My Connections to a Wham/George Michael Song in Three Unique Ways
"See, you don't need to be a superhero to get the girl, the right girl will bring out the hero in you" – Wade Wilson/Deadpool (2016).
I'll return to Deadpool later.
'Careless Whisper' is a pop ballad written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley of British music duo Wham! The song was released in July 1984. My first memory of that song is attached to a sad event. My paternal grandmother passed away in March 1985. I was just nine years-old. I didn’t have the maturity then to understand death. It was the first time I attended a funeral. It took place at White Chapel Cemetery in Troy, MI. Careless Whisper was playing on the radio in the car. During the time of her death and funeral I heard Careless Whisper too many times to count. So I always associated that song with that time and event in my life.
I wish I had more time with my paternal grandmother and I feel the same way about my three other grandparents. Unfortunately for me, my grandparents were in the last phases of their lives or in the case of my maternal grandfather who passed on several years before I even came into this world.
My second connection to that song was in the form of an NBC made for television movie based on a true story titled “Can You Feel Me Dancing?”. It starred Justine Bateman, the older sister of Jason Bateman and co-star of Michael J. Fox in the NBC sitcom, Family Ties. She played Mallory Keaton. Bateman is Karen Nichols, a blind woman trying to get independence from her overprotective family. Justine’s real-life brother, Jason is her co-star. I recall ‘Careless Whisper’ playing in a scene of that film. It struck a chord.
My third and final connection to ‘Careless Whisper’ comes in the most unexpected but, oh so refreshing way. It's in the dark comedy, fourth-wall-busting, comic book anti-hero film, 'Deadpool' from 2016. In the last scene before the credits, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) and his love interest, Vanessa played by the beautiful and lovely, Morena Baccarin, embrace and kiss. Please see here.
George Michael - Careless Whisper (35th Anniversary Story Behind the Song)
Time can never mend
The careless whisper of a good friend
To the heart and mind
If your answer's kind
There's no comfort in the truth
Pain is all you'll find
I should have known better, yeah
I feel so unsure
As I take your hand and lead you to the dance floor
As the music dies
Something in your eyes
Calls to mind a silver screen
And all its sad goodbyes
I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know you're not a fool
I should have known better than to cheat a friend
And waste a chance that I'd been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you
Time can never mend
The careless whisper of a good friend
To the heart and mind
If your answer's kind
There's no comfort in the truth
Pain is all you'll find
I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know you're not a fool
I should have known better than to cheat a friend
And waste a chance that I'd been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you
Never without your love What am I without your love?
Tonight the music seems so loud
I wish that we could lose this crowd
Maybe it's better this way
We'd hurt each other with the things we want to say
We could have been so good together,
We could have lived this dance forever
But now, who's gonna dance with me?
Please stay
I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know you're not a fool
I should have known better than to cheat a friend
And waste a chance that I'd been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you
Now that you're gone
Now that you're gone
Now that you're gone
What I did that was so wrong?
So wrong that you had to leave me alone?
I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know you're not a fool
I should have known better than to cheat a friend
And waste a chance that I'd been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you
Now that you're gone
Now that you're gone
Now that you're gone
What I did that was so wrong?
So wrong that you had to leave me alone?