Everything She Wants (Remix)

Album

What It Means to Be King

Label

Nonesuch Records

Genre

Post-disco

Duration

1:00

Composer(s)

George Michael

Entered Chart

Mar 23, 1985

Peak Date

May 25, 1985

Released

Unknown

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Columbia 38-04840

B-Side

(instrumental)

Like most Wham! songs, this was written by George Michael. He told ASCAP in Action in 1985: "It's the only song I've written that successfully came from a backing track first." He went on to explain that he wrote the drum pattern and found a synthesizer that he liked one night, and then the following morning he wrote the vocal part in his hotel room. "Because it was thrown together that way, I never looked at it as a single 'til everybody started saying it was great," said Michael. Wham! was known for lightweight pop, but this song has a serious theme, which foreshadowed George Michael's solo work. He explained the meaning of the song to Dick Clark on his syndicated radio countdown show. Said Michael: "It's a lyric about a man who is six or eight months into a marriage which obviously isn't going well. He's faced with the 'happy' news of an arriving baby. So he's in that situation where he can't back out. (The song) talks about the situation (in which) many men find themselves, working really hard to support a family… and see it as a kind of trap. It's a situation I've seen. It's not the kind of thing I usually write about. Our lyrics are usually a lot closer to the kind of pop lightweight lyric we enjoy, but it's a departure, and I think it worked." When this song topped the Hot 100, Wham! became the first group since the Bee Gees to have three #1 singles from the same album. "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and "Careless Whisper" were the previous chart-toppers from Make It Big. While George Michael dismissed much of Wham's material once he began his solo career, he remained proud of this song. Along with "I'm Your Man," it was one of two songs from Wham's repertoire that he continued to perform on solo tours. He later referred to it as his favorite Wham! song. >> This was used in the 2020 miniseries I Know This Much Is True in the first episode "One." It also appeared in the TV shows Private Practice ("A Step Too Far" - 2011) and Everybody Hates Chris ("Everybody Hates Bad Boys" - 2008).

Somebody told me
Boy everything she wants is everything she sees
I guess I must have loved you
Because I said you were the perfect girl for me, baby

And now we're six months older
And everything you want and everything you see
Is out of reach not good enough
I don't know what the hell you want from me

[Chorus]
Somebody tell me
(won't you tell me)
Why I work so hard for you
(To give you money, work to give you money)

Some people work for a living
Some people work for fun
Girl I just work for you
They told me marriage was give and take
Well you've shown me you can take
You've got some giving to do
And now you tell me that your having my baby
I'll tell you that I'm happy if you want me to
But one step further and my back will break
If my best isn't good enough
Then how can it be good enough for two

I can't work any harder than I do

[Chorus]

Oh why do I do the things I do
I'd tell you if I knew
My God, I don't even think that I love you

(Won't you tell me)
(To give you money, work to give you money)

How could you settle
For a boy like me
When all I could see
Was the end of the week
All the things we sign
And the things we buy
Ain't gonna keep us together
It's just a matter of time

My situation
Never changes
Walking in and out of that door
Like a stranger
For the wages
I give you all
You say you want more

And all I could see
Was the end of the week
All the things we sign
And the things we buy
Ain't gonna keep us together
Girl it's just a matter of time

[Chorus: x2]

Somebody tell me