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- Written by Randal C. Hill Randal C. Hill
One well-placed — and unusual — word in a song title can make a big difference.
Born in England in 1948, Olivia Newton-John had lived in Australia since age 6. As a child, she began singing on local TV shows.
Years later, after winning a talent competition, Newton-John returned to England, where she performed in clubs while waiting for a break.
She signed with America’s Uni Records label (later MCA) and scored a minor 1971 hit with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “If Not for You.”
But it would take until 1973 before she released her first Top 10 winner, “Let Me Be There,” followed the next year by another success, “If You Love Me (Let Me Know).”
Like any recording artist, though, she yearned to reach the peak of the pop charts one day.
“I Honestly Love You” didn’t start out to be Olivia Newton-John’s first chart-topping single. Peter Allen, an Australian singer-songwriter, had co-written it with New York songsmith Jeff Barry. (In collaboration with then-wife Ellie Greenwich, Barry had given the music world such ’60s classics as “Chapel of Love,” “Hanky Panky,” and “Leader of the Pack.”)
But the hits had dried up by the next decade, and in 1974 Barry hoped to return to the Billboard Hot 100 via “I Honestly Love You.”
Peter Allen felt so good about the song that he decided to record it himself. He cut a demo (demonstration record) to shop around to various labels, but Newton-John, upon hearing it, wanted the work for herself.
Barry quickly convinced Allen that the rising (and glamourous) recording star would no doubt be able to take the tune further than Allen ever could.
Newton-John recalled the first time she came upon Allen’s demo.
“My heart stopped when I heard the lyrics: ‘I love you … I honestly love you.’ Those words touched me. I knew that everyone would be able to make those words fit their own story of love and perhaps even loss. Just putting the word ‘honestly’ into the mix made it even more poignant.”
In Newton-John’s hands, “I Honestly Love You” becomes an admission of a situation that can’t go anywhere. Both people involved here are in a committed relationship with someone else, and despite their chemistry, they aren’t going to do anything about the temptation they’re facing.
If we were both born in another place and time
This moment might be ending in a kiss
But there you are with yours
And here I am with mine
So I guess we’ll just be leaving it at this
I love you
I honestly love you
This is pop music at its very best, a gratifying concoction of strings and pianos. Newton-John’s producer, John Farrar, managed to keep the arrangement soft and delicate. Newton-John, always a convincing vocal actor, sells the song well, her voice quavering with emotion but projecting quiet strength.
“I Honestly Love You” earned Newton-John a Grammy Award and became the first of five chart-topping singles that she recorded during her stellar career.
Randal C. Hill is a rock ’n’ roll historian who lives at the Oregon coast. He may be reached at wryterhill@msn.com.