B-side "Pretty One" Format 7" vinyl Genre Rock, new wave | Released March 12, 1980 Recorded 1979 Length 4:11 | |
"If I Didn't Love You" is the ninth track from Squeeze's album, Argybargy. The song, written by Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford, was also released as a single in the United States.
Contents
Background
Glenn Tilbrook said, "This is a really storming lyric from Chris [Difford] and was chosen as a different single in America. It was a massive radio hit there, particularly on the East Coast, whereas it was just an album track in Britain. The lyric caught a lot of people's imaginations because of that thing Chris does so well, picking up on small, almost irrelevant details. What he wrote here rang absolutely true to me and was all the more powerful for it." Tilbrook continued, "The line 'The record jumps on a scratch' was such a gift that I had to use it, so we sang 'If I, If I, If I, If I, If I.'"
Chris Difford said, "I used to love playing this song live. Glenn and I sang it together as a duet, an octave apart. Lyrically it has to be my proudest moment from [Argybargy] and it takes me back to New York when I was living there and writing lyrics. It's about the early cosy part of a relationship, which I call the nesting stage. It's a lovely place to be, somewhere where I think people only go two or three times in their life. At the same time it has that juxtaposition of emotions saying 'If I didn't love you I'd hate you,' because at the back of your mind you've got that insecurity about your inability to have a proper relationship with somebody."
Difford also praised Tilbrook's guitar solo, saying, "I also love Glenn's slide guitar solo. When he first did it I thought 'This guy's out of his tree. What's he doing?,' but it's brilliant."
Release
"If I Didn't Love You" was released as the second single from Argybargy, backed with the non-album track "Pretty One". A "Tiny Collectors Edition" was released later with "Another Nail in My Heart" as the b-side. Neither single was released in Britain.
When the track appeared on Argybargy, it was moved to the beginning of side 2 on the American version.
Critical opinion
AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the song "wonderfully wry", but the same site's Stewart Mason considered the track dated and as more of an experiment than a great single.
Chart performance
When "If I Didn't Love You" was released as a single, it failed to chart, despite receiving radio play.