George Michael – Waiting

Listen Without Prejudice, 1990: 2:27 coda, not another chart single

The last thing on George Michael’s Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 is not a radio climax. Waiting, listed as a reprise and running about 2:27, comes after Soul Free: soft keyboard colour, a thin vocal line, almost no drum drama. Epic issued the album in the UK on 3 September 1990. The closer does not repeat the big ending Faith had trained listeners to expect. The reprise runs about 2:27 and sits after Soul Free, with that thin vocal and almost no drums. Epic’s UK date for the album is 3 September 1990.

Michael produced the album himself after sessions at Sarm West and Metropolis in London between July 1989 and July 1990. Where Freedom! ’90 and Praying for Time carry the public argument of the record, Waiting is private: a short breath after those singles. He does not add another big chorus. He leaves space. The London sessions at Sarm West and Metropolis run from July 1989 to July 1990, and Waiting stays the quiet track beside those two singles.

Played after the hits, the track is where the album stops. The reprise title fits: motifs come back quieter, as if the singer is checking who is still there once the leather jacket is gone. The track is short, and its job on the record is to show that the album title was not only a slogan. He leaves space instead of another chorus. Motifs return at a lower level. Compilations often skip it, which is why it stays an album track. The cut belongs with a full play of the disc, not only with the Fincher videos.

The cut is there for a full play of the disc, not only for the Fincher videos. At 2:27 it is the place where the album title has to stand as more than a slogan.