This song is about being jilted by a lover and going through the process of opening yourself back up again afterward.

From X Factor to Hit Single

“Bleeding love is about feeling the deepest kind of love,” Leona Lewis herself said. “I would go and perform the song in these countries, and everyone would know the lyrics. Even if they didn’t speak the language, they felt the meaning of the song. And I think that’s what the song means as well. It’s about that connection, that deep love, and it connected a lot of people. Yeah. Really an amazing thing to be able to do.”

X Factor creator Simon Cowell said, “We had made a promise to contestants on our show that if they won, we would turn them or try and turn them into stars. And that song absolutely sealed Leona’s career.”

Jesse McCartney originally wrote the song, and singer-songwriter Ryan Tedder co-wrote and produced it.

“Bleeding Love” is a mid-tempo ballad that features instrumentation and production akin to something you’d expect on a Mariah Carey album. This track was Lewis’ debut single in the aftermath of her victory in season three of The X Factor U.K. In 2008, it was the best-selling single around the world.

The lyrics express a journey about the process one has to go through to lower their defenses after a lover has wronged them. They’re powered by Leona’s commanding vocal presence, which carries the weight and emotion of every word and elevates the track above other love songs.

When Ryan Met Leona

Ryan Tedder described how he came across Leona Lewis and her powerhouse vocal prowess: “I’d seen her on the Internet, on YouTube, and I didn’t know what the X-Factor was, nor did I care. None of us really watch American Idol or any of those kind of shows, but I saw this girl, someone sent me a link singing on on YouTube, and I thought, man, what a voice. And reminded me kind of a Whitney Houston kind of thing.”

“I said, all right, well, whenever the TV show is done, call me and let me know if she won and if she did, then I’d love to try and have a go at her first single, that was pretty much it.”

Lyrical Analysis

The second verse goes into the rumors that the narrator is privy to, even though she’d rather not be. People are gossiping too intently about her sad situation, and she believes that they are intentionally trying to make her doubt herself:

“Tryin’ hard not to hear, but they talk so loud / Their piercin’ sounds fill my ears, try to fill me with doubt”

In the pre-chorus, Lewis sings:

“My heart’s crippled by the vein that I keep on closin'”

This is a reference to Broken-Heart Syndrome: when a person’s heart literally stops functioning properly due to a metaphorical heartbreak.

The titular lyrics, “bleeding love,” conjures an image of someone who has been badly hurt, caused by the injury their partner gave them, and their love is spilling out of them. As painful as it may be, their affection for the one who did them wrong is going to bleed out whether they want them to or not.

Lyrics

Ooh-ooh
Hey

Closed off from love, I didn’t need the pain
Once or twice was enough and it was all in vain
Time starts to pass, before you know it you’re frozen, ooh
But something happened for the very first time with you
My heart melted to the ground found somethin’ true
And everyone’s looking ’round thinking I’m going crazy, ooh I

But I don’t care what they say
I’m in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don’t know the truth
My heart’s crippled by the vein that I keep on closing
You cut me open and I

Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open

Trying hard not to hear, but they talk so loud
Their piercing sounds fill my ears, try to fill me with doubt
Yet I know that their goal is to keep me from falling, hey yeah, mmh
But nothing’s greater than the risk that comes with your embrace
And in this world of loneliness, I see your face
Yet everyone around me thinks that I’m going crazy
Maybe, maybe

But I don’t care what they say
I’m in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don’t know the truth
My heart’s crippled by the vein that I keep on closing
You cut me open and I

Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open, mmh

And it’s draining all of me
Though they find it hard to believe
I’ll be wearing these scars for everyone to see

I don’t care what they say
I’m in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don’t know the truth
My heart’s crippled by the vein that I keep on closing
Ooh, you cut me open and I

Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love

Oh, you cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love (I keep bleeding in love)
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love

Ooh, you cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Jesse Mccartney

Bleeding Love lyrics © Bmg Platinum Songs Us, Bmg Gold Songs, Zazaa Llc, Muppets Never Die, Write 2 Live Music, Mighty Co Music