"The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage" is a 1967 song recorded by the American R&B group The Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla label. Written by Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Marv Tarplin and produced by Robinson, it is noted for being the first single to bill the group as "Smokey Robinson" & the Miracles, a billing already present on the group's albums by this time. Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore were the song's producers.
Personnel
The Miracles
Lead vocals by Smokey Robinson
Background vocals by Claudette Rogers Robinson, Pete Moore, Ronnie White and Bobby Rogers Guitar by Marv Tarplin
Other personnel
Other instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
Lyric content and chart history
The single was a Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and a Top 10 hit on Billboard's R&B singles chart. As with several of the Miracles' hits, "Mirage" begins with Tarplin's guitar and he plays the riff on a 12-string acoustic guitar. The song's lyrics feature Robinson's character as a man deceived by the beauty of a woman who showed "the promise of love", but then sadly discovered that her love was "just a mirage".
Cash Box called the single a "driving R&B workout that should get a lot of play."
Films and cover versions
The Jackson 5, Vance Gilbert and The Uniques are among the acts who have recorded cover versions of "The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage". The original 45 RPM single had The Miracles' "Come Spy with Me", (the original theme song to the 1967 20th Century Fox film of the same name), as the B-side. The hit "A" side, The Miracles' "The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage," was also used in a film, the soundtrack of the 1980 crime drama, "American Gigolo" starring Richard Gere. Gere actually sang along to The Miracles' original recording in the film.