The Wrong People · 1986 · Stiff Records
Make Believe I'm Him
Written by Jim Irvin, Tim Whelan
Published by Copyright Control
I'd be a fool if I hadn't seen There was someone else on your mind I know it meant a lot to you But that's hard for me to take after all this time And what far away look appears in your eyes I know that you're thinking of the past And darling I can tell When we make love That you make believe, that you make believe I'm him Make believe that I'm him, make believe that I'm him Make believe that I'm him, make believe that I'm him Sometime I get so jealous So hurt and angry, I could cry That I realise that someone who played such a part in your Life Would linger on inside And get so excited when you're thinking of him It's a shame to stop you feeling so good So if you want to, when we make love, you can make believe You make believe I'm him Make believe that I'm him, make believe that I'm him Make believe that I'm him, make believe that I'm him If I didn't love you so much, I refuse to take second place… And I feel a strange kind of pleasure When I see that look upon your face You know one day darling you might think of me In the way you consider that man But in the meantime When we make love You're going to make believe You're going to make believe I'm him Make believe that I'm him, make believe that I'm him Make make make believe, make make make believe Make believe that I'm him, make believe that I'm him Make believe that I'm him, make believe that I'm him
Commentary
Someone called this "Motown for masochists". A track from our first proper album "The Wrong People" which was named after a song we never recorded, the chorus of which went: "You meet the wrong people and you fall in love". The album was released by the ailing Stiff late in 1986 and immediately deleted after the initial pressing of 30,000 had sold out. This song often followed "Brilliant Mind" in our live set.
Band commentary — She Gets Out the Scrapbook — 1991 inlay (compiled by Jim, Tim, Hami)
Definitely not based on a real incident. I just had the urge to write one of those intense songs — as in Motown or country music — where the lyric concentrates on a single, unusual emotional event, but I may have got a bit carried away!
Jim Irvin — Band commentary, 2010 Cherry Red reissue booklet (compiled by Jim, Tim and Hami)