10cc - I'm Not in Love | REACTION 

It's simple fellas he's in denial and he is in love

Boys, boys, boys - it's called IRONY. The Brits are big on it. He's so much in anguished love he can only protest the opposite. Love the picture on the wall lyric. The clues are everywhere. The vocalist is even mimicking crying the song.

You all missed the boat. It's a "thou dost protest too much." He loves her, but is trying not to admit his feelings.

That is not a synth. That is the band members singing a single note in a tape loop. Hundreds of times. Then the mixing board was "played" like a keyboard, each channel playing a "note".

He ABSOLUTELY loves her. He is protesting that he does not but he completely does. As Shakespeare wrote "The lady doth protest too much" in this case it is the man.

Is trying to convince himself he's not in love but everything he does proves he is in love

It was a HUGE success in 1975, even here in Brazil. Revolutionary.

That’s not a ‘Sandy synth’ you’re hearing. It’s Eric’s vocals layered 48 times, singing each 16 notes of the chromatic scale. So you’re actually hearing 768 ‘ahhhh’s’

From Eric Stewart "At that time my wife and I had been married about eight years," Eric Stewart recalls, "and she asked me 'Why don't you say "I love you" more often?' I had this crazy idea in my mind that repeating those words would somehow degrade the meaning, so I told her 'Well, if I say every day "I love you, darling, I love you, blah, blah, blah," it's not gonna mean anything eventually.' That statement led me to try to figure out another way of saying it, and the result was that I chose to say 'I'm not in love with you,' while subtly giving all the reasons throughout the song why I could never let go of this relationship." It was clearly " Just a silly phase he was going through."....Even though he and his wife are still married after more than 50 years.

The “big boys don’t cry” section was vocalized by an office worker at the recording studio. She was just doing her job and ,before you knew it, she was on a million- selling single… Ain’t life grand. Always have been hypnotized by this tune. ( Dude WAS him love).

He’s soooo in love, he can’t admit it! This song was#1. When I got engaged 48 years ago. I still adore it!

There's an entire documentary dedicated to this song. They tape looped every note in the scale vocally, played the tape and adjusted the volume knobs for the final mix. They basically played the mixer as a musical instrument. Totally unprecedented.

HUGE FLASHBACK….16 year old me absolutely LOVED this when it was released, and 63yo me still does. Oh, “The Things We Do For Love” … 🥰🥰🥰

Another hit of 10cc was ‘The Things We Do for Love’

10cc is “art pop” on a whole different level. The intelligence of what they did (and the way they did it) is stunning.

The Guinness book of record holder for most overdubs in a single song. Literally thousands of vocal overdubs.

This is a man in total denial. He doesn't want want to admit being smitten but rejected. But he is TOTALLY in love!

I have always LOVED this song Spoiler Alert: He’s In Love. LOL You were SPOT ON about the “big boys don’t cry” But you are WRONG about what the song is about … you are stopping too much to comment and not really listening!! This song is not about his wife. … the wife was the inspiration!! (But it isn’t about her)

you guys should check out the story on how they recorded this song . its so amazing and innovative for the time

He is in love, he is just in denial. The 'big boys don't cry' is referencing his repressed upbringing, being told not to show emotion, which has made him unable to express his love openly.

Dreadlock Holiday is a very different vibe. Worth a listen.

Beautiful song

I'm not into soppy music but there are exceptions - the unique sound in this gets me. The voice synth and electric piano adds so much texture in this track

I hate to tell you this guys but, as a 6 year old, I got the meaning of this song when it first came out. He's desperately in love with this girl but in an effort to protect his feelings, he's doing his best to deny it; afraid to acknowledge it to himself or to the girl, for fear she'll break his heart.

Guy , you were talking about the lyrics but the big story here is the sound. That synth sound is nothing ordinary. They spent 3 weeks sampling their own voices and created over 600 voices - an ocean of voices. And after it was done they destroyed the device. Totally unique.

This is one of my absolute favorite songs. The layering that they had to do to get the sound that they were creating at the time was definitely a labor of love of music. Even Elton John wished that he could have created that sound. This was a massive hit. There is a cool documentary on how they made the song on RU-vid that you all should check out.

