‘What a Fool Believes’ is a song written by Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins. The best-known version was recorded by the Doobie Brothers (with McDonald singing lead vocals) for their 1978 album Minute by Minute. Debuting at number 73 on January 20, 1979, the single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 14, 1979, for one week.
The song was one of the few non-disco No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 during the first eight months of 1979. The lyrics tell a story of a man who is reunited with an old love interest and attempts to rekindle a romantic relationship with her before discovering that one never really existed.
Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins, who had wanted to collaborate for some time, wrote the song together in Los Angeles. Loggins went to McDonald's house and heard him playing a tune on piano, and suggested they work on that as he already had a hook line, "She had a place in his life" in mind. The song they wrote was influenced by songs they grew up listening to such as the Four Seasons' "Sherry" and "Walk Like a Man". They finished the song by the following day.
Both Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald recorded the song around the same time. Loggins' version was a creative arrangement with producer Bob James. Loggins released his version of ‘What a Fool Believes’ five months prior to the Doobie Brothers version on his second album Nightwatch, released on July 12, 1978.
In December 1978, five months after Loggins' original recording was released, the Doobie Brothers included their version on their album Minute by Minute, with their version being released as a single the following month. This is the best-known version of the song, debuting at number 73 on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 20, 1979, and then reaching number one on April 14, 1979, for one week.
This version received Grammy Awards in 1980 for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year. Ultimate Classic Rock critic Michael Gallucci rated ‘What a Fool Believes’ as the Doobie Brothers all-time greatest song, particularly praising "McDonald's soulful vocals and soft and warm keyboard riffs." In 2021, it was listed at No. 343 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Songwriters – Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald
Producer – Bob James
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]He came from somewhere back in her long ago
The sentimental fool don't see
Tryin' hard to recreate
What had yet to be created once in her life
She musters a smile for his nostalgic tale
Never coming near what he wanted to say
Only to realize it never really was
[Pre-Chorus]
She had a place in his life
He never made her think twice
As he rises to her apology
Anybody else would surely know
He's watching her go
[Chorus]
But what a fool believes, he sees
No wise man has the power to reason away
What seems to be
Is always better than nothing
Than nothing at all
[Verse 2]
Keeps sending him somewhere back in her long ago
Where he can still believe there's a place in her life
Someday, somewhere
She will return
[Pre-Chorus]
She had a place in his life
He never made her think twice
As he rises to her apology
Anybody else would surely know
He's watching her go
[Chorus]
But what a fool believes, he sees
No wise man has the power to reason away
What seems to be
(If love can come and love can go, then why can't love return once more?)
Is always better than nothing
(Who got the power?)
Than nothing at all (Oh, now)
What a fool believes
(I believe she's never gone away) he sees
No wise man has the power (To reason away)
To reason away
What seems to be
(Oh, if love can come and love can go, oh, mama)
Is always better than nothing (Better than nothing)
Than nothing at all (Oh, I believe)