"I'm Not in Love" is a song written by Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman of the English group 10cc, from the album The Original Soundtrack. The lyric reveals a narrator in denial about the title's ostensible theme. The song on the b-side "Good News" also appeared as a bonus track on the Japanese version of the album.
A collaborative effort built around a title by Eric Stewart, "I'm Not in Love" is notable for its innovative production, especially its choral backing.
The song was originally written around a Bossa nova beat, but group member Lol Creme suggested slowing the tempo, while another group member, Kevin Godley, suggested replacing the beat with a built-up wall of voices.
The ethereal sound was created by laboriously building up multiple overdubs of the voices of Stewart, Graham Gouldman, Godley and Creme singing a single note in unison. This multi-track was then mixed and dubbed down onto 16-track tape. This process was repeated across all 16 tracks to create a lush 256-voice "virtual" choir that could "sing" chromatic chords.[1] A number of these prepared multi-tracks were then cut into several endless loops, each of which contained the basic notes of the main chords used in the song. The chorus loops could then be played by using the mixing desk rather like a keyboard -- each chord could be sounded by bringing up the fader for that loop. The instrumental break featured the repeated spoken phrase, "Be quiet, big boys don't cry...", spoken by Kathy Warren, the receptionist of their own Strawberry Studios where the band recorded the track. These whispered lyrics would later serve as the inspiration for the name of the 1980s band, Boys Don't Cry.
In this pre-sampler period, the group was able to simulate a large polyphonic choir, creating a dramatic tonal effect similar to that produced by the well-known choir sounds of the Mellotron and Birotron, but with a far richer sound, and in full stereo. Godley and Creme's "Gizmo" (also known as "Gizmotron") guitar effects device invention also is used to create a bowed cello effect that surfaces in the middle and closing sections of the song under the endless looped voices.
The same voice loop effect was used in Billy Joel's ballad "Just the Way You Are", released two years later.
Released in May 1975, "I'm Not In Love" became the band's second number-one single and stayed on the top spot in the UK for two weeks from 28 June. Largely expected to scale the Hot 100 summit, the record only peaked at number two in the US for three weeks, shut out of the top spot by a different number-one song each week (Van McCoy's "The Hustle", The Eagles "One Of These Nights", and the Bee Gees' "Jive Talkin'").
In a BBC interview,[2] Eric Stewart told how the song began as a bossa nova version, but was ditched by the band after Kevin Godley and Lol Creme dismissed it as "crap". Although the band moved on to record "One Night in Paris", they noticed that studio staff were still walking around singing "I'm Not in Love". Stewart recalled: "I looked at Graham (Gouldman), and I said that song's a hit, you know. I don't know what's going on here, but I think we got to try it again. And blow me down, Kevin came up with the idea. He said, 'Let's do something very different. Now let's do a whole track and the whole backing track is voices.'"
The song, once complete, became instrumental in 10cc's launch to international fame. According to Stewart, the band was already being courted by Phonogram to leave Jonathan King's UK Records label and sign a new deal. He said: "I rang them. I said come and have a listen to what we've done, come and have a listen to this track. And they came up and they freaked, and they said, 'This is a masterpiece. How much money, what do you want? What sort of a contract do you want? We'll do anything.' On the strength of that one song, we did a five-year deal with them for five albums and they paid us a serious amount of money."
One of the most covered songs in pop/rock history, "I'm Not in Love" has been recorded by Petula Clark, Hervé Vilard (French and Spanish versions in 1975), Richie Havens, Dee Dee Sharp-Gamble, Amy Grant, Grandaddy, Stanley Turrentine, Chris Standring, Johnny Logan, Richard Clayderman, Krisma, Undercover, George Monroe, with a more danceable cover version, in 1989, Will to Power (whose version peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1991), Deborah Blando - whose version in Portuguese, Somente O Sol (Only the Sun), was a huge hit in Brazil thanks to its inclusion on the soundtrack of the soap opera "Corpo Dourado" (Golden Body), The Pretenders, Mike Francis, Brotherhood of Man, Red Red Meat, John O'Banion, Outrageous Cherry, Chyp-Notic, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Päivi Kautto-Niemi, The BB Band, Olive, Geb.el, Gloritone, Tori Amos, Unfinished Thought, Donny Osmond, Rick Springfield, Deni Hines, Queen Latifah, Lazlo Bane, Tex Perkins & His Ladyboyz, Rozz Williams (Accept the Gift of Sin), Juice, F. R. David, and Japanese singer Ryohei. Former Supreme Scherrie Payne had a club hit with her version of the song in 1982 on Megatone Records.
