I wrote the song ‘Love is Like Oxygen,’ and then the idea came along to compose it in a style which at that time was totally new, yet one that suited us. I think it worked out well. Of course the people didn’t accept it so easily. I consider Level Headed to be a good album, it sold around the world.”

The 1975 Hall & Oates’ song “Grounds for Separation” contains similar lyrics: “But isn’t it a bit like oxygen, ’cause too much will make you high, but not enough will make you die.”

Love Is Like Oxygen

Love is Like Oxygen,
You get too much, you get too high,
Not enough and you’re gonna die.
Love gets you high.

Love is Like Oxygen,
You get too much, you get too high,
Not enough and you’re gonna die.
Love gets you high.

Time on my side.
I got it all.
I heard that pride
Always comes before a fall.

There’s a rumor goin’ around the town.
That you don’t want me around.
I can’t shake off my city blues.
Everywhere I turn, I lose.

Love is Like Oxygen,
You get too much, you get too high,
Not enough and you’re gonna die.
Love gets you high.

Love is Like Oxygen,
You get too much, you get too high,
Not enough and you’re gonna die.
Love gets you high.

Time is no healer.
If you’re not there.
Holy fever.
Set words in the air.

Some things are better left unsaid.
I’m gonna spend my days in bed.
I walk the streets at night,
To be hidden by the city light. City light.

Love is Like Oxygen,
You get too much, you get too high,
Not enough and you’re gonna die.
Love gets you high.

Love is Like Oxygen,
You get too much, you get too high,
Not enough and you’re gonna die.
Love gets you high.