From the album Back in Love
This is a song about finally getting what you want after teaching someone exactly how to give it to you. The William Tell apple reference and 'sugar or violence' framing position the relationship as a test she's forcing him to pass, not organic affection returning on its own. She calls it love, but every gesture she celebrates is him learning her requirements and catching up to meet them.
Loneliness is a feather bed / Sleeping on the couch instead
She can't decide if being alone felt comfortable or dangerous. The feather bed softness conflicts directly with 'hanging by a thread' two lines later. Either the distance was restful or it was threatening, but framing it both ways means she's rewriting how bad it actually was now that he's back.
You choose sugar or violence / I think you know what I need
This positions him as having agency, but the whole second verse proves she's the one who defined the terms. He's not choosing between options. He's finally learning what she decided the answer had to be all along.
You've been talking my love language, baby, back to me / See you catching up fast, now you know how to please me
The phrasing gives it away. 'Catching up' and 'now you know' mean he didn't know before. She's celebrating that he's learned the script, not that he's being himself. The flowers and kisses aren't spontaneous. They're proof he studied.
Back to jazz on the radio / Back to beaches, away we go
Every 'back to' assumes this is a return to how things were, but nothing in the first verse describes jazz or beaches or ease. She's narrating a restoration that might not have existed the first time. The song avoids saying what actually changed or who made the first move.
She's back again / I'm back, I'm back
The shift from 'she' to 'I' is the only moment where the perspective slips. It might be her talking about herself in third person, or it might be him finally speaking. Either way, the song ends with someone declaring they're back without ever saying where they went or why.
She would be surprised to learn this song reveals she's teaching someone how to love her rather than being loved. The happiness is real, but it's the happiness of watching someone pass a test you designed, not the happiness of being understood without having to explain yourself. The song ends before she notices the difference.