{"id":4763,"date":"2026-08-11T12:19:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?p=4763"},"modified":"2026-08-11T12:19:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:19:27","slug":"the-hidden-history-behind-dont-you-want-me-by-the-human-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/the-hidden-history-behind-dont-you-want-me-by-the-human-league\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hidden History Behind \u201cDon\u2019t You Want Me\u201d by The Human League"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t You Want Me\u201d by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/facts\/the-human-league\">The Human League<\/a> remains one of the defining synth-pop hits of the 1980s. But the Sheffield band never planned to release it as a single, let alone for it to become their defining track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Teen Drama<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Human League - Don&#039;t You Want Me (Official Music Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uPudE8nDog0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>An article in a teen girls\u2019 magazine inspired front man Philip Oakey to begin writing the song. He planned to sing it alone but later decided on a duet with further inspiration from Kris Kristofferson\u2019s and Barbra Streisand\u2019s performances in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=838aCpFNpjA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A Star Is Born<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The band\u2019s teenage backing vocalist, Susan Ann Sulley, joins Oakey on the track. Together, they detail a romance that ends bitterly. It begins with Oakey\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar,<br>When I met you.<br>I picked you out, I shook you up, and turned you around,<br>Turned you into someone new.<br>Now five years later on, you\u2019ve got the world at your feet,<br>Success has been so easy for you.<br>But don\u2019t forget, it\u2019s me who put you where you are now,<br>And I can put you back down too<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Don\u2019t, don\u2019t you want me?<br>You know I can\u2019t believe it when I hear that you won\u2019t see me.<br>Don\u2019t, don\u2019t you want me?<br>You know I don\u2019t believe you when you say that you don\u2019t need me<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the following verse, Sulley offers her perspective. She fell in love too. But he\u2019s taking too much credit for her success. And now she\u2019s more interested in independence than codependence on a resentful partner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar,<br>That much is true.<br>But even then, I knew I\u2019d find a much better place,<br>Either with or without you.<br>The five years we have had have been such good times,<br>I still love you.<br>But now I think it\u2019s time I live my life on my own,<br>I guess it\u2019s just what I must do<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Accidental Hit<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Though \u201cDon\u2019t You Want Me\u201d became The Human League\u2019s biggest hit, Oakey didn\u2019t plan on releasing it as a single. However, with pressure from the band\u2019s record label, the song, co-written by Oakey, Jo Callis, and Philip Adrian Wright, was released as the fourth single from their 1981 LP, <em>Dare<\/em>. It topped the charts in multiple countries, including in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not bad for a song tacked onto the end of an album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Don\u2019t you want me, baby?<br>Don\u2019t you want me, oh?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Photo by BSR Agency\/Gentle Look via Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before &#8220;Don&#8217;t You Want Me&#8221; by The Human League became a defining 80s synth-pop hit, it was almost neglected at the end of an album.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":973477,"featured_media":4765,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":316,"post_id":2139}}]},"savage_platform_role_ideator":[],"savage_platform_role_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_senior_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_photographer":[],"savage_platform_role_illustrator":[],"savage_platform_role_translator":[],"savage_platform_role_as-told-to":[],"savage_platform_role_reviewed-by":[],"savage_platform_disable_recirculation":false,"savage_platform_article_type":"news","savage_platform_vice_article_type":"article","savage_platform_article_intent":"","savage_platform_show_affiliate_disclaimer":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"savage_platform_featured_image_caption":"Photo by BSR Agency\/Gentle Look via Getty Images","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"savage_platform_subheadline":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[486,485],"byline":[316],"class_list":["post-4763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-synth-pop","tag-the-human-league"],"savage_platform_primary_term":{"category":{"term_name":"Features","term_id":12,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/category\/features\/"},"post_tag":{"term_name":"synth-pop","term_id":486,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/tag\/synth-pop\/"}},"hide_from_homepage":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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