The line "I have your picture on my wall" is qualified with "It hides a nasty stain lying there"......totally denying his feelings. He gives but takes away....total denial. Good band.

The multi-layered vocals like waves washing onto a beach at the end are just sublime. As everyone in the comments has said, this is a song about a man in denial.

10cc's The Things We Do For Love is the one you're wanting to hear. Very catchy ear candy.

He's so in love but so in denial. Classic 70's song.

"big boys don't cry" is what I remember the most because I was just a kid when this came out because that was a common thing I heard. I remember thinking "but they do". I think it's a man trying to tell himself that he isn't in love with this woman but he really is. He wants to make her believe that he isn't in love with her but he is. Maybe they broke up and he doesn't want her to think he still loves her but he does. Maybe it's a woman who wouldn't good for him and he knows it and wants to discourage her but he is in love with her anyways.

As a teenager at late 90s, I bought this album with loads of old songs and immediately I got hooked with this one. Never found it weird, just trippy and dreamy, like your body was flowing between dimensions. And yes its all about denial, but with great sense of humour. I love sad, dark songs (metal) but this is not a sad song. Love you guys!

So many layered vocals in this song. It's insane. Classic tune.

When I was a kid listening to this on AM radio, I though she was saying "requesting quiet." It's still what I hear first, lol.

10CC is one of all time favorite bands. Literally dozens of great songs. BTW, 10CC is the average size of a man's money shot.

At the time of this recording ( ‘75 ) , 10cc band members were : Eric Stewart , Graham Gouldman , Kevin Godley , & 🇺🇸 Lol Creme . And they were absolutely fantastic ❤️

Big boys don,t cry. Big boys don,t cry. Classic.

I love it, "you can't dance to that." I laughed so hard at y'all.

This is the most unique and beautiful song. It has such an ethereal quality to it and the lyrics are very clever.

NOTHING sounded like this. It was hypnotic & addictive. Never gets old.The true sign of an original. I love this song.

10cc are a great English rock band from the 70's. This group was super talented as every member was a multi-instrumentalist, singer, writer & producer. "I'm Not In Love" was their biggest hit in 1975 but they had other songs such as "The Things We Do For Love", "Rubber Bullets", "The Dean & I", "The Wall Street Shuffle", "Silly Love", "Life Is A Minestrone", "Art For Art's Sake", "I'm Mandy, Fly Me" etc.

"The Things We Do For Love" was a massive pop hit by 10cc.

10cc were a producers band. They were geniuses in the studio and this song is their magnum opus.

I was 20 years old, and had my 1st apartment ,when it came out. This song came on at the same time ,every night, on the radio right when I was going to bed. My stereo had a blue light on it lol. Between the light, and the song, it would always put me to sleep lol But, I love the song.

You three are so genuine. You may not always interpret the songs as we heard or understood them during our time, but it is always such a pleasure to see you discover the music from years past. The way you speak about the unexpected details of the different music, and how you honor and appreciate it is refreshing. SO not contrived. Excellent reaction!!

It's a bit late but may I just apologize to all the patrons of the Phoenix pub, Torrington Road, North End, Portsmouth that had to listen to this song repeatedly on the jukebox in 1975. It was me selecting this over and over again, guilty as charged.

You referenced the line " I keep your picture on the wall", but listen to the next line, "it hides a nasty stain that's lying there." I've always felt that this song is about someone who is in love, but in denial about it, or afraid to admit it. Almost every other verse contradicts or makes an excuse for the one before it, in my opinion.

the next 10cc song you guys should check out is, " the things we do for love" great song

Interesting factoid on this was that the Female voice you hear saying "Big Boy's Don't Cry", was the Studio Receptionist. They brought her in to do that on the track..

There is a video with an interview with some members showing how they put this song together, was pretty amazing what they came up with. It's a gorgeous song. Beautiful overlay of voices and how they did it was pretty smart and clever and very complex.

I always thought that the singer was in denial. He protested and protested, but he really IS in love.

