Relax Lyrics
Mi-i-ine
Give it to you one time, now
We-ell
Whoa
We-ell, now
[Chorus]
Relax, don't do it
When you want to go to it
Relax, don't do it
When you want to come
Relax, don't do it
When you want to suck it, chew it
Relax, don't do it
When you want to come
When you want to come
Relax, don't do it
When you want to go to it
Relax, don't do it
When you want to come
Relax don't do it
When you want to suck it, chew it
Relax, don't do it
When you want to come
Come on
Ohhh
But shoot it in the right direction
Make makin' it your intention (Ooh yeah, ooh yeah)
Live those dreams
Scheme those schemes
Got to hit me (Hit me!)
Hit me (Hit me!)
Hit me with those laser beams
Ow ow ow!
Laser beam me
1, 2
[Chorus]
Relax
Don't do it
Relax
When you want to come
Come, uhh! Woo!
Ow ow ow ow ow ow uh!
I'm coming
I'm coming-yeah
[Chorus]
Relax, don't do it (Once you're inside of me)
When you want to go to it
Relax, don't do it
When you want to come
Relax, don't do it
When you want to suck it, chew it
Relax, don't do it, no!
When you want to come
When you want to come
When you want to come
Huh!
Ow ow ow ow! Woooo! Ow ow ow yeah
The scene of love, feel it
[Chorus]
Relax, don't do it
When you want to go to it
Relax, don't do it
Ow ow yeah
Relax don't do it
When you want to go to it
Relax don't do it
[Outro]
Now's the time, it's party time (Hey!)
Come!
About
“Relax” is the debut single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the United Kingdom in 1983. It was written in 1982 after frontman Holly Johnson came up with the basic idea while on his way to band practice one day.
Producer and owner of ZTT Records Trevor Horn was first exposed to FGTH performing “Relax” on Britain’s Channel 4 show The Tube, but didn’t sign them until hearing it again later on DJ David Jensen’s radio show on BBC Radio 1 .
Horn recorded FGTH performing “Relax” but was not satisfied, so he recorded a second version with Ian Dury’s backing band The Blockheads. He was dissatisfied with that as well so a third version was recorded by Horn, producer/engineer Steve Lipson, keyboard player Andy Richards and Fairlight synthesizer programmer JJ Jeczalik.
Later, Horn decided to start from scratch again, building the song around a beat he’d previously made on an LM-2 drum machine. He added a programmed bass line, Lipson on guitar, Richards on keyboard and Jeczalik making “funny noises” on the Fairlight synthesizer to create what would become the fourth and official recording. Horn recalled:
They heard it, (Holly) and Paul immediately started to dance, and so did the rest of us, just dancing around the control room. By the time Holly sang the vocal at 4 am, he was so totally hyped up, he was crazy, like a Doberman with a rabbit in its teeth.
Horn initially thought Johnson’s singing was out of tune, but the vocal effect was intentional. Johnson used “little slurs” and “microtones” to get a distinctive sound.
“Relax” generated a lot of controversy—it was promoted with an overtly sexual music video (two tamer videos – ‘laser’ and ‘live’ – were released afterward), suggestive cover art, and ads like this one with the headline “ALL THE NICE BOYS LOVE SEA MEN” and shirts that read “Frankie Say Relax Don’t Do It”.
The song stalled at #77, but a return performance on The Tube in late 1983 helped it climb to #35 in the UK. A live performance on Top Of The Pops propelled the song further up the chart to #6.
In the second week of 1984, DJ Mike Read of BBC Radio 1 stopped the song mid-spin and refused to air it again after reading the song’s lyrics and reviewing its cover art. Read later said, “They are an exciting, competent new band, but I just feel the lyrics are overtly obscene.” The rest of the BBC soon followed suit but other UK radio stations then bragged about playing ‘the song that the BBC banned’ – a move that sent the song to #1 for five straight weeks. Derek Chinnery of BBC Radio One explained:
We could have said there’s a dual meaning to the song, that it’s a nonsense song about relaxing. But when the band confirmed that it referred to fellatio and ejaculation, then it didn’t seem to me appropriate that we should play it at all.
At first, to calm controversy, the band claimed the song was written about “motivation” to make a case for radio play, but never fully committed to the guise. Bassist Mark O'Toole wrote in the album liner notes:
“Everything I say is complete lies. Like, when people ask you what ‘Relax’ was about, when it first came out we used to pretend it was about motivation, and really it was about shagging.”
“Relax” eventually became the UK’s sixth biggest selling single of all time. The song also found success around the world, reaching #1 in France, Germany & Switzerland and the top 5 in Austria, Australia, Norway, Sweden & The Netherlands. In the US, “Relax” reached #67 in late 1984, but after the release of Welcome To The Pleasuredome, the song re-charted with the much higher peak of #10 in early 1985.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Frontman Holly Johnson tweeted in 2013:
never complain. NEVER EXPLAIN … it’s not an order it’s a motto that I refer to when asked to explain the meaning of songs
Bassist Mark O'Toole wrote on the album liner notes for Welcome To The Pleasuredone:
…when it first came out we used to pretend it was about motivation, and really it was about shagging.
Producer Trevor Horn loved “Relax” but was dissatisfied with the band’s performance of it in the studio. He brought in Ian Dury’s backing band The Blockheads to record it, but was not satisfied with that recording either. Horn then recruited engineer Steve Lipson, session keyboard player Andy Richards and Fairlight programmer JJ Jeczalik to perform the song, but was not pleased with the results. After a few weeks of recording, Horn found an old rhythm he’d made on a Linn 2 drum machine and started from scratch a fourth time with Lipson, Richards and Jeczalik, building the song around this beat. Holly Johnson and Paul Rutherford were called into the studio that night and both recorded vocals on the track until 4am. So Johnson and Rutherford are the only two band members who are featured in the final version of the track. After first single “Relax” b/w “Ferry Cross The Mersey”, and second single “Two Tribes” b/w “War”, the entire band was featured on the recordings moving forward, beginning with “Power Of Love”.
- 3.Relax
- 4.War
- 5.Two Tribes
- 6.(Tag)
- 7.Fury
- 8.Born to Run
- 9.San Jose
- 11.The Ballad of 32
- 12.Krisco Kisses
- 16.Bang
- 20.Disneyland