Obsession

Album

Animotion

Label

Mercury Records

Genre

Rock

Composer(s)

Michael DesBarres, Holly Knight

Entered Chart

Jan 26, 1985

Peak Date

May 4, 1985

Released

Unknown

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Mercury 880266

B-Side

Turn Around

This was written by Holly Knight and Michael Des Barres, who recorded the song as a duet in 1983. This original version features spoken-word verses by Des Barres, giving the song a far more sinister feel. Released as a standalone single, it went nowhere, but it became a big hit the following year when it was recorded by Animotion. About the songwriters: Des Barres is an actor who was also in the bands Silverhead and Detective. Knight is an accomplished songwriter whose credits include "The Best " by Tina Turner and "Love Is A Battlefield" by Pat Benatar. In a Songfacts interview with Holly Knight, she explained: "I wrote many songs for Michael Des Barres, but that's the only one we ever went and tried to get a cover on. I came up with a sequence riff, and Michael came up with some lyrics, and it was the perfect marriage. It's very simple." This song is about a stalker who seems to get more obsessed as the song progresses. At first, it appears he has a serious crush on the girl, but he later becomes more dangerous and intent on "capturing" her. Michael Des Barres had recently kicked a nasty heroin habit when he wrote this song with Knight. "In those days I was getting off narcotics, so the word obsession was being thrown about a lot in my life," he said in a 2015 Songfacts interview. "How do you deal with an obsession? Which gave me the idea for this lyric. But I knew I couldn't just write about drugs, because I wanted to write something that would reach a wider audience than just junkies." Animotion recorded this song in 1984 and released it as their debut single. It was a good hit for the San Francisco band, which was a six-piece, synth-heavy group with both a male and female vocalist: Astrid Plane and Bill Wadhams. "Obsession" is by far the group's most popular song, but the follow-up single "Let Him Go" made #39 US, and in 1989, they scored another Top 10 with "Room To Move," which went to #9 in the US. This version of Animotion featured Cynthia Rhodes, who played Penny Johnson in the movie Dirty Dancing, on vocals. Her singing career was short-lived, as she soon married Richard Marx and retired from music and acting. The couple split in 2014. The original Holly Knight/Michael Des Barres version of this song was featured in the 1983 movie A Night In Heaven, which is about an older woman (Lesley Ann Warren) who is obsessed with a young guy (Christopher Atkins). The song plays in a scene where he is performing at a male strip club. The lines, "Like a butterfly, a wild butterfly, I will collect you and capture you" were inspired by a 1965 movie called The Collector, which is about an inhibited butterfly collector who kidnaps a woman. Michael Des Barres had seen the movie and came up with the line. This song came together very quickly, and hours after writing it, Michael Des Barres and Holly Knight recorded it with their producer Mike Chapman, since it was clear to all involved that they had something special. Des Barres told Songfacts: "It's an obvious piece. It's 'Who do you want me to be to make you sleep with me?' I mean, how codependent is that?" Holly Knight cites this as a song that came true for her later in life. She says, "I guess it comes with the territory, you have a very creative imagination, therefore your life can be wonderful, or a living hell. Because your mind is so creative it goes to places that aren't necessarily realistic. You feel things a lot. I can't imagine anyone in their life never having a moment where they're not obsessed with somebody or something."

You are an obsession
I cannot sleep
I am your possession
Unopened at your feet
There's no balance
No equality
Be still I will not accept defeat

I will have you
Yes, I will have you
I will find a way and I will have you
Like a butterfly
A wild butterfly
I will collect you and capture you

[Chorus]
You are an obsession
You're my obsession
Who do you want me to be
To make you sleep with me
You are an obsession
You're my obsession
Who do you want me to be
To make you sleep with me

I feed you I drink you
My day and my night
I need you I need you
By sun or candlelight
You protest
You want to leave
Stay
Oh, there's no alternative

Your face appears again
I see the beauty there
But I see danger
Stranger beware
A circumstance
In your naked dreams
Your affection is not what it seems

[Chorus]

My fantasy has turned to madness
And all my goodness
Has turned to badness
My need to possess you
Has consumed my soul
My life is trembling
I have no control

I will have you
Yes, I will have you
I will find a way and I will have you
Like a butterfly
A wild butterfly
I will collect you and capture you

[Chorus]