Stockport is part of Greater Manchester. The band's classic line-up was Stewart, Graham Gouldman, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme. Godley & Creme later left to form their own band and video production company - they made some of the top music videos fo the 1980s. And that is voices, not synth! This song was groundbreaking - pre digital - all four musicians recorded vocals dozens of times, which were then spliced together - there's a video on youtube of how it was recorded and it's eye-opening. And he's definitely deeply in love, and just as deeply in denial :)

The recording process these guys followed in the 70s was awesome!

The making of is insane. Way ahead of its time.

Ty had a great take on the Big Boys Don't Cry part, I've been listening to the song since the late 70s and never thought of that, it does seem like it's his inner voice telling him not to cry over his feelings for her.👍

Wonderful song here cannot wait to see your reactions love you guys

Lads, "i'm mandy fly me" is 10cc's best ever song!! From 1976,you WILL LOVE IT!!

Listen to that song with your eyes closed just listen to the music. It’s great

Unforgettably haunting and mesmerizing.

He is in love, but doesn't want to admit it. Listen to it another time or two. Plus, don't be so analytical about the lyrics. It's a vibe. One of my favorite songs from the 70's.

I was embarking on my first serious relationship when this came out. In my late teens feeling lots of feelings, most of which I couldn't identify but some were exciting and some were scary. I went to sleep every night listening to this for months on end. It was the perfect song for me at that time in my life. Now I realise I was slowly torturing myself 🙂 Thanks guys.

It is love. Listen to the lyrics....he definitely loves her.

10cc are very versatile and if you dive more into their catalog you'll find that they are a great band. My favorites are "The Wall street shuffle" "The things we do for love" "Feel the benefit (parts I-II-III)" "Dreadlock holiday"

They achieved the sound in this song by layering their voices over & over to get this amazing sound.

He is ABSOLUTELY in love.

He is naming off all the things a person does when they are in love... so she could see the signs.... in case she is in doubt.... but then he throws in the dark sarcasm “I’m not in love....”

The guy in the song is so in love with the girl, he doesn't know what to do about it. So, he keeps lying to himself to try and make excuses for all the loving things he is doing and saying. He says he is not in love, but he in fact is very deeply in love with her. And the iconic back grown vocals are the 4 of them singing long held notes and redubbed hundreds of times on one track and played back like a musical instrument. IMO, one of the most remarkable songs of all time.

Main songwriter and guitar player Graham Gouldman also wrote the huge hits "For Your Love" and "Heart Full of Soul" for The Yardbirds; "Bus Stop" for The Hollies"; and a number of others.

thanks, guys! such a brilliant band... they do this amazingly live, as well... have you reacted yet to "Squeeze"...? they don't do similar songs, but one thing they have in common is almost perfect balance between the instrumentation and vocals...

This song is for romantics who need deep feelings to feel alive. The spoken words by the girl in the middle say everything, Big Boys Don't Cry, he is deeply in love but may be afraid to admit as it may cost him much pain if it doesn't turn out right so he has to try to protest. Try listening a few more times, this song was huge, but may be out of your wheelhouse if you're not true romantics, like those who cry listening to Chopin nocturnes. The echo background vocals that surge in and out were groundbreaking, had never been heard before.

A great iconic group. The Wall Street Shuffle is another classic for those who don't know the groups music.

You guys have know idea how much fun and simple life was back then.

He's basically talking to himself trying to convince himself that he's not in love. When he really is.

Oh my goodness. I was 11 when this song came out and I understood then what the song meant. He Is In Love!!! only in denial. Well, you got me to comment. Hope it helps the algorithm.

It’s not weird. It’s timeless. Timing is everything

A haunting and beautiful 70’s song…

Beautiful song from my youth. Still fresh as the first day I heard it....

I have to explain this... In a Tale Tell Heart, Poe goes on for two paragraphs about how he's not insane. "If I were insane, would I have done this, or thought that." I'm paraphrasing but at the end you're thinking, "This guy is batshit crazy". Same with this dude. You're not in love, how you do go on. Thou protesteth too much. He's in love. It's a great song to slow dance to. This song cemented the deal so many times. Disintegrating panties!

This has always been on my playlist!

This song is used at the very beginning of the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. When Peter is in the waiting room at the hospital.

