A couple weeks back I joked on my Instagram stories that I think about George Michael’s Careless Whisper (released 1984) multiple times per week - and that story ended up being my most viewed story to date.
Perhaps you think about it so much because the intro has been memed to death over the last decade... swear I've heard it more in the last 10 years than I did growing up.
That said, the topic of empires in decline has been talked about quite a bit over the last 20 years... just not among the Tik-Tok set. And I'd imagine it's still not, as every video I've seen has been an obvious "skit"... which is likely just propaganda disguised as a "trend" designed to make people ignore what they're witnessing, because... "It's just a Tik-Tok trend.. it's, like, not real. OMG I can't with u rn"
Derrick! Thank you. You’re touching something so quintessential. It’s astonishing. My 33 and 34 yo kids recently remarked how much George Michael is a soundtrack to their early childhood.
I was fortunate to see him play at then Shoreline Amphitheater in 1986. I’ve been to many concerts since I was a baby (child of hippie Grateful Dead boomers). I’d seen the Dead play there a dozen times. The fever pitch of the teen crowd was reminiscent of a Beetles concert. Something I’ve never experienced since.
And I study the archetypes of music as it relates to generational astrology. So I will look at Michael’s natal chart compared to the planetary transits of 1984 to see correlations in him as a person touching the nerve of the time when it was released.
PS Greil Marcus is my former brother-in-law. I say you’re music reflection is damn good too.
He was a full star by that tour and had a bigger than life stage presence. The lights were near blinding. I think I was in like 3rd row or very close. (Bill Graham was a family friend, bought me a playpen for my first baby).
So the most significant natal aspect to me is George’s Chiron (wounded teacher archetype) on his Midheaven. The Midheaven is our career placement. Chiron there to me signifies his soulful sound. He some other good placements, but for the purpose of Careless Whisper he wrote it in 1981 during Pluto (power, transformation archetype) Neptune (dreams, unconscious, oceanic archetype) and Saturn (rectification, boundaries, guilt, structures archetype) all aspecting his moon. So he was having big feelings and reflections on the women he had been with (which he recalls in writing on the bus). I haven’t read his autobiography to know when he was becoming aware of his being gay or if he was always just masking. So I can’t explore that astrologically here.
And in 1984 the major aspect that I think made this song was Jupiter in quintile to his Chiron and Midheaven. A quintile is an aspect that seems to bring that special sauce. So the generational feel of how Jupiter (expands all it touches, that bigger than life feeling the song holds) is letting us all feel his wounds and teaching us how those relationships could’ve been better, he could’ve been better.
The generational mood of the moment may have been a world transit of Chiron opposite Uranus. There’s probably more there in the world transits. But I am away from computer.
Anyway, that’s a peek just viewing those dates on my phone. If anything else emerges, I’ll mention it. xo
This song just reminds of my college buddy randomly popping up with his sax and playing it all the time.
Perhaps you think about it so much because the intro has been memed to death over the last decade... swear I've heard it more in the last 10 years than I did growing up.
That said, the topic of empires in decline has been talked about quite a bit over the last 20 years... just not among the Tik-Tok set. And I'd imagine it's still not, as every video I've seen has been an obvious "skit"... which is likely just propaganda disguised as a "trend" designed to make people ignore what they're witnessing, because... "It's just a Tik-Tok trend.. it's, like, not real. OMG I can't with u rn"
Derrick! Thank you. You’re touching something so quintessential. It’s astonishing. My 33 and 34 yo kids recently remarked how much George Michael is a soundtrack to their early childhood.
I was fortunate to see him play at then Shoreline Amphitheater in 1986. I’ve been to many concerts since I was a baby (child of hippie Grateful Dead boomers). I’d seen the Dead play there a dozen times. The fever pitch of the teen crowd was reminiscent of a Beetles concert. Something I’ve never experienced since.
And I study the archetypes of music as it relates to generational astrology. So I will look at Michael’s natal chart compared to the planetary transits of 1984 to see correlations in him as a person touching the nerve of the time when it was released.
PS Greil Marcus is my former brother-in-law. I say you’re music reflection is damn good too.
What an honour to be spoken in the same words!
I'd love to know your astrological analysis of George and the release.
I would have loved to have seen him live - he seemed in his element on sage.
He was a full star by that tour and had a bigger than life stage presence. The lights were near blinding. I think I was in like 3rd row or very close. (Bill Graham was a family friend, bought me a playpen for my first baby).
So the most significant natal aspect to me is George’s Chiron (wounded teacher archetype) on his Midheaven. The Midheaven is our career placement. Chiron there to me signifies his soulful sound. He some other good placements, but for the purpose of Careless Whisper he wrote it in 1981 during Pluto (power, transformation archetype) Neptune (dreams, unconscious, oceanic archetype) and Saturn (rectification, boundaries, guilt, structures archetype) all aspecting his moon. So he was having big feelings and reflections on the women he had been with (which he recalls in writing on the bus). I haven’t read his autobiography to know when he was becoming aware of his being gay or if he was always just masking. So I can’t explore that astrologically here.
And in 1984 the major aspect that I think made this song was Jupiter in quintile to his Chiron and Midheaven. A quintile is an aspect that seems to bring that special sauce. So the generational feel of how Jupiter (expands all it touches, that bigger than life feeling the song holds) is letting us all feel his wounds and teaching us how those relationships could’ve been better, he could’ve been better.
The generational mood of the moment may have been a world transit of Chiron opposite Uranus. There’s probably more there in the world transits. But I am away from computer.
Anyway, that’s a peek just viewing those dates on my phone. If anything else emerges, I’ll mention it. xo
Michelangelo's Last Judgement and a Damned Soul... https://cwspangle.substack.com/p/michaelangelos-last-judgement-and
Oops, 1988 tour, not 86.