Monkey (song)

"Monkey" is a US number-one hit song by English singer and songwriter George Michael. It was released as a single in 1988 and reached number-one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. "Monkey" debuted at number 42 on 9 July 1988, reaching number-one for two weeks, beginning on 27 August 1988.

"Monkey" became Michael's sixth solo single reaching number-one in the US, and the fourth single to do so from the Faith album. George Michael joined Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston as three artists who all had four or more consecutive number one singles during the 1987–88 era, from one album (Michael Jackson scored five number-one hits from a single album (Bad) while Whitney Houston scored seven consecutive number-one hits from two albums).

"Monkey" also reached number-one in the US Hot Dance Club Play chart for two weeks and became his first dance number-one. When the song was released as a single, the single version was remixed by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Background
In a retrospective interview about the album in 2010, Michael noted that the song was inspired by a friend of his dealing with drug and alcohol addiction but he didn't know how to help her. He used the term monkey to refer to her addiction. He asked his friend: Do you love the monkey or do you love me?

Critical reception
Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "One of the most overtly funky, disco-oriented tracks on the LP Faith. A hard hitting dance number."

Music video
The official music video for the song was directed by Andy Morahan and choreographed by Paula Abdul. It comprises footage from the Faith Tour (including scenes of Michael performing intense choreography) and him performing the song in a simple white T-shirt and black hat against a white background. Some of the scenes are shown in grey scale, with the tour footage being shown with tinted blue lights all over.

Track listing

 * 7"
 * 1) "Monkey" (7-inch edit) – 4:47
 * 2) "Monkey" (a'cappella) – 3:40


 * US 12" – Columbia 44 07849
 * 1) "Monkey" (extended version) – 8:06
 * 2) "Monkey" (a'cappella) – 3:40
 * 3) "Monkey" (extra beats) – 3:30


 * CD
 * 1) "Monkey" (extended version) – 8:06
 * 2) "Monkey" (a'cappella) – 3:40
 * 3) "Monkey" (extra beats) – 3:30
 * 4) "Monkey" (7-inch edit) – 4:47