‘Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)’ is a song by the British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released in 1975 as the lead single from the band's third studio album The Best Years of Our Lives. The song was written by Harley, and produced by Harley and Alan Parsons. In February 1975, the song reached number one on the UK chart and received a gold certification from the British Phonographic Industry in October 2021. It spent nine weeks in the Top 50, and as of 2015, has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide.
More than 120 cover versions of the song have been recorded by other artists, most notably by Duran Duran and Erasure, although Harley has stated his favorite cover version is by The Wedding Present.
The song was the first single to be released under the name "Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel", as opposed to simply "Cockney Rebel". In July 1974, the original Cockney Rebel disbanded, and Harley then assembled a new line-up later in the year. ‘Make Me Smile’ described Harley's feelings on the band's split. After the band split, only the original line-up's drummer, Stuart Elliott, would join the new line-up. In a television interview recorded in 2002 Harley called the lyric "a finger-pointing piece of vengeful poetry. It's getting off my chest how I felt about the guys splitting up a perfectly workable machine. I wrote it saying 'Look, you'll learn how well we're doing here, we're doing well, why are you doing this?'"
Harley also said, "Bill and I did laugh about it later, but that 'metal' reference was to money, to coins. They'd left me in the lurch, those three. It was Judas and the 30 pieces of silver. They had signed a contract with EMI and I had to buy them out."
‘Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)’ became Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel's biggest selling hit, selling over one million copies globally. It was also the band's only number-one hit in their home country, topping both the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart in February 1975. In addition to this, it was the band's only chart entry in America, reaching No. 96 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1976.
Label – EMI
Songwriter – Steve Harley
Producers – Steve Harley, Alan Parsons
SONG LYRICS
You've done it all, you've broken every codeAnd pulled the rebel to the floor
You spoilt the game, no matter what you say
For only metal, what a bore
Blue eyes, blue eyes, how come you tell so many lies?
Come up and see me, make me smile
Or do what you want, runnin' wild
There's nothing left, all gone and run away
Maybe you'll tarry for a while
It's just a test, a game for us to play
Win or lose, it's hard to smile
Resist, resist, it's from yourself you have to hide
Oh, come up and see me, make me smile
Oh, or do what you want, runnin' wild
There ain't no more, you've taken everything
From my belief in Mother Earth
Can you ignore my faith in everything?
Cause I know what faith is and what it's worth
Away, away, and don't say maybe you'll try
Oh, come up and see me to makin' me smile
Or do what you want just runnin' wild
(Come up and see me, make me smile)
(Or do what you want, runnin' wild)