The Great Pretender

Formed in 1953 in Los Angeles, The Platters group sold over 53 million records and has been in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 1990. Besides The Great Pretender, the group stood out for other songs, including Only You, My Prayer, You've Got The Magic Touch, You'll Never Know, among others. The song "The Great Pretender" was composed in 1955 by Buck Ram and interpreted first by the group The Platters in the album "Encore of Golden Hits". In 1955 the song stayed two weeks in first place of the charts of Billboard. The song became popular again when Freddie Mercury, vocalist of the band Queen, rerecorded the song. The version of Mercury reached the fourth place in the UK Singles Chart.

Performed by a black band, the contribution of the song "The Great Pretender" was that national success is very remarkable in American history. Through the music, the African-Americans were able to show its value in a period where prejudice was accepted by law.

Despite having been composed in 1955, The Great Pretenders song tells a story that happens frequently nowadays. The music shows the portrait of a needy person, the great pretender, who always seems to be fine, but inside and marked by great sorrows. In an individualistic, closed society is more and more common to see happy people full of friends and lovers in social networks and in the background are just great pretenders.

http://www.npr.org/2000/12/02/1114846/npr-100-i-the-great-pretender-i