Don't listen to what the lyrics say, listen to what they mean. I'm not in love but...

I heard he wrote this song tongue in cheek. To me the lyrics sound like a man who is in love, but is afraid of his feelings. He doesn't want to be in love. So he tries to convince himself and the woman that he's not. Men are often scared to death of deep emotional feelings.

You guys the mastery of this amazing song is it was done BEFORE and WITHOUT a synthesizer. They overdubbed their voices dozens of time to get that unique sound. There's even a video on the making of this song.

This is one of those songs you don't interrupt. It needs to play in its entirety.

10cc owned their own studio which allowed them licence to express their Art Rock credentials! They were ironic, sarcastic, idiosyncratic and made some fantastic songs that were utterly unique! Try I'm Mandy Fly Me, Snack Attack, Rubber Bullets and avoid 10cc when Godley and Creme were not group members!

Such a great tune! Nice choice!

Beautiful song 💕Thank you

In memory of the great Lamont Dozier check out The quiets too loud, with the great Phil Collins. You will love the sax rift.

Yes, it’s layers on top of layers of each of their voices. That’s what makes the “synth” sound.

Another good reaction, brothers. One of my ALL-TIME favorite tunes. I was born in 1968. And, feel very blessed to have been able to grow up in the 70’s and 80’s world of the greatest music, imho. Ryan….you were, oh, so close on the voices being the sounds you were hearing…yet, waaay off in thinking the song was about the pov of the writer/singer(Eric Stewart) not being in love with his wife. If you listen to the lyrics again ….but, through the lens of an adult male trying to be all tough about his emotions and, maybe not wanting to seem vulnerable(in love…yet, in reality, very much loves his lady), as MANY males tend to do(adult, teens or young kids) then you’ll see the sarcasm behind the lyrics. The voices you DID hear, were actually layers of voices painstakingly put together by the band on old reels. In a time before drum machines, auto-tune and all the technology that is enjoyed by artists in todays music world….artists back in those days had to really think outside the box to come up with innovative ways to bring to life the sounds they had in their heads and to share it with the listeners. Here is a great, short, documentary of the making of “I’m Not in Love” with a few band members sharing their hard work that brought us this amazing, ground breaking song. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3oxe4mlsQos.html Another great song(I’m not sure if you all reacted to it, yet)…that is in the same vein as “I’m Not in Love” is a tune called “Dream Weaver” by GARY WRIGHT. If it doesn’t sound familiar by title, you may have heard it in movies/tv shows or commercials…because it’s been used in SEVERAL. It is another tune that is very cool while using headphones/earbuds. 10cc had another hit that I really liked since I heard it as a kid, about 8-9yrs old. “The Things We Do for Love” is catchy, nice melodically made song. The lyrics, as always with 10cc, was very cool and relatable in many peoples lives/relationships. Again, great reaction and love the channel, brothers. Keep up with the great vibes…and I commend you three for having open minds to, pretty much, every genre of music. I never quite understood why anyone would only want to pigeonhole themselves to one or two types of music. My way, ever since I was a kid that knew I wanted to make music a huge part of my life, would always be…if a song moved my mind, my emotions(happy or sad), my heart, my feet and my booty, I didn’t care WHAT GENRE I was listening to, it was a song that I’m going to keep listening to. I was never those “….Backstreet Boys are my guilty pleasure band…” type of music listeners. If I liked a tune….I’d put it on one of dozens and dozens of iTunes playlists🤙🏾🎼 Also, there is DEFINITELY an artists you three should, at least, give a listen to on youtube. (if you haven’t yet. I haven’t seen it while scrolling through your list). You may have heard one of her songs little snippet on TikTok because it was pretty popular a couple years ago But….look for the video for: AURORA: Live at NOBEL PEACE PRIZE CONCERT. She was about to turn 18 at that show. Her vocal range and technique is incredible. It consists of three songs….a cover of OASIS’ “Half the World Away”…..”Runaway”(which was the TikTok snippet)….and “Murder Song(5,4,3,2,1)”. Her vocals are incredible. And this was live. Her studio albums are great. But, she is one artist that elevates her live performances. And, almost never sings or arranges the songs the same way in each performance. And they STILL sound amazing. She writes all her stuff except for about 10 or so songs that she covered, that is so drastically rearranged, and done superbly, you’d think most were written by her. She has a heck of a bunch more very good songs with very cool music videos to them……”The River”….”Dreamer”….”Warrior”….”Queendom”….”The Seed”….these are, lyrically, pretty powerful. Especially, The Seed and the River. But, besides the NOBEL PEACE performance…..my ultimate fave is one she did a LIVE show at a cathedral named, Nidarosdomen, with her goosebumps-inducing vocals to her original song titled “Through the Eyes of a Child”. There is a VEVO video of that song done a cappella by AURORA that makes the hair on the back of my neck buzz from the notes she hits and carries, seemingly, effortlessly. I’m not sure if you guys watched the animated “Frozen” movies. But, in “Frozen 2”….the song “Into the Unknown”, there is a Siren character that is singing in a high note trying to catch the main character’s attention. That Siren’s singing voice is AURORA. BUT….Aurora has recorded her own version of “Into the Unknown”. And, in true Aurora fashion when covering other artists songs….she rearranged the song and sounds pretty cool, imho. I liked the original and it’s uptempo vibe. But, the Aurora’s stripped back and minus double digit beats per minute tempo really brought the song in a nice direction too. Hope to see you folks do a few of Aurora’s stuff. At least the Nobel Peace prize ones. I think you all would like her style and intense emotion and delicate vocals. Mahalo again! And much Aloha, guys🎼🤙🏾🤙🏾

