"Careless Whisper" by Wham! (George Michael), Wednesday, May 9, 2021

Speaking of ear worms, I'm on the second day of humming perhaps the most well known sax notes in the history of music. In terms of meme music, it's probably second to Rick Astley's "Never Going to Give You Up," Wham!'s "Careless Whisper" is so awful, it's epic. If you just take the song at it's value as a sexy (or saxy) evening in the city, private planes, yachts, and beautiful women sleeping with a multi-millionaire playboy, the song would have just remained deep in the '80s vault. But the extra layers the song takes on when you see it on TikTok videos, South Korean entertainment shows, or what sparked this latest outbreak, an inclusion in a school play my my first grade high schoolers, the song takes on new life. None of that can hold a candle, though, to my coworker's experience with this song.

I'M NEVER GONNA DANCE AGAIN. "Careless Whisper" was a song that started the breakup of the pop duo, Wham! George Michael was clearly becoming the star of the band. Behind the scenes, Michael was struggling to define his sexuality. Though, Michael claims that the song is not autobiographical as he claimed never to have cheated on a lover, the song seems deal with a struggle between Michael's attraction to both men and women. George Michael claimed to have slept with many women at the beginning of his career. But because he also slept with men and the AIDS crisis was raging on, Michael felt the need to disclose his sexuality to women before sleeping with them. My coworker said, as he was growing up in England at the time, everyone knew he was gay, and his audience didn't have a problem with it. However, it was a secret for the American audience. Whatever was thought about George Michael's sexuality, the video for "Careless Whisper" is clearly trying to compensate for something. The camera cringingly focuses on Micheal in bed with "the other woman." Yet, he feels deep regret when the girlfriend character sees them together. She runs away and leaves on a sea plane. Knowing Michael's biography about how he would sleep with women, but never get close, shows the tension of that period when someone is questioning their sexuality. It might be a confusing love triangle, and no one wins.

I SHOULD HAVE KNOW BETTER THAN TO CHEAT A FRIEND. The other guys called her "Beak," because she had a large nose. It was late secondary school and the kids were pretty experienced sexually in that part of England. First generation Italian immigrant, her father had gone away to prison in some ponzi scheme. In the bedroom she had a penchant for giving hickeys, and her record collection included Queen's Greatest Hits, the British edition. She thought that the lyrics of "Somebody to Love" were: "Can anybody find me / Somebody to love....bite." She was kind of a pre-goth, and she did her makeup that way, but her music wasn't gothic. No The Cure or Joy Division in her stereo collection. Wham! was her jam. My coworker said, all of his early sexual experiences were made to "Careless Whisper." Thankfully, "Careless Whisper" isn't stuck in my head very often. But when it and I start humming it at work, it's extra awkward. My coworker has to remind us that that song has extra significance for him. He said that he got pretty skilled at throwing shoes at the stereo to get the record to stop playing. I have a fear I'm going to need a boot to my head in order to get this tune out of my head.

Read the lyrics on Genius.

Official Music Video: