Careless Whispers
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 Decemb… Read Full Bio ↴George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is one of the best-selling musicians of all time, with his sales estimated at between 100 million to 125 million records worldwide. A prominent figure in popular music, Michael was known as a creative force in songwriting, vocal performance, and visual presentation. He achieved 10 number-one songs on the US Billboard Hot 100 and 13 number-one songs on the UK Singles Chart. Michael won numerous music awards, including two Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, and four MTV Video Music Awards. He was listed among Billboard's the "Greatest Hot 100 Artists of All Time" and Rolling Stone's the "200 Greatest Singers of All Time". The Radio Academy named him the most played artist on British radio during the period 1984–2004. Michael was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.

Born in East Finchley, Middlesex, Michael rose to fame after forming the pop duo Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley in 1981. Their first two albums, "Fantastic" (1983) and "Make It Big" (1984), reached number one on the US Billboard 200 and UK Albums Chart. They had commercial success with singles "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)", "Young Guns (Go for It)", "Bad Boys", "Club Tropicana", "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Last Christmas", "Everything She Wants", “Freedom”, and “I'm Your Man”. Their 1985 tour in China was the first by a Western popular music act and generated worldwide media coverage. Michael took part in Band Aid's UK number-one single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in 1984 and performed at the following year's Live Aid concert.

Michael's first solo single, "Careless Whisper" (1984), reached number one in over 20 countries, including the UK and US. The second solo single, "A Different Corner", also reached number one in 1986. After Wham! disbanded that year, Michael released the number-one duet with Aretha Franklin, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)". His debut solo album, "Faith" (1987), stayed at number one on the Billboard 200 for 12 weeks and topped the UK Albums Chart. It is one of the best-selling albums of all time, having sold over 25 million copies worldwide. The singles "Faith", "Father Figure", "One More Try", and "Monkey" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Michael became the best-selling music artist of 1988, and "Faith" was awarded Album of the Year at the 1989 Grammy Awards. Michael's second solo album, "Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1" (1990), was also a number one in the UK and yielded the Billboard Hot 100 number one "Praying for Time" and the worldwide hit "Freedom! '90". Michael went on to release a series of multimillion-selling albums, including "Older" (1996), "Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael" (1998), "Songs from the Last Century" (1999), "Patience" (2004), and "Twenty Five" (2006). The albums earned him multiple hits such as "Jesus to a Child", "Fastlove", "Outside", "Amazing", and "An Easier Affair".

Michael came out as gay in 1998 and was an active LGBT rights campaigner and HIV/AIDS charity fundraiser. His personal life, drug use, and legal troubles made headlines following an arrest for public lewdness in 1998 and multiple drug-related offenses. The 2005 documentary "A Different Story" covered his career and personal life. Michael's "25 Live" tour spanned three tours from 2006 to 2008. Michael fell into a coma in 2011 during a bout with pneumonia but later recovered. He performed his final concert at London's Earls Court in 2012. Michael died of heart disease on Christmas Day in 2016 at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.

Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Michael

Solo discography
Faith (1987)
Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 (1990)
Older (1996)
Songs from the Last Century (1999)
Patience (2004)

Wham! discography
Fantastic (1983)
Make It Big (1984)
Music from the Edge of Heaven (1986)

Careless Whispers
George Michael Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

I feel so unsure
As I take your hand and lead you to the dance floor
As the music dies, something in your eyes
Calls to mind a silver screen
And all its sad good-byes

I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know you're not a fool

I should've known better than to cheat a friend
And waste the chance that I'd been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you, oh

Time can never mend
The careless whispers of a good friend
To the heart and mind
Ignorance is kind
There's no comfort in the truth
Pain is all you'll find

I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know you're not a fool

I should've known better than to cheat a friend (should've known better, yeah)
And waste the chance that I'd been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you, oh

Never without your love

Tonight the music seems so loud
I wish that we could lose this crowd
Maybe it's better this way
We'd hurt each other with the things we'd want to say

We could have been so good together
We could have lived this dance forever
But now, who's gonna dance with me?
Please stay

And I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know you're not a fool

I should've known better than to cheat a friend
And waste the chance that I'd been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you, oh

(Now that you're gone) now that you're gone




(Now that you're gone) was what I did so wrong, so wrong
That you had to leave me alone?

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to George Michael's "Careless Whisper" touch on the theme of regret over an extramarital affair. In the opening lines, the singer leads a person, presumably their lover, to the dance floor, but as the music fades, they feel unsure of themselves. This may be due to guilt or the knowledge that this person is not their official partner. Looking into their eyes, the singer is reminded of sad goodbyes in movies. This suggests they may be anticipating their own breakup or fallout from the affair.


