What does Careless Whisper mean?

George Michael: Careless Whisper Meaning

Album cover for Careless Whisper album cover

Song Released: 1984


Careless Whisper Lyrics

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 the silver screen
And all its sad good-byes

I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 2nd 2019 !⃝

    My interpretation is a bit different than most. I dont take the song quite as literally as a lot of people online do. I believe it is about a guy who is in love with his best friend but doesnt want to tell her in fear of being rejected and losing her. Every line tells me this. "I feel so unsure as I take your hand and lead you to the dance floor" Hes going through the motions of playing the role of the best friend but it's on the surface only. "As the music dies…something in your eyes calls to mind the silver screen and all it's sad goodbyes" He finally finds a moment when he feels is perfect to tell her how he feels. He mistakes a look in her eyes for love as he sees it. "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" Hes afraid of taking the chance of ever telling another girl how he feels. He feels guilty of telling this one because she just shot him down. He can pretend all he wants that hes okay with the decision shes made but deep down hes hurt and he sees it on her face that this is close to goodbye if not a sense of finality.
    Should've known better than to cheat a friend
    And waste the chance that I'd been given
    So I'm never gonna dance again
    The way I danced with you
    He had the perfect chance to have a friendship that lasts but he blew it. He felt like he cheated her. So he swears he will never fall in love again.
    Time can never mend
    The careless whispers of a good friend
    To the heart and mind
    Ignorance is kind
    There's no comfort in the truth
    Pain is all you'll find
    He got careless with what he said to her and spilled his guts about his true intentions towards her and time will never allow that moment to fade. Ignorance is kind….saying when she didnt know how he felt things were better but only in retrospect. He is hurting from this.
    We could have been so good together
    We could have lived this dance forever
    But no one's gonna dance with me
    Please stay
    He feels like she is meant to be with him and he with she. She is his soulmate in his eyes but she doesnt see it. Hes desperately grasping at straws as he falls, grabbing for anything that would allow her to stay in his life. I mean anyone who has ever been in the friend zone and was bold enough to try to escape knows the devastation and defeat of being rejected by your best friend. So he is begging her to stay his friend even though she knows he is in love with her. He feels like he can never love another person nearly as much as he does her.

  2. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 21st 2020 !⃝

    The singer had a good friend who he had feelings for and she didn't feel the same way, but she was still there for him when he needed her. He abused that situation and now hes scared that she'll leave him without a lover and a friend.

  3. anonymous
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    Dec 19th 2019 !⃝

    The things that get said behind stuff like the things are like marlisa and rape to Diannes to Ann Marie malign so the lady friend and the lead character it was the best time they had the best time in a dream he takes the the BFF to lead to a dance so let's say with her husband Frank henbrow him with parents Anne marie Milligan Melissa and Diane lays leg are being said behind her their still in side its lead character is looking back both the holiday and what been said thinking of waste of chance he's been given and they Could stayed in dreams dancing

  4. anonymous
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    Jun 25th 2018 !⃝

    The song is about a man living with, and reflecting on, the consequences of irresponsible seduction. Dancing, in the song, is a metaphor for sex.

    In the beginning, he has a good friend, but he tricks her into having sex with him. When she gets very hurt and ends the frienship, he feels “guilty” about it. When he says, “time can never mend the careless whispers of a good friend”, he is saying that he can never take back the words he said that caused this thing to happen.

    When he says “Although it’s easy to pretend, I know you’re not a fool”, it is him trying to convince himself that what happened between them was her fault, that she was just stupid and easy, but when he reflects on it honestly, he knows that he is the one to blame.

    In the end, he resolves to reform himself: he doesn’t want to “dance” with other girls in the same way anymore.

  5. anonymous
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    Dec 28th 2017 !⃝

    I feel like the song talks about the exact moment he tells his friend/partner he cheated while dancing to a song.

    At first, he feels unsure because he obviously doesn't want the other person to get mad, but also knows he's gonna tell her. And so he does and 'as the music dies' he looks up and sees that the person is really hurt and realises that now that she knows, she is not going to forgive him and this will have been their last dance.

    That's why he says that 'time can never mend the careless whisper...' because he knows now that he's made his confession, their relationship is over.

    And of course, the part that says that ignorance is Kind while the truth only brings pain refers to his decision of telling her even if it means that will be their last dance

  6. anonymous
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    Jul 3rd 2017 !⃝

    This song could either be about a lover or a friend that you done dirty, I think the songs expressing guilt and remorse. I believe the song is about the guilt of what they've done whether it be cheating or something else is really taking a toll on them. They feel "unsure" because they are debating on telling them. At the end they have told them and that's why it says "is what I did so wrong that you had to leave me alone" "There's so comfort in the truth pain is all you'll find" is about some things are better left unknown

  7. anonymous
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    May 10th 2016 !⃝

    I had been in a situation similar to this and I felt remorse after I was told goodbye. This was about 38 years ago and I have learned that she is on husband number three. I decided that she may have some emotional problems and I dodged a bullet as I am still on wife number one.

  8. anonymous
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    Mar 22nd 2014 !⃝

    I think this song is about a guy who had a very good female friend that he had feelings for. He poured his heart out to her, and it ended badly, and now he not only doesn't have her love, but he no longer has a friendship with her, which he treasured. The song, IMO, is about his regret for ruining his friendship by admitting his feelings, and his wish that things could have worked out between them or at least gone back to the way they were.

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 21st 2014 !⃝

    The song is quite simple to explain. It tells the tale of a man who have cheated on his girl and has regretted of it.
    But now she's not coming back. So he will never dance [love] again, cause guilty feet [he is guilty of cheating on her] have got no rhythm.

    Time can never mend the careless whispers of a good friend means that he cannot forget the love and affection she gave him and he threw away.

    "To the heart and mind
    Ignorance is kind
    There's no comfort in the truth
    Pain is all you'll find"

    This part means exactly: digging in the dirty only gonna hurt, which means that it is better to not know that he was cheating on her than know it and lose a love.

    In the end he has nobody to dance[love] with him. He asks her to forgive him and stay, but she will not give it back.

    He should have think twice.


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