Under Your Thumb
1981 song performed by Godley & Creme
"Under Your Thumb" is a song written and recorded by the English duo Godley & Creme, released on 31 August 1981 by Polydor Records as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Ismism (1981). The song tells the story of a man who boards a dirty, run-down train carriage to get out of the rain, and is followed on board by a woman who repeatedly cries "Don't wanna be under your thumb forever." To distract himself from her voice, the man picks up an old newspaper that he finds, only to see her photograph beneath the headline, "Woman throws herself from speeding train, identity unknown".
The single, edited from the album version, peaked at No. 3 on the UK singles chart in October 1981. The single features the non-album track "Power Behind the Throne" as its B-side.
The public source identifies “Under Your Thumb” as 1981 song performed by Godley & Creme. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Your, Thumb and song.
Why this record matters
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16964052. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1981.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Under Your Thumb” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.