Let's All Make Believe

The speaker wonders whether people are still willing to speak honestly and make an effort to understand one another. The repeated suggestion to “make believe” creates a tension: pretending may help people get along, but it also hints that their friendship and warmth may no longer feel real. The mood is weary and doubtful, yet the refrain keeps returning to the idea that people need one another.

Several images deepen this uncertainty. “Strangle my hope” suggests hope being forcibly suppressed, while praying to a god the speaker has never seen but feels they betray expresses conflict about faith and personal belief. The lines about feeding “our brother” point toward a hopeful vision of people caring for others, though the phrase “make believe” makes that vision sound uncertain. Imagining that people will not grow old may likewise be a comforting fantasy rather than a promise.

The song can be read as criticizing the gap between what people say and what they truly feel. Still, its refrain is not simply cynical: pretending to be friends might be an empty act, but it might also be a way of holding on until genuine kindness returns. The lyrics leave open whether shared hope is self-deception or a necessary first step toward connection.