♫ The Great Pretender ♫

Posted on by under music

A few weeks ago, I played a verrrrrry oldie by The Platters, and since most of you liked it, I decided to try another favourite by them.

The Platters’ manager and producer, Buck Ram, says he wrote this song in about 20 minutes in the washroom of the Flamingo Hotel in order to have a song to follow up the success of Only You.

What I wasn’t aware of is that this song was revived in 1987 by Freddie Mercury of Queen, and his version was also a hit in the UK, though I don’t think so much in the U.S.  I checked out the Queen version and found it not to my liking.

The Great Pretender
The Platters

Oh-oh, yes I’m the great pretender
Pretending that I’m doing well
My need is such I pretend too much
I’m lonely but no one can tell

Oh-oh, yes I’m the great pretender
Adrift in a world of my own
I’ve played the game but to my real shame
You’ve left me to grieve all alone

Too real is this feeling of make-believe
Too real when I feel what my heart can’t conceal

Yes I’m the great pretender
Just laughin’ and gay like a clown
I seem to be what I’m not, you see
I’m wearing my heart like a crown
Pretending that you’re still around

Too real is this feeling of make-believe
Too real when I feel what my heart can’t conceal

Yes I’m the great pretender
Just laughin’ and gay like a clown
I seem to be what I’m not, you see
I’m wearing my heart like a crown
Pretending that you’re still around

Songwriters: Buck Ram
The Great Pretender lyrics © Panther Music Corp.

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28 thoughts on “♫ The Great Pretender ♫”

  3. I cannot say when this song got to Winnipeg, we were in the music world boonies back in the 50s, but I wasn ‘t 10 years old yet, I can say that much for sure. And I knew nothing about love or heartbreak yet, but this song was my theme song for many years–I was the great pretender. I had to be to stay alive in my very abusive home. The role I played had very little to do with the person inside me, trying to maintain a strong front while crying and dying inside.
    In the end, the strength I was pretending to have became real, and I refused to let my upbringing turn me into a victim. Oh, I am sure I still have a lot of damage inside me from my childhood, stuff I buried so deep it will never get out, but I became the great pretender, and I survived until I left home for good on my 16th birthday, singing this song so many times during my early years that it was a paean to my pain, until I broke free.
    Thank you for the memories.
    BTW, this is the only version I have ever known, and I want no other version. It gave me life, and it gave me my life.

    Liked by 3 people

    • I cannot say, as I normally would, that I’m glad to have brought back memories for you, because the memories it brought back are tragic rather than happy. But, I am glad you survived and glad that you enjoyed the song, despite, or perhaps because of the memories it evoked. Hugs, my friend.

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  5. Jill, you could cover The Platters’ great songs once a month for a couple of years and not repeat yourself. This is yet one more . A great time to listen to their music is early evening, with a candle or low lit room. “Harbor Lights” has an ethereal effect in such a setting. Keith

    Liked by 3 people

    • I agree … and their music is timeless, too, for even some of my younger (relative to me, that is) readers enjoy it! Now, the setting you describe sounds fine, but calls for someone other than 6 cats to share it with! 😀

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