About The Song
“Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” is a song by English pop duo Wham!, first released as a single in the UK on 14 May 1984. It became their first UK and US number one hit. It was written and produced by George Michael. The single was certified platinum in the US, which at the time commemorated sales of over two million copies. The music video features Michael and bandmate Andrew Ridgeley wearing oversized message T-shirts (“CHOOSE LIFE”) created by Katharine Hamnett, starting a craze covered in the 2002 VH1 series I Love the 80s. The song was ranked number 28 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the ’80s.
George Michael’s inspiration for the song was a scribbled note that his bandmate Andrew Ridgeley had left for his parents, intended to read “wake me up before you go” but with “up” accidentally written twice, so Ridgeley wrote “go” twice on purpose. In 1984, Michael had this to say on the development of the song:
I just wanted to make a really energetic pop record that had all the best elements of Fifties and Sixties records, combined with our attitude and our approach, which is obviously more uptempo and a lot younger than some of those records. It’s one of those tracks that gets rid of a lot of your own personal influences; it reminds me of so many different records that I couldn’t actually nail them down. I’d done a demo at home that just had a bass line and a vocal on it. Usually, I write the record in my head; I know what all the parts are going to be and I sing them to all our musicians. And it was great. … We actually did it as a rehearsal. We used a LinnDrum because the drummer was late, and it was such a good track that we kept it.
It was recorded within two days at Sarm West Studio 2 in London, with a live rhythm section. The song, according to Michael, had been done in one take without any drop-ins (overdubs) at all – production-wise, he noted that the two options to him were “either to be like Trevor Horn and go for stunning sounds on your own, or just get a great sound on each instrument and go for a live take”. The UK sleeve was designed by Peter Saville, with photography by Trevor Key.
Video
Lyrics
Jitterbug
Jitterbug
Jitterbug
Jitterbug
You put the boom boom into my heart
You send my soul sky high when your lovin’ starts
Jitterbug into my brain (yeah, yeah)
Goes a bang-bang-bang ’til my feet do the same
But something’s buggin’ me
Something ain’t right
My best friend told me what you did last night
Left me sleeping in my bed
I was dreaming
But I should’ve been with you instead
Wake me up before you go-go
Don’t leave me hanging on like a yo-yo
Wake me up before you go-go
I don’t wanna miss it when you hit that high
Wake me up before you go-go
‘Cause I’m not planning on going solo
Wake me up before you go-go
Take me dancing tonight
I wanna hit that high
Yeah, yeah
You take the grey skies out of my way
You make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day
You turned a bright spark into a flame (yeah, yeah)
My beats per minute never been the same
‘Cause you’re my lady, I’m your fool
It makes me crazy when you act so cruel
Come on, baby, let’s not fight
We’ll go dancing, everything will be alright
Wake me up before you go-go
Don’t leave me hanging on like a yo-yo
Wake me up before you go-go
I don’t wanna miss it when you hit that high
Wake me up before you go-go
‘Cause I’m not planning on going solo
Wake me up before you go-go
Take me dancing tonight
I wanna hit that high
Yeah, yeah, yeah, baby
Jitterbug
Jitterbug
Cuddle up, baby
Move in tight
We’ll go dancing tomorrow night
It’s cold out there but it’s warmer in bed
They can dance, we’ll stay home instead
Jitterbug
Wake me up before you go-go
Don’t leave me hanging on like a yo-yo
Wake me up before you go-go
I don’t wanna miss it when you hit that high
Wake me up before you go-go
‘Cause I’m not planning on going solo
Wake me up before you go-go
Take me dancing tonight
Wake me up before you go-go
Don’t you dare to leave me hanging on like a yo-yo
Wake me up before you go-go
I don’t wanna miss it when you hit that high (take me dancing)
Wake me up before you go-go
‘Cause I’m not planning on going solo
Wake me up before you go-go (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Take me dancing tonight (oh, ah, yeah, yeah)