Songfacts®:

• This breakbeat house and 1990s soul-referencing number was written by a motley collection of musicians; namely Andrew Wyatt who is the frontman of electro-popsters Miike Snow, Jake Shears of Scissors Sisters, ex-Dirty Pretty Thing Anthony Rossomando, Somalian rapper K'naan and pop hit-maker Cathy Dennis (Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue).
• 1980s pop legend Boy George performs the vocals on this track alongside Andrew Wyatt. Ronson noted to The Observer May 30, 2010 that George's voice has gotten deeper and throatier with age. "It's like when you hear Edith Piaf singing 'Je Ne Regrette Rien'," he said. "It's knowing someone's story as an outsider, knowing what they've been through and seeing that they've come out on top. All the weight, gravel and grit in the voice makes it so much more compelling."
• Ronson told The Sun about his collaboration with Boy George. "I wanted to make a song like 'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me' so I decided to get him involved," he said. "It's turned out to be an amazing track. George was a true professional."
• You may have difficulty in keeping up with the contributors to this track. Ronson explained to The NME August 7, 2010 how it all came together. The song originated when Rossomando stopped by the studio with some chords that Ronson dug. He and his band added an afrobeat rhythm and some "weird chintzy '80s" steel drums on top. The next day, Jake Shears and Cathy Dennis turned up and the three of them recorded a track called "Amnesian Holiday" about "a drunken Club Med-forget-everything-and-shag-anything holiday." A few days later, K'nann popped round and wrote "this Slumdog Millionaire song about a kid called Emmanuel that felt too earnest for the album." After all that, Ronson and the band locked themselves in the studio for three days trying to nail the song before ending up with something that sounds like "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", so Boy George was roped in to sing it. Have you got that?
• Here's a song title coincidence for those you who like that sort of thing. The lead single from this album was Bang Bang Bang. Around the time of it coming out, one of the contributors to this song, K'nann, re-released an earlier of his single titled Bang Bang. And Dirty Pretty Things biggest hit was a number titled Bang Bang You're Dead!
• The song's music clip features a club party in a home video style theme. Though neither Ronson, Boy George or Andrew Wyatt make an appearance, Diane Kruger stars as the Culture Club singer. Spinner asked George how he felt about the German actress playing him in the video. He replied: "I was very flattered; I'm glad they found someone attractive. [Laughs] I mean, God, she's a beautiful woman, so I was like, wow! And actually, she does have my nose."