Make Me Lose Control

Album: The Best of Eric Carmen (1988)
Charted: 93 3
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Carmen wrote this with the lyricist Dean Pitchford. They first worked together when they wrote "Almost Paradise" for Pitchford's movie Footloose, and they remained good friends. Pitchford told us, "I always thought that Eric Carmen was a beautiful melodist. Look at 'Boats Against the Current,' look at 'All By Myself.' Gorgeous, gorgeous stuff."
  • Carmen: "Dean and I had written a song called 'Long Live Rock And Roll,' and it was a tribute to rock and roll music. The verse lyrics were the same. The lyric for the chorus was different. It was more of a nostalgic thing. Jimmy Ienner heard the song, and we talked about it, and we decided that we needed something a little more immediate. We didn't really want to be writing a nostalgia thing. So Dean and I then beat our brains out for a couple days, and I said, 'How about Make Me Lose Control?' Dean said, 'O.K.,' and then we wrote some lyrics." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Bernie and the folks at EricCarmen.com
  • Some of the songs mentioned in the lyrics: "Uptown" by The Crystals, "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King, "Be My Baby" by The Ronettes and "Back In My Arms Again" by The Supremes.

Comments: 11

  • Tomm from Richmond, VirginiaThe darts poster is a photo of DJ Scott Shannon, who was a of Kid Leo.
  • Richard from Wa StateHe also used The Paul Davis classic from 1978 "I Go Crazy"
  • Alexhammond1974 from Vicksburg Ms Usa'Jennifer' almost always connotes a hot chick. Maybe other people feel differently, but I've found, time and again, that the world is full of gorgeous 'Jennifers'. With that particular name, I'll envision who I want...she'll always be fine, and she'll almost always be blonde.
  • Jock O’connor from St Andrews Beach, Victoria, Australia.A fabulous song by Eric!!! A classic!
    One of my favourite songs ever!!!
    Brilliant Eric.
  • Ryan from Pennsylvania"Jennifer" in the song is a friend of mine. Eric Carmen needed the name of a girl to use, so he asked his nephew what his girlfriend's (at the time) name was. Her name was Jennifer. That same Jennifer went on to become a devout follower of Jesus Christ before marrying a great musician named Charles, who became a Christian even before her. They have been in Christian ministry for 30 years and have touched thousands of lives all over the world for Jesus Christ, including mine.
  • Tony from Vero Beach, FlThis is a real "pastiche" song; it sounds like Eric Carmen weaved-in fragments of hit songs of the early '60s to create a mood. If you listen closely, you can hear recognizable bits of "Come A Little Bit Closer" (Jay and the Americans) and "Spanish Harlem" (Ben E. King) in the melody. (There are more, I'm sure, but those two immediately come to mind.) Carmen has incorporated classical refrains into his songs on several occasions; in "Boats Against the Current", he even used "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"!
  • Brian from Savannah, GaKeith,

    That looks like Scott Shannon, a famous DJ who now works at a station in NYC.
  • Keith from St. Joseph, MoSo who is the guy in the picture that they throw darts at?
  • Kathryn from Portland , OrI absolutely love this song! Takes me back to my childhood.
  • Sebastian from Providence, RiEric says that the girl is listening to "Stand By Me", I think that's the same sogn he suggests to turn up the volume.
  • Annabelle from Eugene, OrActually, "Hungry Eyes" was featured in "Dirty Dancing". "Almost Paradise" was featured in "Footloose".
see more comments

Editor's Picks

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: Tarantino Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: Tarantino EditionMusic Quiz

Whether he's splitting ears or burning Nazis, Quentin Tarantino uses memorable music in his films. See if you can match the song to the scene.

Jules Shear - "All Through The Night"

Jules Shear - "All Through The Night"They're Playing My Song

Shears does very little promotion, which has kept him secluded from the spotlight. What changed when Cyndi Lauper had a hit with his song? Not much, really.

Female Singers Of The 90s

Female Singers Of The 90sMusic Quiz

The ladies who ruled the '90s in this quiz.