The Greatest Love

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The greatest love I ever loved
Was the love I had for you
The greatest wish I ever wished
Was when I wished that you love me too

But I found out that you were lying
When you said that you'd be mine
All that talk about break up, never, leave me never
It was the greatest love
It was the greatest love
But I still love you
I still love you

The greatest hurt I ever hurt
Was the hurt you put on me
It took so long to find out
That this love could never be

But I found out that you were lying
When you told me you'd be mine
All that talk about break up, never, leave me never
It was the greatest love
We had the greatest love
But I still love you
I still love you

Well I found out that you were lying
When you said that you'd be mine
All that talk about break up, never, leave me never
It was the greatest love
We had the greatest love
But I still love you
I still love you

(Greatest love)
I still love you
(Greatest love)
We had the greatest love
(Greatest love)
I still love you

The Greatest Love
Written byAllen Toussaint
Performed byElvis Costello & Allen Toussaint
(featuring The Imposters, Anthony "AB" Brown & The Crescent City Horns)
Produced byJoe Henry
Horn arrangementAllen Toussaint
MusiciansElvis Costello - vocal, guitar
Allen Toussaint - piano, backing vocals
Steve Nieve - keyboards
Davey Faragher - bass, backing vocals
Pete Thomas - drums
Anthony "AB" Brown - guitar
Brian "Breeze" Cayolle or Carl Blouin - saxophone
Amadee Castenell - saxophone
Joe "Foxx" Smith - trumpet
Sam "Big Sam" Williams - trombone
Precise credits for this song are not available. This list includes all musicians on The River In Reverse.
RecordedNovember 27 - December 10, 2005, Sunset Sound, Hollywood, and/or Piety Street Recorders, New Orleans
ReleasedMay 27, 2006
AlbumsThe River In Reverse (Japan bonus track), 2006
Length3:47

First known performance:
May 1, 2006, Chicago, IL
Last known performance:
2024
     (37 known performances)


Alternate versions

The Greatest Love (Treme)
Performed byElvis Costello & Allen Toussaint
MusiciansElvis Costello - vocal
Allen Toussaint - grand piano, backing vocals
ReleasedOctober 7, 2010
VideosTreme Ep. 3-04 "The Greatest Love" aired October 14, 2012 IMDB
Length3:48

The River In Reverse2006 The River In Reverse Album small.jpg


Recordings by other artists

 Artist  Year  Release  Links
Lee Dorsey  1966 Ride Your Pony - Get Out Of My Life, Woman AllMusicAmazon
 Willie West  1967  single 45cat.com

Chords

Transcribed by TPPD

Intro
B    F#     E     B  E B E B

Verse 1
B                F#             E
The greatest love I ever loved 
E                      B   E  B  E  B
Was the love I had for you 
B                 F#            E
The greatest wish I ever wished 
                                   B
Was when I wished that you love me too 


Chorus
B                    E        B 
But I found out that you were lying 
                   E        B
When you said that you'd be mine 
                    E         B      E        B
All that talk about break up, never, leave me never 
           E        B
It was the greatest love 
           E        B
It was the greatest love 
                       E  B
But I still love you 
                   E  B
I still love you 


Verse 2
B                F#            E
The greatest hurt  I ever hurt 
                        B  E  B  E  B
Was the hurt you put on me 
B               F#          E
It took so long to find out 
                           B
That this love could never be 


Chorus
B                    E        B 
But I found out that you were lying 
                   E        B
When you said that you'd be mine 
                    E         B      E        B
All that talk about break up, never, leave me never 
           E        B
It was the greatest love 
           E        B
It was the greatest love 
                      E  B
But I still love you 
                  E  B
I still love you 


Bridge - Instrumental

B A     E      F#

A     E     F#


Chorus
F#                   E        B 
But I found out that you were lying 
                   E        B
When you said that you'd be mine 
                    E         B      E        B
All that talk about break up, never, leave me never 
           E        B
It was the greatest love 
           E        B
It was the greatest love 
                      E  B
But I still love you 
                  E  B
I still love you 


E         B
(Greatest love) 
   
I still love you 
E         B      E   B  F#  B
(Greatest love) 
           E        B
We had the greatest love 
E         B      
(Greatest love) 
                 E  B  F#  B
I still love you

Internal links

External links