What does I'm Not In Love mean?

10 cc: I'm Not In Love Meaning

Album cover for I'm Not In Love album cover

I'm Not In Love Lyrics

I'm not in love, so don't forget it.
It's just a silly phase I'm going through.
And just because I call you up,
Don't get me wrong, don't think you've got it made.
I'm not in love, no no, it's because...
I like to see you, but then...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Nov 26th 2006 !⃝

    I think the song is just about being in love with someone but not wanting to admit it to them or to yourself, or trying to convince yourself that you don't love them because the other person might make too big a deal out of it, and you're trying to convince yourself that it's less of a big deal than it really is. For example, I think the boy in the song wants to keep her picture so he can look at it all the time, but he uses the excuse that he's just using it to hide "a nasty stain". Everything he's telling his girl makes me think he really is in love with her, but doesn't want her to know so he's covering up everything with excuses.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Nov 9th 2017 !⃝

    Stewart came up with the idea for the song after his wife, to whom he had been married for eight years at that point, asked him why he didn't say "I love you" more often to her. Stewart said, "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." - from wikipedia website
    - Sleepy Interpreter

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Apr 22nd 2011 !⃝

    I think this guy is in LOVE, but he's fighting with himself to admit that.
    As simple as that.
    ...big boys don't cry (a macho cries inside)

  4. anonymous
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    Apr 7th 2021 !⃝

    First love hesitations. He does not want to admit his feelings as it will expose his vulnerabilities to his guy friends? But he is in love most definitely.

  5. anonymous
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    Aug 27th 2020 !⃝

    I agree with the one posting of a gay affair. This was the 70's and the lifestyles were not as open as today. In totality, it could also be of a man (male singer) who couldn't commit, but certain lyrics suggest otherwise. My opinion...

    "It's just a silly phase I'm going through

    "I'd like to see you
    But then again
    It doesn't mean you mean that much to me"

    "Don't make a fuss
    Don't tell your friends about the two of us"

    "Be quiet, big boys don't cry"

    "Ooh, you'll wait a long time for me"

  6. anonymous
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    Aug 13th 2020 !⃝

    I listened to this song so many times as a teenager I was in love with someone but didn't want to let go of my I dependence I behaved exactly how this song has been written and missed out on a love that. Could have been.

    I like to see you but then again it doesn't mean you mean that much to me.
    Don't tell your friends about the two of us.
    Just a silly phase I'm Going through....

  7. anonymous
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    Jun 16th 2020 !⃝

    Eric Stewart wrote this and his meanings behind it are well known, however, I don’t recognise my own feeling about what the words say. Tarantino has various question mark episodes in his films that he will not clear-up for the curious.
    His reason his sound in that he says that explanations take away from the audience being able to use their senses to find their own answers. For instance in the pawn shop scene in Pulp Fiction the two good ole boys speak about Russell’s room. Who is Russell?
    I’m not in love lays bare how we selfishly go through life showing little affection or care for so many people we deal with in our lives.
    Drop dead in front of them and you are soon forgotten.

  8. anonymous
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    Jun 9th 2020 !⃝

    I thought he/she is love but, what about "You'll wait a long time for me"? ...that sounds dishonest.

  9. anonymous
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    May 16th 2020 !⃝

    His great love is dead, and this is the only way he can begin to let her go. The background music and vocals are so haunting, like his love for her still haunts him.

  10. anonymous
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    Mar 14th 2019 !⃝

    The song is simple and to the point. This is about a man and a woman, she loves him deeply but he doesn't share that same love for her and he is telling her not to fall in love with him.

    The first verse is saying it all. "I'm not in love so don't forget it. It's just a silly phase I'm going through" He enjoys her company and everything about her but doesn't love her and he is trying not to break her heart so he is telling her the truth about everything so she will understand that he is not in love, despite all she may see or think.

    Part 2 starts "I like to see you, but then again. That doesn't mean, you mean that much to me" If a person is in love with another these words would NEVER come out of their mouths.

    The chores say "Big boys don't cry"
    Everyone will still get hurt but he won't cry because he wasn't in love with her, to begin with.

    That's my take on the song.

  11. anonymous
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    Jan 11th 2019 !⃝

    I think the song is about a guy with social anxiety who's in love with a girl, but he's saying he's not so that he wouldn't have to worry about rejection as he's dealing with an inner conflict within himself to tell the truth while he has his mother's voice saying "Be quiet, big boys don't cry, big boys don't cry, big boys don't,...," telling him to be confident in life.

  12. anonymous
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    Oct 13th 2018 !⃝

    He is in love but very afraid of his feelings

  13. anonymous
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    Apr 8th 2018 !⃝

    This song is about sacrificing your own happiness for the person you love. He is deeply in love with this girl, but for whatever reason, he knows deep down that it will not work. Maybe he knows that he can not give her the life she deserves and he is setting her free so that she can find someone more deserving of her. This is the essence of this song. He is putting her future happiness above his own. The girl in the song seems to believe that they can make things work, so the guy is being very cold towards her. He tells her that it is just a silly phase he is going through....he keeps telling her he is not in love with her, and yet at the same time his heart is breaking.....big boys don't cry, be quiet, big boys don't cry. This is why this song remains a classic. It is so different from the usual love songs which often speak of lovers who refuse to let go of each other even when perhaps they should. The guy in this song is doing what is actually the highest form of love......he is prepared to suffer pain and heartbreak to make sure that this girl can walk away from him and find a better life than he is able to giver her. A truly beautiful song.

  14. anonymous
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    Dec 7th 2017 !⃝

    Not one time in the song did they use the words she or her. You are assuming it's about a woman. Think about this while you listen to it... A man has a homosexual affair and doesn't want to be found out. Look at the origin of the bands name.

  15. anonymous
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    Nov 26th 2017 !⃝

    He is so so much in love with her that it hurts him inside. He knows she loves him too but maybe not on same level. It's so much a song of denial. He wants to love her so much but is afraid to scare her away.
    Awesome song.!!!

  16. anonymous
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    Nov 9th 2017 !⃝

    The tone of his voice is of him sulking and being love sick from this love-he has lost her and he can't admit how much because she has already gone. But he keeps her picture on the wall...

  17. anonymous
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    Apr 25th 2017 !⃝

    He loves her so very much but he knows she is going to hurt him so badly she is the love of his life and always will be.

  18. anonymous
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    Apr 22nd 2015 !⃝

    Here’s my take I think the boy is probably has a ‘mummy’s boy complex’ he is emotionally underdeveloped -he’s fallen for this girl at school, and is a little bit platonic with her, but doesn’t want to take things any further – the “big boys don’t cry” chorus is reflective of his mum comforting him, because he’s leaked things out to his mum, and he can’t let the girl know he’s terribly shy.

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