OMG, this takes me back to school discos. This was the song that all the girls wanted to be asked to do a slowy (slow dance) to. The actuality of it was that most of us stood round looking hopeful and then resigned

this is what we called a makeout song, right about 74 75 local radio stations popped up all over california, i was going into 8th grade, our local radio station here started a dedication friday nights this song always had at least 25 dedications along with torn between 2 lovers, from 7-9 pm every high school and jr high kid listened usually at makeout parties at someone's garage that was turned into a studio for an older brother or sister who moved out into the garage complete with couches, tables, a fridge, stereo record player console and of course the glitter disco ball hanging from the garage rafters, of course there was always some good ol humboldt skunkweed for all, the swinging 70's baby the girls were hairy and horny the weed and music were killer

I'm late to the game, but you can watch his eyes when he's singing. His girlfriend (or wife) is standing on the other side of the studio, in his line of sight, and he's smiling at her at times, and trying to make her laugh at other times, and he's totally in love with her. There's also a "Making of" video about this specific song. Look it up off-line. It's pretty amazing.

She dumped the guy and he wants her back! "I keep your picture upon the wall, it hides a nasty stain that's lying there. So don't you ask me to give it back. I know you know it doesn't mean that much to me.". This guy wants her back and he can't admit it!

Jonathan King was actually the one who signed & gave the name to the band which had come to him in a reoccurring dream. It had nothing to do with semen, which btw, contents are usually only measured at about 3-4 cc on a good day. 😃 Lyricist Eric Stewart created the song when his wife asked him why he didn't say "I Love you" more often. His response was that if he told her he loved her every day, then eventually it wouldn't mean as much anymore~What!!! Nonetheless, these are some quirky lyrics about a male who is falsely denying his love toward a female whom is dealing with insecurities about it. 😕 This was awesome guys; enjoyed hearing each of your reasoning & little disputes about the song meaning & band name. Also, I am digging your shirts! 👍 😊 Stay safe out there. ❤

One of the greatest songs ever to have been released. Truly majestic It takes you into another World

Listen guys... in fact, he's falling in love... and probably excited, confused and scared all at once... after all there's no guarantee that the one you love will love you back. It's about growing up... "big boys don't cry!"

Stockport is sort of a large suburb of Manchester. It used to be a village, but Manchester sort of absorbed it like an amoeba.

He obviously loves her. Keeps a picture of her on the wall to hide a stain, really? but he ain't going to give it back? He's just playing tough guy, he's in love

For us of a certain age, this was pure AM gold. If you think about it this was a good nighttime during song. Wildman Jack & American Top 40 💫💫