Monkey by George Michael

Album: Faith (1987)

Charted: 13 1

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This funky monkey was the fourth US #1 hit from George Michael's debut solo album, Faith. Like most of his songs, he wrote it himself, but he got a lot of help putting it together.

Michael enlisted producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to work on this track after he heard a remix they did for the Janet Jackson song, "Nasty." Jam and Lewis were the top songwriting/production duo of the era, responsible for many of Jackson's hits and also tracks by New Edition, Robert Palmer and The Human League.

Jam explained in the Billboard Book of #1 Hits that Michael loved their "Nasty" remix because he's into chords, but whenever you put chords on something, it takes the funk out of it. But somehow Jam and Lewis were still able to keep "Nasty" funky.

Michael told the pair that he had envisioned "Monkey" more melodic with chords but he was on a deadline when recording it, so he didn't have time to do it. Jam and Lewis completely reworked the song, even getting Michael to rerecord the vocals.

"There are some – as he would call them – dodgy notes on there, but it doesn't matter. It fits what the track is doing, and I think it sounds great," explained Jam. "George Michael is very talented," he added. "Not only as a vocalist, but his conceptual ideas are great. He knows how he wants something to sound."
Michael's official website describes the song as a "drug abuse saga."
A monkey can often be used as a metaphor for drug addiction, "to have a monkey on one's back." That's how Aerosmith used it in 1989.

Michael's "Monkey" asks a lover to choose between him or the drugs:

Why can't you set your monkey free?
Always giving in to it
Do you love your monkey or do you love me?

The song seems to be about dating a drug addict.

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Comments: 3

Victoria Semenenko George Michael's Baby from UkraineDespite do believe there was a moment I was telling George will kiss him to the death. So it's actually obvious this song could really talk about drugs but monkey as well referencing to the idea of evolution as natural laws. Like for example in "Cowboys And Angels" (1990) he's saying "monkey say and monkey do their wish is your command love is all you do". Just sometimes people forget that second George's name as Kyriacos meant Saint in Greek.
Adrian Chan from MalaysiaJust as 2016 the Year of the Monkey in the Chinese Zodiac was about to be over the artist who sang "Monkey" bowed out as well...RIP George Michael
Mike from Memphis, TnMy friends have always insisted that this song had to do with a guy that was addicted to spanking his "monkey." I'm not sure about that necessarily but I have always believed that the "monkey" was an addiction that continually interfered with their relationship.

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