The Platters – The Great Pretender

The Great Pretender by The Platters, now that’s a song that evokes a very specific era in American music, a time of doo-wop harmonies and soulful ballads that captured the hearts of teenagers and adults alike. Released in 1955, The Great Pretender wasn’t just a hit, it became a cultural touchstone, a song that continues to resonate today.

The Platters themselves were a fascinating vocal group. Formed in Los Angeles in the early 1950s, they originally consisted of four African American singers – Tony Williams, Herb Reed, Paul Robi, and David Lynch – with Alex Hodge joining later. Their sound was a beautiful blend of doo-wop, a style characterized by tight harmonies and nonsense syllables (“doo-wop, doo-wop”), with elements of rhythm and blues. This unique blend helped them stand out in the crowded doo-wop scene and made them one of the first African American groups to achieve mainstream success.

The Great Pretender was the brainchild of Buck Ram, the Platters’ manager and songwriter. The story goes that Ram boasted to their record label head, Bob Shad, that he had a song even better than their previous hit, “Only You.” When Shad pressed him for the title, Ram, ever the showman, declared, “The Great Pretender!” before he’d even written the song itself. This confidence, some might say audacity, paid off. Ram penned a song that perfectly captured the emotional landscape of young love and heartbreak.

The song opens with a deceptively simple line: “Oh, yes, I’m the great pretender.” This immediately sets the stage for the protagonist’s internal struggle. He portrays himself as someone carefree and unbothered, the “great pretender” of the title. But as the song progresses, the smooth doo-wop harmonies belie a deeper truth. Lines like “My smile is my disguise” and “I’m lonely but no one can tell” reveal the character’s hidden pain. He’s putting on a brave face for the world, masking his heartbreak after a lost love.

The Great Pretender is more than just a catchy tune. It’s a song that speaks to the universal human experience of putting on a facade, of hiding our true emotions for fear of rejection or vulnerability. It’s a sentiment that resonates across generations, making the song a timeless classic. The Platters’ smooth vocals and masterful harmonies only elevate the emotional impact, creating a song that’s both heartbreaking and strangely comforting. It reminds us that we’re not alone in our struggles, that the act of pretending is something we’ve all done at some point in our lives.

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Lyrics

“The Great Pretender”