The chorus declares that the singer will never dance again due to their guilty feet, which have lost their rhythm. However, they acknowledge that it's easy to pretend that everything is fine and that the person they're with doesn't know about the affair. The singer confesses that they should have known better than to cheat on a friend and waste the opportunity they had. Now, they'll never be able to dance with their lover the way they did before.


In the later verses, the singer reflects on the careless whispers of their former friend, possibly referring to gossip they spread that led to the affair coming to light. They admit that while it might be easier to ignore the truth and stay ignorant of the pain they've caused, there's no comfort to be found there. Finally, they plead with their former lover to stay, lamenting that they could have been perfect together but now they'll never know.


Line by Line Meaning

I feel so unsure
I am very uncertain and hesitant


As I take your hand and lead you to the dance floor
As I hold your hand and bring you to the area where people are dancing


As the music dies, something in your eyes
As the music comes to an end, I see something in your eyes


Calls to mind a silver screen
Reminds me of a movie screen


And all its sad good-byes
And all the sorrowful farewells in the movies


I'm never gonna dance again
I will never dance again


Guilty feet have got no rhythm
I feel guilty, which is why I cannot dance properly


Though it's easy to pretend
But it is simple to act like I can


I know you're not a fool
I am aware you are wise


I should've known better than to cheat a friend
I should have been more intelligent than to deceive a companion


And waste the chance that I'd been given
And not make the most of the opportunity that was given to me


So I'm never gonna dance again
So I will not dance ever again


The way I danced with you, oh
The way I danced with you, oh


Time can never mend
Corrective measures can never restore


The careless whispers of a good friend
The thoughtless murmurs from a well-meaning friend


To the heart and mind
Affecting the emotions and the thought processes


Ignorance is kind
Not being aware of the exact nature of something is comforting


There's no comfort in the truth
The reality is hard to cope with


Pain is all you'll find
Pain is the only thing you will experience


Never without your love
Never leaving without your affection


Tonight the music seems so loud
This evening, the music sounds extremely noisy


I wish that we could lose this crowd
I hope that we could depart from this group of people


Maybe it's better this way
Possibly this is for the best


We'd hurt each other with the things we'd want to say
The things we want to express would harm each other emotionally


We could have been so good together
We could have been an excellent pair


We could have lived this dance forever
We could have continued dancing like this for an eternity


But now, who's gonna dance with me?
But now, who will dance with me?


Please stay
Kindly remain with me


(Now that you're gone) now that you're gone
(Since you're not here anymore) since you're not here anymore


(Now that you're gone) was what I did so wrong, so wrong
(Since you're not here anymore) what mistake I did, it was so awful, so terrible


That you had to leave me alone?
To make you go away?




Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Andrew J. Ridgeley, George Michael

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@unemployicus

I feel so unsure
As I take your hand and lead you to the dance floor
As the music dies, something in your eyes
Calls to mind a silver screen
And all its sad good-byes
I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know you're not a fool
I should've known better than to cheat a friend
And waste the chance that I'd been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you, oh
Time can never mend
The careless whispers of a good friend
To the heart and mind
Ignorance is kind
There's no comfort in the truth
Pain is all you'll find
I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know you're not a fool
I should've known better than to cheat a friend (should've known better, yeah)
And waste the chance that I'd been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you, oh
Never without your love
Tonight the music seems so loud
I wish that we could lose this crowd
Maybe it's better this way
We'd hurt each other with the things we'd want to say
We could have been so good together
We could have lived this dance forever
But now, who's gonna dance with me?
Please stay
And I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know you're not a fool
I should've known better than to cheat a friend
And waste the chance that I'd been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you, oh
now that you're gone
(Now that you're gone) was what I did so wrong, so wrong
That you had to leave me alone?



All comments from YouTube:

@peachykeen1409

The funny thing is, is that this song is about cheating on someone and regretting it.
Everyone's interpretation : the romance song

@jaycinthmassey2354

Exactly

@Setsotama

It's the saxophone. The instrument of the giggity

@mikasolae

Lol 😂

@kamziekat

Oh my gosh, me and my boyfriend kissed to this song yesterday while having a picnic. Now I'm sitting in my room, watching it and I'm like, hol up, is this guy a cheater? And welp, I got my answer. I can't believe we kissed to thisXD.

@kamziekat

and I looked up romance songs to joke around and this comes up.

56 More Replies...

@KSF-fc1tc

Song : sad
Melody : seductive & romantic

@user-tt2mh3bb9e

I think that the point, and also why George Michael insisted that the saxophone be prefected to create a very romantic yet sorrowful vibe.

@joshuatobanus3223

I know right haha. Been thinking about this for a long time.

@m.boirabaev6401

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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