Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Somebody's Watching Me

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Released
  
1984

Label
  
Motown M 1702

Genre
  
Synth-funk

B-side
  
"Somebody's Watching Me (Instrumental)"

Format
  
7" single cassette single

Length
  
4:59 (Album version) 4:00 (Single version) 3:33 (Radio version)

"Somebody's Watching Me" is a song by American singer Rockwell from his debut studio album Somebody's Watching Me (1984). It was released as Rockwell's debut single and lead single from the album in January 14, 1984, by Motown. It features former Jackson 5 members Michael Jackson (vocals in the chorus) and Jermaine Jackson (additional backing vocals).

Contents

"Somebody's Watching Me" became a commercial success internationally, topping the charts in Belgium, France and Spain. "Somebody's Watching Me" also peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, as well as reaching number six on the UK Singles Chart.

Background

Rockwell is the son of Motown CEO Berry Gordy, Jr. At the time of the recording, Rockwell was estranged from his father and living with Ray Singleton, his father's ex-wife and coincidentally the mother of his older half-brother, Kerry Gordy. Singleton served as executive producer on the project and would occasionally play some demo tracks to Berry. The elder Gordy was less than enthusiastic about Rockwell's music until he heard the single with a familiar voice featured prominently on background vocals.

Produced by Curtis Anthony Nolen, the song featured backing vocals by Michael Jackson and Alan Murray on percussion.

Due in part to the popularity of the music video, the song is sometimes used for Halloween celebrations, with cover versions found in various collections of Halloween music.

Composition

The song is written in the key of C minor (performed a semitone higher in C♯ minor) in 4
4 time with a tempo of 124 beats per minute. The vocals span from C4 to C5.

Music video

The single's music video underscores the song's paranoid tone with a haunted house-inspired theme, including imagery of floating heads, ravens, graveyards, and shower scenes referencing Psycho.

Plot

The video opens with Rockwell coming home to discover that the wrong newspaper has been delivered to his doorstep. As he takes a quick shower, he begins to have strange visions (in a manner recalling The Dead Zone) of himself being pursued around his house by assorted ghoulish appartions, of the looming figure of a cadaverous-looking man, and of finding a tombstone engraved with his own name. His shower is interrupted when he hears something outside and goes out on his balcony to investigate. He is shocked to see the man from his visions standing at his gate, but as he struggles to get a better look in spite of the sun in his face he is greatly relieved to see that he is merely a mailman, come to deliver the correct newspaper. As the mailman walks up the path towards the front porch, however, a brief close-up of his arm reveals that he is, in fact, a zombie. Rockwell emerges onto the porch to receive the paper, which the mailman genially hands over. As the mailman brings his other arm around to strike, Rockwell has just enough time to notice that he is not human...

DJ BoBo version: "Somebody Dance with Me"

DJ BoBo based his 1992 single "Somebody Dance with Me" on "Somebody's Watching Me" with new lyrics and rap. The DJ BoBo single peaked at no. 1 in Sweden and Switzerland, no. 3 in Austria, Netherlands and Norway, at no. 4 in Germany and no. 13 in Australia.

In 2012, a remix of the hit was made by Remady titled "Somebody Dance With Me (Remady 2013 Mix)" by DJ BoBo featuring Manu-L. Released early in 2013, it charted in Swiss Hitparade reaching no. 4. The mix was made on the 20th anniversary of the initial hit by DJ BoBo in November 1992.

Beatfreakz version

In 2006, Dutch dance group Beatfreakz recorded a pseudo-cover of the song which sampled the chorus but omitted the verses. Their version peaked at no. 1 in Spain, no. 3 in the UK Singles Chart, no. 3 in the German Official Dance Chart, no. 4 in Russia, no. 5 in Ireland, no. 7 in Finland and New Zealand, no. 12 in the Dutch Top 40, no. 18 in France, no. 36 in the Belgium Ultratop 50, and no. 38 in Australia.

Track listing

CD single
  1. Somebody's Watching Me [Hi Tack Edit]
  2. Somebody's Watching Me [Hi Tack Club Mix]
  3. Somebody's Watching Me [E-Craig's 2006 Remix]
  4. Somebody's Watching Me [DeNnis Christopher Remix]
  5. Somebody's Watching Me [Ian Carey Club Mix]

Other cover versions

  • A cover of the song by Morris Day (lead singer of The Time) was included on The Haunted Mansion: Haunted Hits, the soundtrack album for the 2003 Walt Disney Pictures film The Haunted Mansion.
  • Finnish power metal band Warmen included a cover of the song on their 2005 album Accept the Fact. Their version featured melodic death metal singer Alexi Laiho.
  • Danish industrial metal band Raunchy covered the song for their 2008 album Wasteland Discotheque.
  • Electro/hip hop artist/DJ/producers, Mysto & Pizzi, recorded a cover of the song for a series of GEICO television commercials.

    • Sampling

  • TRU incorporated the lyrics and main melody of the chorus into their 1997 single "I Always Feel Like (Somebody's Watching Me)".
  • Jamaican dancehall group T.O.K. sampled the song with additional rap lyrics for their 2001 album My Crew, My Dawgs as a hidden track.
  • Christian pop artist tobyMac sampled the chorus for his song "Somebody's Watching" from his 2001 album Momentum.
  • In 2001, French hip hop group Fonky Family sampled the song in "Art de Rue".
  • R&B artist Ciara incorporated a portion of "Somebody's Watching Me" for her 2006 hit single "Get Up".
  • Hip hop group The Pack incorporates parts of the song, including the chorus, in their single "I'm Shinin'" from their 2007 album Based Boys.
  • In 2008, Internet celebrity Jeffree Star used the chorus of the song in his own track "Starstruck" which features the band Danger Radio.
  • In 2009, Christian hip hop artist Andy Mineo released a song entitled "Who's Watching" (from the album "Sin Is Wack") that samples both the melody and parts of the chorus, which he altered to produce a seemingly entirely different song.
  • For the 2011 Cirque du Soleil show Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour, the background vocals from this song found their way into a medley that included "Is It Scary?", "Threatened", and "Thriller." It was released on Michael Jackson's album Immortal in 2011.
  • In Nephew's 2012 album, they sample the song in the chorus of their song "Åh Gud (Jeg Håber Du Holder Øje Med Mig)". The title literally means: Oh God (I Hope That You Are Watching Me.)
  • In 2016, Canadian singer-songwriter Virginia to Vegas sampled the song on his single "Lights Out".

    • TV

  • It was featured in the pilot episode of the hit 1980s TV show, Miami Vice.
  • The song appears in the Season 1 episode "Everybody Hates Playboy" of Everybody Hates Chris, as Chris and Greg plan to steal the titular magazine back from the assistant principal's office.
  • The song was comically sung in a television commercial for NHL 08.
  • The Mysto & Pizzi cover version was featured in a series of commercials for GEICO that began airing in December 2008 and throughout 2009. The campaign, created by The Martin Agency, consisted of various advertisements in which people would happen upon Kash, a stack of money with googly eyes, while the song is played in the background.
  • The song was used in The Cleveland Show's series 3 episode 6 "Sex and the Biddy".
  • A remixed clip of the song is used in promotional sequences for the upcoming ABC television show, The Glass House.
  • The song was featured in Ellen's Halloween dance mix.

    • Film

  • The song was featured in the classic 1999 skateboarding film Round 2.
  • The song was also featured in You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008).
  • The song was used as Number Four's ringtone in the 2011 film adaptation of I Am Number Four.

    • References

    Somebody's Watching Me Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA