Released July 2, 2025
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Pretending to Read 3:270:00/3:27
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0:00/3:25
Released July 2, 2025
Written and composed by Amelia Ray
Vocal and guitar: Amelia Ray
Recording Engineer: Danielle Goldsmith
Producer: Amelia Ray
Mix Engineers: Amelia Ray and Kristin Sevaldsen
Mastered by Michael Romanowski at Coast Mastering
Executive Director: The Accountant
Artwork: Nicolas Pineiro
Recorded and filmed at Women's Audio Mission
Music video filmed, directed and edited by Kyle Lamont
“Amelia Ray reminds us that vulnerability doesn't have to be loud to be powerful. And sometimes, it is in the whisper of a lyric, the echo of a soft chord, or the distance between one word and the next that the real stories are found.” - HypeHub Magazine
“With nothing more than some jazz-influenced guitar chords and her own stellar powers of observation, Amelia Ray has given us plenty to ponder about the human condition with her new single, 'Pretending to Read.'” - UMC Worldwide
"The concept, as it happens, is the most notable part. In "Pretending to Read," Ray explores the act of seeing. " - Lyrical Odyssey
“If you’ve ever observed the world from behind a book, this song is for you, and your gentle reminder that sometimes, looking is a kind of listening.” - HONK Magazine
Multilingual singer-songwriter and cultural storyteller Amelia Ray returns with her latest single, “Pretending to Read,” a poignant track in the style of Bossa Nova, that blurs the line between private reverie and public empathy.
Written in the fall of 2024, “Pretending to Read” began as a tender love song, inspired by a moment on the subway after Ray’s second date with a woman who would become her girlfriend. Hoping to daydream undisturbed, Ray pulled out a magazine as a decoy—but the people around her were too compelling to ignore. “I found I could neither daydream nor read,” she says. “I wondered why one man seemed to be so sad, and why another woman seemed so angry.”
What started as a personal musing evolved into something more expansive. The final version of the song is not only a clever snapshot of early romance, but a meditation on how strangers can jolt us out of self-absorption and into deeper compassion.
In “Pretending to Read,” Amelia Ray blends observation and introspection into a melody that sneaks up on you—much like a mysterious stranger on a train.
LYRICS
"Pretending to Read"
I’m pretending to read
I’m pretending to read on the train
I’m pretending to read on the train because I’d like
To be left all alone with my thoughts tonight
There’s a man who appears
There’s a man who appears to be in pain
There’s a man who appears to be in pain because he cries
And it’s all I can do to avert my eyes
Staring down the page, the
Creeping sounds serve to compound, the
Words all jumble into one big, sorry salad
There’s a woman who seems
There’s a woman who seems to be insane
There’s a woman who seems to be insane because she tries
To pick a fight with any and everybody passing by
Remnants of her rage waft by like
Smoke from that boy’s vape there in the
Back of the car, tries to hide but he goes too far
And I keep returning to the same line again and again
Certain, the attraction, you’re my
Favourite distraction, trying so to recreate
If I concentrate real hard, I can almost taste your lips
But between the man on the train who appears to be in pain
And the woman who seems to be insane
And the youngster who won’t stop sneaking tokes
I think “Is this a joke?”
I’m pretending to read
I’m pretending to read on the train
I’m pretending to read but, baby, all I really do is think about you
© 2024 Amelia C. Ray/ Annabel Is Her Mother Today (ASCAP)