I'm Not in Love - 10cc - Shane & Kimberly Version

Shorter version is better, minus the be-quiet-big-boys-don't-cry midsection

Too bad that the song on a 7" 45 RPM single had Kathy Redfern's annoying be-quiet-big-boys-don't-cry junk ruining in midsong that 10cc's record label, Mercury had no time to omit, plus it's too bad that the repeated first verse was omitted too abruptly.

I will call that song very heartfelt and bittersweet that touches my heart, because it's mainly all about marriage relationship falling out of favor. Besides it's very touching. I made a comment about that song on YouTube and said:

It's too bad that in 1975 British band 10cc might have taken a break from having a wacky sense of humor and started concentrating on a serious relevant version of the bittersweet heartbreaking ballad, "I'm Not In Love", minus Kathy Redfern's self-parody and believe me it is 10 times better than the epic 6-minute version of that song with her part added.

I made a note and said:

Note: I removed Kathy Redfern's whispered voice that wasn't the perfect fit for the song about neglect that Eric Stewart was singing, because I feel the epic version of this song is too long and too boring which the BBC couldn't play from the start, so I had to shorten it down to 4 minutes and 25 seconds, which is a good length for me.

Here's what the story said about the original with the irrelevant part added:

Next up is the song that everybody knows, ‘I’m Not In Love’. Eric Stewart’s perennial about self-denial would have been a classic in songwriting form anyway (it was inspired by an argument he had with his wife, after she accused him of never saying he loved her and he replied that saying it everyday would become a cliché). It’s what 10cc did with it that makes it special though – Godley, Crème and Gouldman all sang ‘aaaah’ to every individual note of the scale, so that Stewart (the engineer) could fade them up at any time he wanted in the final mix and swap around different notes to make up different chords. This is such a clever, unique selling point that it’s almost got in the way of the song, but listen again to how cleverly the narrator’s self-denial about falling in lovebecomes obvious to everyone but himself. There have been so many love songs in the last 50 years I think I’ll scream if I hear another one, but this song’s clever twist (it’s an ‘I’m not in love song’) makes it one of the cleverest 45s ever produced. The only down-side for me is the rather weak backing of a simple acoustic and keyboard, which do an effective job of conjuring up a romantic mood out of nothing against the narrator’s will but misses the band interplay and range of ideas of the band at their best. I’m also deeply confused as to the middle section where the band’s telephonist rings up to tell us ‘big boys don’t cry’ – what’s this section supposed to mean? If it’s the narrator’s (non) girlfriend then why does she say something she’s not supposed to know about? And if it’s the narrator’s conscience, then why does it have a female voice? I’m confused…It goes without saying that the band added the section in afterwards after realizing that needed something else to liven up he middle bit.