The Swinging Blue Jeans are a four-piece 60s British merseybeat band, best … Read Full Bio ↴The Swinging Blue Jeans are a four-piece 60s British merseybeat band, best known for their proto-rave-up hit single "Hippy Hippy Shake" (also known as "The Hippy Hippy Shake"). Intriguingly, while the song sounds rather Beatles-clone like, the Beatles did in fact do a cover version of this song for the BBC. The Swinging Blue Jeans had a spell of moderate success, breaking into the U.S. with the aforementioned hit but also charting again and again in the U.K. such as with the top 5 cover track "You're No Good". Sadly, they seemed to fly along with the all-pervading merseybeat success story. Once the novelty started to pale, the hits dried up, and the band eventually retired to the oldies circuit.

Guitarist Terry Sylvester left the group in the late 60s, and he joined another seminal Britsh rock act, The Hollies, as a replacement for the departing Graham Nash. The Swinging Blue Jeans, with some original members, soldiered on through the decades. A version of the group, with singer-songwriter and guitarist Ray Ennis remaining, continues to tour to this day.

It Isn't There
The Swinging Blue Jeans Lyrics

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I love these hair lines
Wishing they were yours
I pretend they′re your lips
When I'm kissing her
But with that old thrill
The thrill that we had
It isn′t there
It isn't there

It isn't there
I say I need her
I wish it were true
I wish you were someone
I could love like you
But something′s missing
That certain feeling
No, it isn′t there
It isn't there without you

Darling say you′re willing
And we'll start all over
Cause it isn′t there

It isn't there
It isn′t there without you.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to The Swinging Blue Jeans' song "It Isn't There" depict a longing for a former lover and the bittersweet experience of trying to replace them with someone new. The singer of the song finds themselves entangled with someone else, represented by the line "I pretend they're your lips, when I'm kissing her." However, despite attempting to recreate the passion and excitement of the past relationship, the singer acknowledges that "it isn't there." They reflect on the thrill that they had with their ex-lover, but now it feels empty and lacking. The longing for the former lover persists, as expressed through the lines "I say I need her, I wish it were true," but deep down, they know that it can never truly be the same. The song concludes with a plea to the ex-lover, asking them to be willing to start over, as the void left from their absence is palpable: "Darling say you're willing and we'll start all over, 'cause it isn't there without you."

Line by Line Meaning

I love these hair lines
I have a strong affection for these superficial qualities

Wishing they were yours
Desiring that you possessed these qualities instead

I pretend they′re your lips
In my imagination, I envision them as your lips

When I'm kissing her
During moments of intimacy with another person

But with that old thrill
Recalling the excitement we used to share

The thrill that we had
The exhilarating sensation of our past relationship

It isn't there
That sensation is no longer present

I say I need her
I claim that I require her presence

I wish it were true
I long for it to be a genuine sentiment

I wish you were someone
I desire for you to possess different qualities

I could love like you
Someone who I could feel the same affection for as I did for you