Wake Me Up (The Weeknd and Justice song)

"Wake Me Up"
Song by the Weeknd and Justice
from the album Hurry Up Tomorrow
Released	January 31, 2025
Genre	Synth-pop disco[1]
Length	5:08 (album version) 3:30 (single/radio edit)[2]
Label	XO Republic
Songwriter(s)	Abel Tesfaye Gaspard Augé Xavier de Rosnay Michael Dean John Padgett Rod Temperton Ahmad Balshe Vincent Taurelle
Producer(s)	The Weeknd Justice Mike Dean Michael Jackson

"Wake Me Up" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd and French musical duo Justice. It was released through XO and Republic Records as the opening track from the Weeknd's sixth studio album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, on January 31, 2025. The song was produced by the Weeknd and Justice themselves, Mike Dean and Johnny Jewel; all five of them wrote the song along with Belly and Vincent Taurelle, with Rod Temperton also receiving a posthumous songwriting credit due to the song's interpolation of Michael Jackson's hit single, "Thriller", from his sixth studio album of the same name (1982).

Composition and lyrics

On "Wake Me Up", the Weeknd explores themes of existentialism and facing reality as he reflects on inner struggles.[3] Emma Johnson of The MSU Reporter said of the song, "In a funk reminiscent of his 2022 album, 'Dawn FM,' he sings about needing to wake up 'cause I’m dreaming/It feels so damn real.'"[4] Roisin O'Connor of The Independent saw the song as "a scene-setting moment for what, it soon emerges, is the Canadian artist's most ambitious project to date – a feature film-length album that supposedly serves as the final chapter for his enigmatic alter ego The Weeknd".[5] The song starts off slow and then gets upbeat, in which the fast-paced instrumental is reminiscent of the music from Michael Jackson's fifth studio album, Off the Wall (1979) and the song "Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (Too Good to Be True)" by Jermaine Jackson.[6][7]

Critical reception

Writing for Clash, Robin Murray described "Wake Me Up" as "a stellar opener" from Hurry Up Tomorrow.[8] In contrast, Neil McCormick, Andrew Perry, and Poppie Platt described the song as a "doomy opening".[9] Carl Lamarre of Billboard ranked "Wake Me Up" as the twelfth best song on the album as he acknowledged the Weeknd's love for Michael Jackson's music and the "Thriller" sample, describing the song as "a five-minute exhibition of [the] Weeknd’s exploration of legacy, reality, and disillusionment" and "[The] Weeknd's deftly executes on the pop-synth intro with sizzling precision".[10]

Charts

Chart performance for "Wake Me Up"

Chart (2025)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[11]	61
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[12]	28
Global 200 (Billboard)[13]	31
France (SNEP)[14]	28
Greece International (IFPI)[15]	9
Iceland (Tónlistinn)[16]	15
Italy (FIMI)[17]	57
Latvia (LaIPA)[18]	18
Lithuania (AGATA)[19]	25
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[20]	4
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[21]	52
UK Singles Sales (OCC)[22]	74
UK Streaming (OCC)[23]	54
US Billboard Hot 100[24]	45

References

1. Saponara, Michael; Lamarre, Carl (January 31, 2025). "Every Song From The Weeknd's 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Album Ranked: Critic's Picks". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
2. "Wake Me Up (Single Version) [feat. Justice] - Single". February 5, 2025.
3. "Hurry Up Tomorrow By The Weeknd: Album Review". January 31, 2025.
4. ""Hurry Up Tomorrow:" The Weeknd's final hurrah". February 4, 2025.
5. O'Connor, Roisin (January 31, 2025). "On Hurry Up Tomorrow, The Weeknd delivers a spectacular final chapter in his 'After Hours' trilogy". The Independent. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
6. Levine, Nick (January 31, 2025). "The Weeknd – Hurry Up Tomorrow review: stadium-filling superstar prepares to move on". NME. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
7. Hodgkinson, Will (January 31, 2025). "The Weeknd: Hurry Up Tomorrow review — strangely suppressed and anaesthetised". The Times. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
8. Murray, Robin (January 31, 2025). "First Take: The Weeknd – Hurry Up Tomorrow". Clash. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
9. McCormick, Neil; Perry, Andrew; Platt, Poppie (January 31, 2025). "The Weeknd's epic Hurry Up Tomorrow is one of the most depressing albums in pop history". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
10. Saponara, Michael; Lamarre, Carl (January 31, 2025). "Every Song From The Weeknd's 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Album Ranked: Critic's Picks". Billboard. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
11. "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 10 February 2025". The ARIA Report. No. 1823. Australian Recording Industry Association. February 10, 2025. p. 4.
12. "The Weeknd Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
13. "The Weeknd Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
14. "Top Singles (Week 6, 2025)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
15. "Official IFPI Charts − Digital Singles Chart (International) − Εβδομάδα: 06/2025" (in Greek). IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on February 12, 2025. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
16. "Tónlistinn – Lög: Streymi, spilun og sala viku 6. Birt 8. febrúar 2025 – Næst uppfært 15. febrúar 2025" (in Icelandic). Plötutíðindi. Archived from the original on February 8, 2025. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
17. "Top Singoli – Classifica settimanale WK 6" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
18. "Latvijas dziesmu topā nonāk arī "Supernovas" dziesmas" [Supernova songs also enter the Latvian song chart] (in Latvian). TV Net [lv]. February 11, 2025. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
19. "2025 6-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. February 7, 2025. Retrieved February 7, 2025.
20. "NZ Hot 40 Singles". Recorded Music NZ. February 7, 2025. Retrieved February 7, 2025.
21. "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 6, 2025" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
22. "Official Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
23. "Official Streaming Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 8, 2025.
24. "The Weeknd Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 11, 2025.