The George Michael song he thought no one would understand: “It's ...

Fri 22 December 2023 13:00, UK

By the time the late 1980s began, George Michael was ready to branch out on his own. Although he may have cut his teeth alongside Andrew Ridgely in the pop outfit Wham, it was inevitable that he would move on to a solo career, turning in some of the greatest pop songs of the era, like ‘Faith’ and ‘Father Figure’. While Michael was always candid about his works, he knew that no fan would be able to figure out one of his deep cuts.

Then again, Michael wasn’t always looking to write introspective songs. Throughout Wham’s early years, Michael could always write the occasional filler tracks in his time, recalling that a handful of songs were written to recapture the energy of their previous singles like ‘Wham Rap’ and ‘Bad Boys’.

Once he struck out alone, Michael knew he didn’t have to make any filler material anymore. Leaving his childhood band behind, Michael set out to make a track that could hold together as a pure artistic statement, eventually stretching out pop songs like ‘I Want Your Sex’ into nine minutes.

After proving himself as one of the greatest artists of his generation, Michael went back into the studio to carve out the next phase of his career. Featuring landmark hit singles like ‘Freedom’, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 showed Michael reacting to his struggles with fame across the track listing, including songs that namechecked the media making a fuss about his James Dean look in the ‘Fame’ video.

Outside of the more pointed material on the record, Michael was at his most comfortable when delivering ballads. While songs like ‘Praying For Time’ garnered praise at the album’s outset, one of Michael’s most enigmatic tracks was ‘Cowboys and Angels’, detailing a story of a massive love triangle.

Even though many people latched onto the song upon release, Michael thought that no one would truly understand where he was coming from, saying, “I know ‘Cowboys and Angels’ is one of people’s favourites, but I don’t think anyone could possibly understand what it’s about. In reality, it’s about a strange love triangle involving a woman who’s madly in love with me and a man who I was madly in love with, and none of it came to anything, but I got a good song out of it.”

Despite Michael writing about a particular situation, it’s easy to see why many people may have been able to understand where he was coming from. While not everyone has had to deal with a messy relationship, everyone can understand the feeling of unrequited love, especially at the hands of someone who might not even know you are interested in them.

The song’s appeal would be so strong that Michael would create an unintended sequel years later. Using similar imagery, ‘American Angel’ shows Michael paying respect to a former lover from the US, likening him to a cowboy who comforted him in his time of need. While some artists may write tracks only for themselves, sometimes songs can strike a nerve with millions of people whether they want to or not.