Songfacts®:

• In this song, Eric Clapton is at the end of his rope in one of those relationships that only survives through mental deception, with the couple pretending they're right for each other. Around this time, he was going through a divorce with Pattie Boyd, the woman who inspired his song "Layla."
  
  Clapton didn't write "Pretending" though; it was written by Jerry Williams, who also wrote "Forever Man" for Clapton's 1985 album "Behind The Sun." Williams also played guitar and sang background on "Pretending" and wrote four other songs on the Journeyman album.
• "Pretending" was the first single from Clapton's 11th album, Journeyman. Many of his previous albums stuck to a particular style, like blues, rock, or R&B. But when he released his Crossroads compilation in 1988 with a wide selection of songs from throughout his career, it was very well received, proving that his fans were interested in the full range of his work. This convinced him to vary his styles on Journeyman, creating an album that couldn't be cataloged into a specific genre.
• Clapton based his vocal delivery on Leon Russell, an American blues musician he admired. You can hear this most clearly in the first line when Eric sings, "How many tiiiimes must we tell the tale," emulating Russell's distinctive drawl. Russell and Clapton go back a ways: they co-wrote the song "Blues Power," which appears on Clapton's 1970 debut solo album.
• Those big snare hits were created with a drum machine programmed by Jimmy Bralower, one of the top dogs in drum programming. His other clients include Madonna, Hall & Oates, and Britney Spears. Other musicians on the track are:
  
  Jerry Williams – guitar
  Nathan East – bass
  Greg Phillinganes – piano
  Jeff Bova – synthesizer
  Alan Clark – Hammond organ, synthesizer
  Carol Steele – congas
• The music video was directed by Caleb Deschanel, known for his work as a cinematographer on movies like The Right Stuff and The Natural. In the video, Clapton and his band perform the song in a downpour in what looks like a homeless encampment. The look was in line with Clapton's Michelob ads from the time.
  
  Clapton was never big on MTV, but around this time he got a lot of airplay on VH1.
• Chaka Khan sang background vocals; she also sang on "Higher Love" by Steve Winwood, Clapton's bandmate in Blind Faith.