Man Enough

Album: Def Leppard (2015)
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Songfacts®:

  • Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen told TeamRock the story of the song. "I had this bass riff floating around my head, and I wanted it to have a similar vibe to 'Billie Jean' by Michael Jackson - almost a disco vibe," he recalled. "I didn't know what it was going to be called, then I played it to Joe [Elliott, vocals]; we went to [drummer] Rick Allen's 50th birthday, and he said, 'S--t! I've got a great idea for this song! And it's called 'Are You Man Enough To Be My Girl'."

    "People have said it reminds them of 'Another One Bites The Dust' by Queen," Collen continued. "It has this dancey appeal. Our song 'All Night' was a bit like that, and 'Excitable' on Hysteria. But I think this is the first time we've really made it work. It just fell into place, and I think that's because we didn't restrict ourselves. Every song on the album's like that. It was, like, 'F--k everybody. This album was done for us.' It wasn't a business venture. We really didn't care what anybody thought. We went to town on it; it was a lot of fun."

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