Hear the previously unreleased George Michael song from 'Last Christmas' (original) (raw)
'This Is How (We Want You To Get High)' appears in the new Emilia Clarke-Henry Golding movie.
Published on November 6, 2019 03:00AM EST
Christmas has come a bit early for fans of the late pop star George Michael.
Universal Music Group and Island Records just unveiled a previously unreleased song from the singer’s final studio sessions before his death in December 2016.
“This Is How (We Want You To Get High)” plays during the finale of Last Christmas, the upcoming Emma Thompson-penned romantic comedy inspired by Michael’s Wham hit of the same name, and it represents his first original material to be released in seven years.
The funky electronic song, written and produced by Michael and James Jackman, features reflective lyrics that tell a cautionary tale about the cycles of addiction.
“My daddy was a toker, just kept smoking until the jokes he could tell got very blue,” Michael sings. “My mama was a joker, if she was a hippy then I guess she was tripping on a high.”
Thompson, who stars in Last Christmas alongside lead actors Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding, previously told EW she met with Michael many times before writing the script, and that he gave the project his blessing before his unexpected death.
“‘Last Christmas’ is not my favorite song,” Thompson admitted of the track that served as the inspiration for the film’s plot about a troubled woman (Clarke) whose life changes after a dashing stranger (Golding) enters her life just before the holidays. “[But] George Michael himself [was] a complex and brilliant artist. His poetry, his lyrics are incredibly meaningful. I just thought of an idea to do with the lyric of ‘Last Christmas’ that inspired me, and then I thought, ‘Oh, actually, so much of George’s other music really works with this idea.’”
Last Christmas opens Friday. Listen to “This Is How (We Want You To Get High)” above.
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