Love Don’t Come Easy is a song recorded by The Alarm written by Mike Peters and Eddie Macdonald. It first appeared on the Change album released on 18th September 1989. It was also released as a single on 29th January 1990.
It was a time when we played with Bob Dylan in 1988, throughout the tour Eddie and I wrote a lot of songs and before the tour ended we went to Los Angeles to a studio in East Los Angeles, USA for an afternoon and we recorded all our ideas, 22 songs titles just verses and chorus some of them were more finished songs that others. Some songs merged together. But Love Don’t Come Easy wasn’t part of that process, we had a really good body of work to start the process of the next album and we decided to come back to Wales and record at the Kinmel Hall. So I said let’s go back to Wales with the silence to record, so we set up at the mansion. We set up the PA in the gym and playing the songs like it was a gig but on Friday’s all these kids would turn up and start playing badminton in front of us. The sessions became very productive and we recorded more songs than we needed for one album. Love Don’t Come Easy came about in the sessions and Eddie was mucking about on the piano with some chords and it was kind of stompy a bit like Father to Son, kind of a Sladey type thing and I thought there’s going to be a great song in here and started working on some lyrics. When the lyrics came I thought we needed to take it back to the guitar, we didn’t feel there was space in the Change album for a big piano number led song. We recorded it with Tony Visconti down in London and was one of the singles
Mike Peters – Big Night In May 2022
1989 Change album Skylight Suite recording
Running length 4:08
Written by Macdonald / Peters
Musician & Credits
Mike Peters – Lead Vocals
Dave Sharp – Electric, 12 String & Slide Acoustic Guitar
Eddie Macdonald – Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Nigel Twist – Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals
Mark Taylor – Piano, Hammond Organ
Tony Visconti – Backing Vocals
Recorded 25th May 1989 at The Skylight Suite, London, England
Mixed at Good Earth Studio, London, England in June/July 1989
Produced & Engineered by Tony Visconti
Alternative studio recordings
1989 Change demo sessions – Kinmel Hall, Wales Sessions
1995 Fort Apache, Boston, USA acoustic studio version
1989 Change album The Skylight Suite, London, England recording Remastered
Re-imaged
1995 – Fort Apache, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Acoustic recording details
Running length tbc
Musicians & Credits
Mike Peters – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Recorded at Fort Apache, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Produced by Michael Peters
Recorded by Dan McLoughlin
Album appearances & discography of studio recordings
All the following are Worldwide releases except where stated
18th September 1989 : The Alarm – Change
Released by IRS Records in the UK on vinyl IRSAX 1020, cassette IRSAC 1020, CD IRSACD 1020
Change was also released on vinyl, cassette and CD in USA, Canada, Vinyl and CD in Europe and Australia,
Vinyl and cassette in Italy, Vinyl only in Brazil, Cassette only in Germany, CD only in Japan
Original 1989 Change album Skylight Suite recording 
December 1997 : Mike Peters – Acoustic Works 1987-1991
Released on CD by Twenty First Century Recording Company, catalogue number 21C005
1995 – Fort Apache, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Acoustic recording details
2000 : The Alarm – Change [1989-1990]
Released bon CD Twenty First Century Recording Company, catalogue number 21C015 (CD)
Appearing as part of the Alarm 2000 collection box set and then later as an individual disc
1989 Change album The Skylight Suite, London, England recording remastered
Single appearances & discography of studio recordings
UK Releases :
29th January 1990 : The Alarm – Love Don’t Come Easy
Released as a 7″ Vinyl single on IRS Records catalogue number EIRS 134
Track listing : Love Don’t Come Easy / Croesi’r Afon (live)
29th January 1990 : The Alarm – Love Don’t Come Easy
Released as a 10″ Vinyl picture disc single on IRS Records catalogue number EIRSPD 134
