B-side "I'll Try" Format 7" single Label MGM Records | Released July 14, 1958 Length 2:10 | |
Genre Country, rockabilly, pop | ||
"It's Only Make Believe" is a song written by Jack Nance and American country music artist Conway Twitty, and produced by MGM Records' Jim Vienneau, released by Twitty as a single in July 1958. The single topped both U.S. and the UK Singles Chart, and was Twitty's only number-one single on the pop charts of either country. On a segment of Pop Goes The Country, Twitty states the single was a hit in 22 different countries and sold over 8 million copies. It is believed that Twitty wrote his part of the song while sitting on a fire escape outside his hotel room, to escape the summer heat, in Hamilton, Ontario. Twitty had come to Canada at the request of another American singer, Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins, due to Hawkins saying to Twitty that Canada was the 'promised land' for music.
Contents
Twitty recorded many subsequent versions of "It's Only Make Believe", including a 1970 duet with Loretta Lynn on their very first collaborative album, We Only Make Believe. Twitty joins in on the last verse in a 1988 uptempo cover by Ronnie McDowell, which was a #8 hit on the country music charts. Additionally, Twitty contributed to an alternative cover by McDowell.
Content
The song's lyrics describe the thoughts and feelings of a man who is in a one-way relationship: He has a girlfriend, but she does not love him and only stays in the relationship for appearances, a fact of which he is painfully aware. He hopes and prays that, at some point in the future, the woman whom he is in love with will return his love, but laments that, at present, "it's only make believe."
Cover versions
Robert Gordon covered this song in 1979... https://www.discogs.com/Robert-Gordon-Its-Only-Make-Believe/release/4131489 YouTube has various performances of it...treat yourself!