About The Song
This song was written by Dean Pitchford and Tom Snow when they were staff writers at Warner Brothers Publishing. It was first recorded by Kim Carnes in 1981 and included on her album Mistaken Identity, which contained the huge hit “Bette Davis Eyes.” The Carnes version was not released as a single. Explaining how he came up with the music, Tom Snow wrote: “‘Don’t Call It Love’ was written melody first, lyric second. Using an old school Roland 808 Drum Box (actual drum machines with real samples hadn’t quite yet hit the market) I programmed a simple beat at a leisurely tempo (leisure being one of my favorite things) and started playing along, getting a piano feel. After a couple of days hunting and pecking I had the music: melody, harmonic progression and structure.”
“Don’t Call It Love” was covered and released as a single by American singer Dolly Parton. It was released in January 1985 as the first single from the album Real Love. The song reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. Her rendition was also an Adult Contemporary hit, reaching number 12 in the US and number seven in Canada. The song into the most-played Country song of 1986.
Dean Pitchford tells us that he needs to come up with a title before he can fill in the lyrics to a song. For this one, he took a tape of the music Tom Snow wrote, but couldn’t get his title. It finally came to him when he used his “shower technique.”
Said Dean: “I used to have a technique where I would put the song into a cassette and I would put it on a loop. I would reproduce it several times so it would play maybe five times on the cassette. Then I would put it on a cassette player outside the shower and I’d go into the shower. I would hit Play and I would listen to it through the shower. It was like you’re trying to look at an object and trying to discern the object, and you cross your eyes, and you try to see it. This was my way of smudging it: what am I hearing here? I’m not hearing it exactly, but I’m hearing kind of a version of the melody, a version of the title line. Then I’d get out of the shower and I’d write down all these title ideas that I’d had while I was listening, like I was crossing my ears.”
Video
Lyric
Nobody believes that I really care for you
They don’t think my heart is true
I don’t think you agree
You know I’m a lifetime gaurantee
So if they ask you what you mean to me?
Don’t call it love
Heaven’s above
We got a better thing, baby
Don’t call it love
‘Cause that ain’t enough
Just tell ’em you’re my everything
Go on and tell ’em baby
Nobody believes we got somethin’ they ain’t got
They’ve never seen a fire this hot
They never got that far
We’re burning as bright as any star
So if they ask you what your feelings are?
Don’t call it love
Heaven’s above
We’ve got a better thing, baby
Don’t call it love
‘Cause that ain’t enough
Just tell ’em you’re my everything
Go ahead and tell ’em baby
Feels so good, holding tight
Loving you through the night
Oh and they can call it what they like
But they ain’t got it right
No, no, no
Don’t call it love
Heaven’s above
We’ve got a better thing, baby
Don’t call it love
‘Cause that ain’t enough
Just tell them you’re my everything
Don’t call it love
Heaven’s above
We got a better thing, baby
Don’t call it love
‘Cause that ain’t enough
Just tell ’em you’re my everything, oh
Don’t call it love
Heaven’s above
We got a better thing, baby
Don’t call it love
‘Cause that ain’t enough
Just tell ’em you’re my everything