Do You Really Want to Hurt Me

"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me"
Single by Culture Club
from the album Kissing to Be Clever
B-side
  • "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me (Dub version)" (7")
  • "Love Is Cold (You Were Never No Good)" (12")
Released6 September 1982
Recorded1982
Genre
Length4:22
3:41 (MTV video edit)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Steve Levine
Culture Club singles chronology
"Mystery Boy"
(1982)
"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me"
(1982)
"Time (Clock of the Heart)"
(1982)
Music video
"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" on YouTube

"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" is a song written and performed by English new wave band Culture Club. Released as a single in September 1982 from the group's platinum-selling debut album, Kissing to Be Clever (1982), this ballad was the band's first UK No. 1 hit. In the United States, the single was released in November 1982 and also became a hit, reaching No. 2 for three weeks.

Release

"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" was the third single released in Europe by Culture Club and their debut release in the United States and Canada. The song became a UK No. 1 single for three weeks in October 1982. It entered the American Pop chart the week ending 4 December 1982, hit No. 1 in Cash Box magazine, and held at No. 2 for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March and April 1983. The single hit No. 1 in Canada. It was also number one in Australia.

This was Culture Club's first major success, after their first two releases at the Virgin Records label, "White Boy" and "I'm Afraid of Me", charted lower in the UK at No. 114 and No. 100 respectively. Producer Steve Levine later said: "We felt very strongly that we had a great track with 'Do You Really Want to Hurt Me' and Virgin agreed."

Within a few days of "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" being released, David Hamilton on BBC Radio 2 played the song as his record of the week. The song rose rapidly in the UK charts after the group's first appearance on Top of the Pops, which resulted in Boy George's androgynous style of dress and sexual ambiguity making newspaper headlines. The group were only asked to appear on Top of the Pops the night before the show, after Shakin' Stevens pulled out.

In a retrospective review, Allmusic described "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" as "a simple masterpiece, resonating with an ache that harked back to the classic torch songs of yesteryear."

In 2007, Boy George said that the song was "not just about Culture Club's drummer Jon Moss, my boyfriend at the time. It was about all the guys I dated at that time in my life."

The B-side was a dub version featuring Pappa Weasel in many countries and "You Know I'm Not Crazy" on the US release. On the 12" version of the record, the track "Love Is Cold (You Were Never No Good)" was also included.

Remixes

The song was remixed by DJs Quivver and Kinky Roland in 1998 for a Culture Club compilation called Greatest Moments and the single "I Just Wanna Be Loved". It was also remixed and presented on Culture Club's 2002 box set along with the original demo version.

Re-released as a reggaeton remix in France, it was again a top 20 hit in the summer of 2005.[citation needed]

Music video

The accompanying music video for the song, directed by Julien Temple, featured lead singer Boy George on trial in a courtroom (filmed in Islington Town Hall Council Chamber), with flashbacks to the Gargoyle Club, Soho in 1936 and the Dolphin Square Health Club, Pimlico in 1957. Some scenes were filmed at the Hornsey Road swimming baths in Islington, which later closed in 1991. The jury was in blackface making jazz hands gestures. One band member, Mikey Craig, was not in the video, and was replaced by his brother Greg.[citation needed]

Boy George wears a shirt with the Hebrew writing "תַּרְבּוּת אֲגֻדָּה" ("Tarbut Agudda"), a literal translation of the individual words "culture" and "association" (probably a mistranslation of "club") in a grammatically incorrect order.

Track listings

Charts

Sales and certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) Platinum 100,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) Gold 4,000^
France (SNEP) Gold 500,000*
Germany (BVMI) Gold 500,000^
Netherlands (NVPI) Gold 100,000^
Sweden (GLF) Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) Gold 882,440

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Covers

The song has been covered by such artists as Violent Femmes and Adam Lambert.

A cover by American musicians Karma Fields and Shey Baba was released on September 23, 2020.

Blue Lagoon version

"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me"
Single by Blue Lagoon
from the album Club Lagoon
Released13 February 2005
Length3:29
LabelKon$um, SME
Songwriter(s)Michael Craig, Roy Hay, Jon Moss,George O'Dowd
Producer(s)Felix J. Gauder
Blue Lagoon singles chronology
"Break My Stride"
(2004)
"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me"
(2005)
"Heartbreaker"
(2005)

The song was covered in 2005 by German band Blue Lagoon on its album Club Lagoon and became a hit in Europe.

Track listings

CD single

  1. "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" (radio edit) – 3:29
  2. "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" (extended version) – 4:59

Charts

Chart (2005) Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart 21
Danish Singles Chart 11
Germany (Official German Charts) 13
Swedish Singles Chart 29
Swiss Singles Chart 32

This page was last updated at 2024-01-17 02:18 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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