It’s Only Make Believe: 4 Powerful “Pretend” Songs

We understand that it’s probably a good idea to keep our heads out of the clouds and spend some time in the real world. But you’ll forgive us if we play pretend for a while, especially when it comes to listening to great music.

We scoured all the back catalogs to find four outstanding songs with the word “pretend” or some variation of it in the titles. Let’s play some make believe, shall we, and check out these amazing songs.

“The Great Pretender” by The Platters

The world of popular music has delivered many songs with the theme of someone putting up a happy façade to the world, even though they’re hurting inside. “The Great Pretender”, released in 1955, still stands as one of the best. When we think of The Platters, we think of their stellar vocal harmonies and the unmistakable lead vocals of Tony Williams. But don’t forget the contributions of manager Buck Ram, who wrote many of their biggest hits, including this one. Williams also does an amazing job singing this song by not overplaying the sadness, lest he contradict the meaning of the song. You have to listen closely to hear the cracks in his jolly demeanor. Trust us, they’re in there.

“The Pretender” by Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne used this song as the title track to his 1976 album, which gave him his biggest commercial exposure to date, even though it’s an extremely downcast record. On “The Pretender”, Browne draws a character sketch of one man. But in so doing, he’s throwing a blanket over many in his generation whom he felt had abandoned their lofty ideals and settled for the path of least resistance. Touches of dark humor peek through here and there, such as when he sings, “I’m gonna be a happy idiot.” His portrait of the suburbs, with old-timers falling asleep in cars and kids “solemnly” waiting for ice cream, is trenchant. When “The Pretender” surrenders at the song’s end, it’s a heartbreaking moment.

“Pretending” by Eric Clapton

The album was called Journeyman. But it actually captures Eric Clapton in slick, rock-star mode. This was the beer commercial era for Slowhand, an era that received a lot of criticism that now feels unwarranted. Why shouldn’t a guy like Clapton be allowed to churn out crowd-pleasing, arena-ready songs now and again? “Pretending” introduced the record as its lead single. It was written by Jerry Lynn Williams, a Texan who collaborated often with Clapton. The song masks its bluesy vibes in era-appropriate production, with Steve Ferrone’s drums crashing instead of thumping. Meanwhile, Clapton wah-wahs his way to glory.

“Time To Pretend” by MGMT

Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser of MGMT managed something kind of miraculous on the lead single off their 2007 debut album Oracular Spectacular. On the one hand, “Time To Pretend” predicts the success the duo was about to enjoy with one of the buzziest albums of the era. And yet, the deep cynicism within the lyrics also foretold the direction that MGMT would eventually take, which was far from the mainstream, down experimental alleyways. You can dive into the lyrics and enjoy all the one-liners and subtle pathos. Or you can just groove to the music, which starts out at a peak and never lets down until the fadeout.

(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)