Music Review: George Micheal "Father Figure"
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George Michael
Father Figure
Album: Faith
Year: 1988
On Twitter June 21, 2013, Lauren Conrad had posted that the lyrics to the George Michael’s “Father Figure” were creepy. I hadn’t heard that adjective attached to the song before. While I don’t agree with her, I do see her point. I’ll get that into later at the end.
For the readers who also read the Twitter, I retweeted her post if anybody would like to see it. Also, Lauren Conrad, if you ever approach my little corner of the Internet, thanks for giving me a reason to psychoanalyze one of my favorite 80s songs and offering a different point of view.
George Michael and his girlfriend make love in the sensual “Father Figure.”
Captivated synths open the single, setting a spiritual tone. In the soft glow of a single light by the bed, he watches his girlfriend caress his bare chest. Goosebumps are everywhere on his body. She feels the tiny bumps and asks if he’s okay. He rubs her back and responds with a breathless “yes.” For several years, he waited for her to say she loves him. Saying the words back to her tonight was surreal. It was as though it wasn’t happening and he was someone else. As much as he cares for her, he wonders if she will see the depth of his emotions and limit herself to the surface. Broken words and hidden sentences ended his relationships before. He believes she will stay, her emotions are as powerful as his, and let her life be intertwined with his. (“That's all I wanted /Something special something sacred/In your eyes/For just one moment/To be bold and naked/At your side/Sometimes I think that you'll never/Understand me/Maybe this time is forever/
Say it can be/That's all you wanted/Something special, someone sacred/In your life/Just for one moment/To be warm and naked/At my side/That's all you wanted/Something special, someone sacred/In your life/Just for one moment/To be warm and naked/At my side.”)
In the chorus, he promises to be the man she can turn to, holding his hand when she’s scared. He will be the man who can guide her and be her compass when she’s goes off-course in confusion. He won’t bait her with head games or get her to show her teeth by responding in spite. He will be the one she marries. “(Baby) I will be your father figure/(Oh baby)/Put your tiny hand in mine (I'd love to)/I will be your preacher teacher
(Be your daddy)/Anything you have in mind (It would make me)/I will be your father figure (Very happy)/I have had enough of crime (Please let me, so I am gonna love you)/I will be the one who loves you/'Til the end of time.”)
He simply wants to be devoted to one woman in his life. The cynics tell him he’s naïve. However, gazing back into her eyes is a gift he thought he wouldn’t have. As long as they are truthful and trust one another, their relationship will survive any tests they encounter. (“That's all I wanted/But sometimes love can be mistaken/For a crime/That's all I wanted/Just to see my baby's/Blue eyed shine/This time I think that my lover/Understands me/If we have faith in each other/Then we can be strong.”)
The chorus is sung again.
In the bridge, he wants to be her everything. The one person in her life she needs to live. He won’t ever give away her secrets and use them against them later. He’ll be the safe place she can run to after being hurt. Nothing is strong enough to cause him to leave her. (“If you are the desert/I'll be the sea/If you ever hunger/Hunger for me/Whatever you ask for/That's what I'll be/So when you remember/The ones who have lied/Who said that they cared/But then laughed as you cried/Beautiful darling/Don't think of me/Because all I ever wanted/It's in your eyes baby, baby/And love can't lie, no (Greet me with the eyes of a child)/My love is always telling me so (Heaven is a kiss and a smile)/Just hold on, hold on/I won't let you go, my baby.”)
The chorus is sung again to end the single.
Michael’s thirsty, wanting vocals are expressive, streaming his every thought into her as he touches her skin. He’s no longer lonely. He has found someone to take care of and devote his life. Here’s where Conrad has a point: comparing himself to an authority figure in her life infantilizes her, giving him full control of over her every aspect of her life. It’s the flipside of the unending devotion he has and the intensity of his vocals validates the darker undertones.
The private “Father Figure” shares an intimacy between a couple, unbeknownst to them, forgot to pull the shades down in the heat of the moment, causing some blushing from those outside who accidentally viewed something they weren't meant to see.