Nobody Knows by Mike + the Mechanics

Album: Living Years (1988)

Charted: 81

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Songfacts®:

This poignant track from the second Mike + The Mechanics album was written by group leader Mike Rutherford and his co-producer, Christopher Neil. The song finds a man deconstructing a relationship following a breakup. What's killing him is what they've invested in their union; even though it wasn't perfect, they have a history together. At the end of the song, he delivers a line that really tears at the heart: "It hurts just knowing your children won't be mine."
Paul Carrack, who split vocal duties with Paul Young, took the lead on this track. Carrack also sang the album's title track.
This is one of Rutherford's favorite Mike + The Mechanics tracks, but it didn't go over like he'd hoped. "It sounded great, but the crowd didn't get it," he said in a Songfacts interview. "It's one of my favorite songs, actually, from the early days. Just a lovely example of what I do with chords and weird bass notes and the way Paul Carrack sings it. The middle eight's a bit sharp and it's probably got the wrong drums, but I think it has a lovely, warm sound. When I hear it, it relaxes me."

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Edward Benson from Woodland Hills CaGreat album

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