Keep On Loving You

Album

Hi Infidelity

Label

Epic records

Genre

Soft Rock

Composer(s)

Kevin Cronin

Entered Chart

Nov 29, 1980

Peak Date

Mar 21, 1981

Released

November 4, 1980

Recorded

September 3, 1980

Catalog #

Epic 19-50953

B-Side

Follow My Heart

This song is lead singer Kevin Cronin's response after he found out his wife Denise had been cheating on him before they were married. Instead of leaving her, he decided that he would keep on loving her no matter what, as he made that promise: When I said that I loved you I meant that I loved you forever And I'm gonna keep on lovin' you Cronin called it, "The most painful song I ever wrote." An anthem of fidelity, "Keep On Loving You" is often cited as one of the more romantic songs ever written - VH1 included it on their Top 40 Love Songs show. It didn't work out for Kevin Cronin though, as he and his wife split up a few years after the album was released. He re-married in 1992. In a Songfacts interview with Cronin, he said: "That song is a yin-yang thing, where there is obviously trouble in paradise in the verses, but I always believed that people are capable of changing, and that if your life runs into a tough spot, it doesn't mean that you necessarily have to run from it. You can also look it in the eye, and if there is enough worthwhile in the relationship to keep it going, then you give it all you've got, and that's what I did. Even in giving it all I got, at some point, we realized that it just wasn't going to work. So when I wrote that line, I meant it. I tried my best, but it just didn't happen." REO Speedwagon was one of the first rock bands to score big with power ballads in the '80s. They had the good fortune of being one of the hottest bands in America when MTV launched on August 1, 1981, so the network played their videos, even though they were low-budget affairs. With director Bruce Gowers, they shot four videos in one day, including the clip for "Keep On Loving You," which lead singer Kevin Cronin said "made us look like even bigger dorks than we were." The video shows Cronin with a hot female psychiatrist. He explained in the book I Want My MTV: "Someone figured out that you had to have a hot chick in the video. The psychiatrist was this gorgeous model with librarian glasses. She was out of our league, big-time." Most of the band's videos were dominated by performance footage, and they weren't photogenic enough to compete on the network with the likes of Duran Duran, Van Halen and other acts who did a better job matching a picture to the sound. A few years into MTV's existence, REO was out. The title suggests a blissful love free from complications, leading some people to use it at weddings. Bad idea, says Kevin Cronin. "a lot of people over the years have told me how they played that song at their wedding and it was the first dance at their wedding, or it's "their song" with their boyfriend or girlfriend," he told Songfacts. "My first thought is always, 'Wait. Did you listen to the verses of the song?!'" Before REO Speedwagon recorded this, they were known as a hard rock band. Keyboardist Neal Doughty initially had concerns about recording this love ballad, but his fears were allayed when this proved to be a breakthrough hit for the band. He recalled to Noisecreep in a 2011 interview: "During the making of the Hi Infidelity album, most of REO Speedwagon was going through some kind of personal turmoil. I'm talking about divorces and all sorts of crazy stuff. I remember when Kevin played me 'Keep on Loving You' for the first time I was a bit apprehensive about recording it. You have to remember, up to that point we were known as a rock band and here was this soft song. I wasn't sure how our hardcore fans would react to a ballad. But then Gary Richrath pulled out his guitar, cranked his amplifier to 11 and started playing along with Kevin. From that point, it felt right. Gary and Kevin had such different writing and playing styles and it worked so great on 'Keep on Loving You.' Once that song hit radio, it exploded. We finally had the hit that our label and we had wanted for years. It changed our lives forever." This heart-tugging love song has been covered by a wide array of artists including The Donnas, Evan Dando and Lisa Loeb and been featured in numerous films, beginning with the 1982 movie The Last American Virgin. This was #1 for one week in March 1981 on the US Billboard Hot 100, the 500th song to top the chart.

You should have seen by the look in my eyes, baby
There was somethin' missin'
You should have known by the tone of my voice, maybe
But you didn't listen
You played dead, but you never bled
Instead you laid still in the grass, all coiled up and hissin'

And though I know all about those men
Still I don't remember
'Cause it was us
Baby, way before them, and we're still together
And I meant
Every word I said
When I said that I love you I meant that I love you forever

And I'm gonna keep on lovin' you
'Cause it's the only thing I wanna do
I don't wanna sleep, I just wanna keep on lovin' you

And I meant
Every word I said
When I said that I love you I meant that I love you forever

And I'm gonna keep on lovin' you
'Cause it's the only thing I wanna do
I don't wanna sleep, I just wanna keep on lovin' you

Baby, I'm gonna keep on loving you
'Cause it's the only thing I wanna do
I don't wanna sleep, I just wanna keep on lovin' you