DANA I'm Not in Love 1977 (FoD#97)

An oldie but goodie from her 1976 album Love Songs and Fairytales. DANA performed I'm Not in Love on Dawson and Friends, broadcast 25 May 1977. The Syd Lawrence Orchestra provided the backing. Her version is hard rock compared to the soft rock original by 10cc. Their six-minute single topped the UK chart for two weeks in May 1975. Band members Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman wrote it but were told to "chuck it" because "it's crap": "Stewart came up with the idea for the song after his wife, to whom he had been married for eight years at that point, asked him why he did not say "I love you" more often to her. Stewart said, "I had this crazy idea in my mind that repeating those words would somehow degrade the meaning, so I told her, 'Well, if I say every day "I love you, darling, I love you, blah, blah, blah", it's not gonna mean anything eventually'. That statement led me to try to figure out another way of saying it, and the result was that I chose to say 'I'm not in love with you', while subtly giving all the reasons throughout the song why I could never let go of this relationship. "Stewart wrote most of the melody and the lyrics on the guitar before taking it to the studio, where Gouldman offered to help him complete the song. Gouldman suggested some different chords for the melody, and also came up with the intro and the bridge section of the song. Stewart said that the pair spent two or three days writing the song, which at that point had a bossa nova rhythm and used principally guitars, before playing it to Godley and Creme. Stewart recorded a version with the other three members playing the song in the studio on traditional instruments – Creme on guitar, Gouldman on bass and Godley on drums – but Godley and Creme disliked the song, particularly Godley, as Stewart later recalled: "He said, 'It's crap', and I said, 'Oh right, OK, have you got anything constructive to add to that? Can you suggest anything?' He said, 'No. It's not working, man. It's just crap, right? Chuck it.' And we did. We threw it away and we even erased it, so there's no tape of that bossa nova version." "Having abandoned "I'm Not in Love", Stewart and Gouldman turned their attention to the track "Une Nuit A Paris", which Godley and Creme had been working on and which would later become the opening track on The Original Soundtrack album. However, Stewart noticed that members of staff in the band's Strawberry Studios were still singing the melody of "I'm Not in Love", and this convinced him to ask the other members of the group to consider reviving the song. Godley was still sceptical, but came up with a radical idea, telling Stewart, "I tell you what, the only way that song is gonna work is if we totally fuck it up and we do it like nobody has ever recorded a thing before. Let's not use instruments. Let's try to do it all with voices." Although taken aback by the suggestion, Stewart and the others agreed to try Godley's idea and create "a wall of sound" of vocals that would form the focal point of the record." (Wikipedia) Lyrics as sung by DANA: I'm not in love, and don't forget it It's just a silly phase I'm going through 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 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 And don't tell your friends about the two of us I'm not in love, 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 hang your picture upon the wall It hides a nasty stain that's lying there But don't you ask me to give it back I know you know it don't mean that much to me I'm not in love, no, oh no I'm not in love, don't you forget it It's just a silly phase I'm going through 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, oh no It's because... I'm not in love I'm not in love