He became widely known for his version of "Wind Beneath My Wings" (1982), as well as his own compositions "Durham Town (The Leavin')" (1969) and "I Don't Believe in If Anymore" (1970), his 1970 hit "New World in the Morning" and his 1975 hit "The Last Farewell" (his only single to hit the US Billboard Hot 100, making it to the Top 20).
Whittakers first chart success came in 1969 when "Durham Town (The Leavin')" was his first UK Top 20 hit. In 1970 came two follow-up hits, "I Don't Believe In If Anymore" (Top 10) and "New World In The Morning" (Top 20), and 1971 brought two smaller hit singles "Why" and "Mamy Blue".
Whittaker was absent from the UK singles chart until 1975, when "The Last Farewell" went Top 3, after which it was another eleven years until "Skye Boat Song" returned him to the Top 10 of the singles chart.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Whittaker had success in Germany, with German language songs produced by Nick Munro (unable to speak German at that time, Whittaker sang the songs phonetically). In time he became more fluent in German and sang and was interviewed in German on Danish television in November 2008. Whittaker retired from touring in 2013.
Make Believe
Roger Whittaker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Our dreams are more romantic than the world we see.
And if the things we dream about don't happen to be so,
That's just an unimportant technicality
We could make believe I love you,
Only make believe that you love me.
Others find peace of mind in pretending,
Make believe our lips are blending
In a phantom kiss, or two, or three?
Might as well make believe I love you,
For to tell the truth, I do.
Your pardon I pray, 'twas too much to say,
The words that betray my heart.
We only pretend, you do not offend,
In playing a lover's part.
Though the cold and brutal fact is you and I have never met,
We need not mind convention's P's and Q's,
If we put our thoughts in practice we can banish all regret
Imagining most anything we choose
We could make believe I love you,
Only make believe that you love me.
Others find peace of mind in pretending,
Couldn't you? Couldn't I? Couldn't we
Make believe our lips are blending
In a phantom kiss or two, or three?
Might as well make believe I love you,
For to tell the truth, I do.
The song "Make Believe" by Roger Whittaker is a classic jazz tune that talks about the sweetest game of "just supposing." It's a game where people can dream and imagine things that are more romantic and beautiful than what they see in the world around them. The lyrics suggest that even if the things they dream about don't come true, it's not important because they can still enjoy the game of pretending. The songtalks about how people find peace of mind in pretending and how they can imagine anything they want.
The song also talks about the idea of making believe. They can pretend that they love each other and that their lips are blending in a phantom kiss. Even though these things are not real, they can still enjoy them and find happiness in the game of pretending. The song suggests that it's okay to make believe and to imagine things that are not necessarily true, as long as it brings people joy.
In conclusion, "Make Believe" is a beautiful song that encourages people to dream and to imagine things that are beyond the world they see. It's about finding happiness in pretending and making believe, even if those things are not necessarily true.
Line by Line Meaning
The game of "just supposing" is the sweetest game I know,
Imagining possibilities and "what if" scenarios is the most enjoyable thing for me to do.
Our dreams are more romantic than the world we see.
The things we imagine and dream up are more idealistic and romantic than the reality that surrounds us.
And if the things we dream about don't happen to be so,
Even if our dreams don't come true in reality,
That's just an unimportant technicality
it doesn't really matter or affect us much in the grand scheme of things.
We could make believe I love you,
We can pretend that I am deeply in love with you,
Only make believe that you love me.
And you can pretend that you love me just as deeply,
Others find peace of mind in pretending,
Some people feel comfort and ease by pretending,
Couldn't you? Couldn't I? Couldn't we
Why don't we try and do the same thing ourselves?
Make believe our lips are blending
We can imagine and pretend that we are kissing each other passionately,
In a phantom kiss, or two, or three?
We can have as many imaginary kisses as we wish.
Might as well make believe I love you,
It's worth imagining that I genuinely love you,
For to tell the truth, I do.
Well, the truth is that I actually do love you.
Your pardon I pray, 'twas too much to say,
I apologize if I said too much and offended you,
The words that betray my heart.
The words I spoke revealed my true feelings and emotions.
We only pretend, you do not offend,
We are just acting and playing the roles of lovers, and you are not doing anything wrong or hurtful.
In playing a lover's part.
We are merely acting out a fantasy of love and passion.
Though the cold and brutal fact is you and I have never met,
Even though we have never actually met in person,
We need not mind convention's P's and Q's,
We shouldn't worry about following strict social norms and expectations,
If we put our thoughts in practice we can banish all regret
By acting out our fantasies and imaginations, we can forget any worries or regrets.
Imagining most anything we choose
We can let our imaginations run wild and picture anything we want.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CHARLES MINGUS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Nigel
on Jenny
I'm not sure by any means, but I wonder whether taking the midnight train is ultimately a metaphor for a more final journey. I also wonder if RW had someone specific in mind whose fate prompted this powerful song. I like it very much.