The Grand Illusion

The Grand Illusion
Written by Dennis DeYoung
Lead Vocals by Dennis DeYoung

Listen on YouTube

Welcome to the Grand illusion
Come on in and see what's happening
Pay the price, get your tickets for the show
The stage is set, the band starts playing
Suddenly your heart is pounding
Wishing secretly you were a star.

But don't be fooled by the radio
The TV or the magazines
They show you photographs of how your life should be
But they're just someone else's fantasy

So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because you never win the game
Just remember that it's a Grand illusion
And deep inside we're all the same.
We're all the same...

So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because your neighbors got it made
Just remember that it's a Grand illusion
And deep inside we're all the same.
We're all the same...

America spells competition, join us in our blind ambition
Get yourself a brand new motor car
Someday soon we'll stop to ponder what on Earth's this spell we're under
We made the grade and still we wonder who the hell we are!

Interpretation

It's easy to buy in to the media-induced fantasy about what is important in life, fame, fortune, all the latest stuff; but, as Dennis says in concert, "that's all bullsh**.!" Who you are inside is what really matters.

Dennis DeYoung said the following in a 2017 interview:

I had seen the Jean Renoir film, Grande Illusion. It wasn’t what the (anti-war) theme of the film represented—it was the title that attracted me. So I sat down and I started to think…What can the Grand Illusion represent if it’s not an anti-war film? What does it represent to me, and to the band? And I began to formulate an opinion about American society, but really the world at large, about commercialism and capitalism, and how it all comes together.

I started to think, that one of the very difficult things for human beings to understand is…the grass is always greener syndrome, which fuels capitalism, which fuels consumerism. And that the whole basis of it, is that you’re missing out, right? It’s that somehow, you’re not where you should be, and if you buy this or consume this, you will be where you want to be, which is Happiness. So with The Grand Illusion I thought…We’re The Grand Illusion…the band! We are! We go onstage in the good light, as I like to say, standing above the audience for the most part, and we pretend to be larger than life. We are, in fact, creating an illusion, with our imaging, with our songs, with our performances. And I thought…maybe I’ll tell the audience that you shouldn’t always judge your life by what you perceive others’ lives are. And I told them. If you look at the lyrics (he reads the lyrics quickly), “Welcome to the Grand Illusion, Come on in and see what’s happening, Pay the price, get your tickets for the show, The stage is set, the band starts playing, Suddenly your heart is pounding, Wishing secretly you were a star. But don’t be fooled by the radio, The TV or the magazines, They show you photographs of how your life should be, But they are just someone else’s fantasy. So if you think your life is complete confusion, Because you never win the game, Just remember that it’s a grand illusion, And deep inside we’re all the same.”