Track listing : Love Don’t Come Easy / Croesi’r Afon (live) / Change II (live)
29th January 1990 : The Alarm – Love Don’t Come Easy
Released as a 12″ Vinyl single with fold out poster sleeve on IRS Records catalogue number EIRSTPB 134
Track listing : Love Don’t Come Easy / Croesi’r Afon (live) / No Frontiers (live)
29th January 1990 : The Alarm – Love Don’t Come Easy
Released as a CD single on IRS Records catalogue number EIRSCD 134
Track listing : Love Don’t Come Easy / Croesi’r Afon (live) / No Frontiers (live)
29th January 1990 : The Alarm – Love Don’t Come Easy
Released as a Cassette single on IRS Records catalogue number EIRSC 134
Track listing : Love Don’t Come Easy / Croesi’r Afon (live)
Australian Release :
1990 : The Alarm – Love Don’t Come Easy
Released as a 7″ Vinyl single on IRS Records catalogue number 102115 7
Track listing : Love Don’t Come Easy / Breaking Point
Canadian Release :
1990 : The Alarm – Love Don’t Come Easy
Released as a Cassette single on IRS Records catalogue number IRSC-73007
Track listing : Love Don’t Come Easy / Corridors Of Power
German Releases :
March 1990 : The Alarm – Love Don’t Come Easy
Released as a 7″ Vinyl single – on IRS Records catalogue number 006 24 1047 7
Track listing : Love Don’t Come Easy / Black Sun
March 1990 : The Alarm – Love Don’t Come Easy
Released as a 12″ Vinyl single – on IRS Records catalogue number 006 24 1047 7
Track listing : Love Don’t Come Easy / Black Sun / Vigilante Man
March 1990 : The Alarm – Love Don’t Come Easy
Released as a CD single – on IRS Records catalogue number 24 1047 2
Track listing : Love Don’t Come Easy / Black Sun / Vigilante Man
Italian Releases :
March 1990 : The Alarm – Love Don’t Come Easy
Released as a 7″ Vinyl single – on IRS Records catalogue number 06 24 1047 7
Track listing : Love Don’t Come Easy / Black Sun
March 1990 : The Alarm – Love Don’t Come Easy
Released as a CD single – on IRS Records catalogue number 24 1047 2
Track listing : Love Don’t Come Easy / Black Sun / Vigilante Man
USA Release :
1990 : The Alarm – Love Don’t Come Easy
Released as a promotional CD single – on IRS Records catalogue number IRSD-017
Track listing : Love Don’t Come Easy / Corridors Of Power / Working Class Hero
Officially released live recordings – Audio
Officially released live recordings – Video/DVD
Lyrics – 1989 Change album
Love can give you everything
Then take it all away
She can take you to the water
Make you thirst for days
Tell you what you want to hear
In the same breath she can steal
And that’s why love don’t come easy
Love can take you to the mountain
Love can make it move
Love can shine her burning torchlight
In the bed of fools
Love can be your witness
She is judge as she condemns
And that’s why love don’t come easy
Sometimes love don’t come at all
Love don’t come easy
Sometimes love don’t come at all
It ain’t over ’til it’s over
Love can make your poverty
Seem rich although your poor
Love can be your honesty
When your conscience comes to call
Love can count you out in ten
When she’s got you down on the floor
And that’s why love don’t come easy
Sometimes love don’t come at all
Love don’t come easy
Sometimes love don’t come at all
It ain’t over ’til it’s over
Oh no
Love can make the time move quick
Or torture time so slow
Love can heal a gaping wound
Or make the pain explode
Love can be the difference
Between life and a hangman’s rope
And that’s why love don’t come easy
Sometimes love don’t come at all
Love don’t come easy
Sometimes love don’t come at all
And that’s why love don’t come easy
Sometimes love don’t come at all
Love don’t come easy
Sometimes love don’t come at all
It ain’t over ’til it’s over
It ain’t over ’til it’s over
It ain’t over ’til it’s over
It ain’t over ’til it’s over
Everybody (love)
Everybody (love)
Everybody (love)
Everybody have a good time (love)
oh no
Love
Cariad
Alternative Lyrics
Audio and Video Recordings of Love Don’t Come Easy 
Click on image for video of Mike Peters and Dave Sharp performing an acoustic version of Love Don’t Come Easy on the James Whale Radio show, a TV program broadcast in the UK the ITV TV Channel. The song was recorded on 2nd February 1990 and broadcast on 3rd February 1990.
(Page updated 04/08/2025)