In 1990, French singer Roé released a Spanish language version of this song called "Soledad(Viejecita)".
In 1992, saxophonist Richard Elliot performed a cover for his album "Soul Embrace."[3]
In 2010, Rock Sugar (band) made a remix-cover of this song and Judas Priest's "Breaking the Law" called "Breaking the Love" on their album "Reimaginator".
Also in 2010, Brazilian singer and actress Marisa Orth recorded it for her debut album "Romance Volume II".
Following their debut album, the English trip hop band Olive recorded a cover of the song. At the cusp of their new record contract with Maverick Records at the time, the band debuted the song on the label's soundtrack for the Madonna film The Next Best Thing before releasing it as the debut single from their second album, Trickle.
Fronted by the lone vocals of singer Ruth-Ann Boyle, the song simulated the backing tracks of the original; the most audible modification made to the song is a percussion track in the style of drum and bass, turning the song into an upbeat dance track.
Accompanied by dance-oriented remixes on the single release, the song gained sufficient nightclub play to reach number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart (on the week of 1 July 2000), as well as airplay on dance-hits format radio.[4]
I'm not in love
So don't forget it
It's just a silly phase I'm going through
And just because
I call you up
Don't get me wrong, don't think you've got it made
I'm not in love, no no, it's because..
I like to see you
But then again
That doesn't mean you mean that much to me
So if I call you
Don't make a fuss
Don't tell your friends about the two of us
I'm not in love, no no, it's because..
I keep your picture
Upon the wall
It hides a nasty stain that's lying there
So don't you ask me
To give it back
I know you know it doesn't mean that much to me
I'm not in love, no no, it's because..
Ooh you'll wait a long time for me
Ooh you'll wait a long time
Ooh you'll wait a long time for me
Ooh you'll wait a long time
I'm not in love
So don't forget it
It's just a silly phase I'm going through
And just because I call you up
Don't get me wrong, don't think you've got it made
I'm not in love
I'm not in love
--song written by Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman
Denial is a wonderful terrible thing, ain't it...? Where would we be without it?
Relationship is a means to an end versus an end in itself. The true purpose of relationship is the full flowering of each partner but only those who conquer fear reach the seventh stage of love:
Most people are afraid of love because they are afraid of their deepest joy, delight and inner freedom.
In relationship, we must reach a place where being honest and being true to yourself is more important than the survival of the relationship ! Let me illustrate this using Stendhal's and Roland's seven stages of a love relationship :
ADMIRATION " I really admire you as a person "
BEGINNING OF DESIRE " I think I'd like to get to know you better."
HOPE " I hope you feel the same way about me "
INCEPTION OF LOVE " I think I'm falling in love with you "
FIRST CRYSTALLIZATION " I see the beauty and perfection within you "
DOUBT, FEAR AND/OR JEALOUSY, ANGER AND RESENTMENT " You're going to hurt me or betray me like others have "This is where Stendhal ended his six stages of love for it is the stage where most, if not all, emotional relationships end with mutual anger, resentment or fear submerging all traces of the original love. What we do not realize in this stage is that these feelings are often associated with earlier childhood or relationship hurts we felt with loved ones and we are face to face with the decisions we made at that time to repress and deny our deepest feelings ~ because there was seemingly no-one there for us. We can either run, as most people do, or go inside and go through these fears by not denying the love, taking accountability for these feelings and stop being a victim ! You cannot escape stage six until you are willing to go inside, take total accountability for your actions and feelings and stop denying love.This takes great courage but the payoff is immense ! Resentment doesn't heal ! Anger doesn't heal ! Only love truly heals !
See: THE SEVEN STAGES OF LOVE / FEW GET BEYOND STAGE SIX
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