This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Ah, aha
Ooh
Oh
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away (you gave it away)
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special (special)
Once bitten and twice shy
I keep my distance
But you still catch my eye
Tell me, baby
Do you recognize me?
Well, it's been a year
It doesn't surprise me
(Happy Christmas) I wrapped it up and sent it
With a note saying, "I love you," I meant it
Now, I know what a fool I've been
But if you kissed me now
I know you'd fool me again
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away (you gave it away)
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special (special)
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special (special, oh)
Oh, my baby
(Ooh)
A crowded room, friends with tired eyes
I'm hiding from you, and your soul of ice
My God, I thought you were someone to rely on
Me? I guess I was a shoulder to cry on
A face on a lover with a fire in his heart
A man under cover but you tore me apart, ooh
Now, I've found a real love you'll never fool me again
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away (you gave it away)
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special (special)
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, (you gave) you gave it away (me away)
This year (ohh), to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special (special)
Face on a lover with a fire in his heart (I gave you my heart)
A man under cover but you tore him apart
Maybe next year, I'll give it to someone
I'll give it to someone special (special, someone)
(Someone)
Ooh
Oh
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away (you gave it away)
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special (special)
Once bitten and twice shy
I keep my distance
But you still catch my eye
Tell me, baby
Do you recognize me?
Well, it's been a year
It doesn't surprise me
(Happy Christmas) I wrapped it up and sent it
With a note saying, "I love you," I meant it
Now, I know what a fool I've been
But if you kissed me now
I know you'd fool me again
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away (you gave it away)
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special (special)
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special (special, oh)
Oh, my baby
(Ooh)
A crowded room, friends with tired eyes
I'm hiding from you, and your soul of ice
My God, I thought you were someone to rely on
Me? I guess I was a shoulder to cry on
A face on a lover with a fire in his heart
A man under cover but you tore me apart, ooh
Now, I've found a real love you'll never fool me again
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away (you gave it away)
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special (special)
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, (you gave) you gave it away (me away)
This year (ohh), to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special (special)
Face on a lover with a fire in his heart (I gave you my heart)
A man under cover but you tore him apart
Maybe next year, I'll give it to someone
I'll give it to someone special (special, someone)
(Someone)
Lyrics submitted by magicnudiesuit
Last Christmas Lyrics as written by George Michael
Lyrics © O/B/O DistroKid
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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this poor guy, every damn christmas the same thing happens :(
It's so uplifting... yet so depressing. This song make me happy - just because if you don't take in what the lyrics are saying, the tune isn't slow and sad. The lyrics are also something I reckon that most people can relate to - maybe not the Christmas thing, but still.
The part that confuses me, though. First it's "But if you kissed me now, I know you'd fool me again"... then it's "Now I found a real love, you'll never fool me again"... he's gotta make up his mind.
@Seewa That's exactly what I thought. In the video, is the brunette his current love, or are they looking at each other remembering their failed relationship? Very confusing.
George Michael, has wrote this song, and the lyrics are his. There has been many artist after him, that have sang it. Only Darren Hayes, former Savage Garden frontman. Has ever done this song justice. I'm a huge GM fan, since the beginning. GM, is a mastermind of his talent, it's to bad people, only see him as being GAY. It's pretty bad. :( But, this song is very touching. Just because, it has "Christmas" in the title, doesn't mean it has to be about Christmas.....ever learn to "Read Between the lines?"
Thanks for recommending the Darren Hayes version. It isn't quite as good as the original, but it comes close.
But this song isn't even about Christmas! It is about a broken heart, which just happened to be broken at Christmas!!!! Personaly I love it! It is depressing, but somehow, it always makes me laugh!
You can always count on Wham! to deliver a great song for almost every time of year and every celebration. There's always one track which seems appropriate and i am a big fan of Wham! This is my favourite Christmas song ever and it doesn't matter what time of year it is, whenever i hear it, i always get that warm feeling. And i only like this version of 'Last Christmas'...the others just aren't as good.
this song pretty much changed my views on life, etc.
@haleyjade [sarcasm] Totally, me, too. Especially regarding the parts about never being fooled again and that he could easily get fooled again. That's so deep. At first, I wasn't sure which way to go, but I decided 'neither.' [/sarcasm].
well i can't say like "haleyjade" that this has changed my views on life (what??) but its definitely one of my favorite christmas songs. It makes me want to run around the room and dance, even though if you listen to the lyrics they are kind of depressing, the cliche 80s synth music puts me in a good mood. WHAMMY is my favorite.
I never liked christmas music, but this has gotta be the Best X-mas song EVER. To me it makes X-mas seem very romantic in a way I hadnt noticed before hearing it. Yeah, its a bout a PAST broken heart-but the punchline is: "now I found a real love you'll never fool me again". The protagonist in this song finally has found true love at X-mas time and wont make the same sad mistake he made a year ago.
i know this is a love song about Shirley Kemp whose last name is now Holliman cuz she got married and since George Michael is gay i guess it's safe to say the protagonist of the song was Andrew Ridgely
As soon as it's cold outside, I know it's time to listen to this song. No matter how hard things get, this song makes me smile. I honestly have never heard a cover that's done what George Michael did in this song. Personally, I believe it's a masterpiece. The lyrics are perfectly ubiquitous, disregarding the specificity of "Christmas". I've never had my heart broken on Christmas, but I know the feeling of heartbreak, and he completely executed it. I don't even know how to express how much I love this song. I wouldn't say it changed my perspective on life like that one person said, but I do think it's gotten me through some things. That feeling of wanting to find someone new to spite the person who hurt you, only to constantly be surrounded by the past lover, their new love, and your memories of them... AND at Christmas time? It's hard to watch other people in love when you're not able to be in love, but during the holiday season when love is "in the air", it's especially lonely, and you no longer have anything but previous memories. Oh em gee George Michael is too good. To the people saying it's silly how he says he'll never be fooled again, but later states his ex could "fool [him] again", in my opinion, it's meant to be. Heartbreak makes people crazy irrational, being driven by their emotions. For him, he tries to say he'll never be fooled again, knowing it's only to spite the past lover, trying to lure them back by saying he's found someone new, to make them jealous. Plus it's logical anyways because he says in the first verse that he could be fooled, but in the second he says he'll never be fooled - it's like a timeline so basically he moved on from his ex from the first to second verse. Anyways I'm sorry my interpretation is so messy I just love this song more than words can easily show. Thanks guys xx