“You take the grey skies out of my way
You make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day”

Bet you didn’t see this one coming. After a steady diet of late sixties and early seventies teenage angst, just for a change I thought to hell with the street cred, lets go Top Twenty and bang up to date.

Well, 1984 anyway.

This week’s challenge is to find a song that makes you feel better. Of course it depends what you mean by ‘better’. Schadenfreude can make you feel better, although it’s not a particularly attractive trait, and I always remember the famously lugubrious British comedian Les Dawson signing off his TV shows by looking down the camera and saying: ‘Remember: there’s always someone worse off than yourself…..me’.

But this is Wham! (the exclamation mark is crucial), also known as George Michael and that other one. It’s pure pop and if it doesn’t cheer you up at least a little bit then you really do have a problem.

You put the boom-boom into my heart
You send my soul sky high when your lovin’ starts
Jitterbug into my brain
Goes a bang-bang-bang ’til my feet do the same
But something’s bugging you
Something ain’t right
My best friend told me what you did last night
Left me sleepin’ in my bed
I was dreaming, but I should have been with you instead.

Wake me up before you go-go
Don’t leave me hanging on like a yo-yo
Wake me up before you go-go
I don’t want to miss it when you hit that high
Wake me up before you go-go
‘Cause I’m not plannin’ on going solo
Wake me up before you go-go
Take me dancing tonight
I wanna hit that high (yeah, yeah)

You take the grey skies out of my way
You make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day
Turned a bright spark into a flame
My beats per minute never been the same

‘Cause you’re my lady, I’m your fool
It makes me crazy when you act so cruel
Come on, baby, let’s not fight
We’ll go dancing, everything will be all right

Wake me up before you go-go
Don’t leave me hanging on like a yo-yo
Wake me up before you go-go
I don’t want to miss it when you hit that high
Wake me up before you go-go
‘Cause I’m not plannin” on going solo
Wake me up before you go-go
Take me dancing tonight
I wanna hit that high (yeah, yeah, baby)

Cuddle up, baby, move in tight
We’ll go dancing tomorrow night
It’s cold out there, but it’s warm in bed
They can dance, we’ll stay home instead

Wake me up before you go-go
Don’t leave me hanging on like a yo-yo
Wake me up before you go-go
I don’t want to miss it when you hit that high
Wake me up before you go-go
‘Cause I’m not plannin’ on going solo
Wake me up before you go-go
Take me dancing tonight
Wake me up before you go-go, don’t you dare to leave me hanging on like a
yo-yo
Take me dancing

Songwriter: GEORGE MICHAEL
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

But I still can’t find anyone to answer the burning question: what did Andrew Ridgeley actually do?

Song Lyric Sunday: Better