Let's Wait Awhile

"Let's Wait Awhile" is the fifth single released from Janet Jackson's third studio album, Control (1986).

Song information

Written by Jackson, Melanie Andrews, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and produced by Jam and Lewis, the song talks about waiting until the right moment to have sexual intercourse. The song can also be interpreted as an anthem to sexual abstinence as it was a hit during the height of the AIDS pandemic.

The song was a precursor to the more sexually-liberated Jackson that was to emerge on the Rhythm Nation 1814 track "Someday Is Tonight". "Someday Is Tonight" can be looked at as Jackson's readiness to go further in their relationship. On Jackson's album 20 Y.O., the track "With U" is the follow-up to "Let's Wait Awhile". "With U" takes place after the act of intimacy the two have put off, which results, Jackson explains, in "romantic confusion".

The opening bars which form the repeating underlying chords are borrowed from "Daisy Jane" by America. Its refrain was sung by Melody Thornton in Jibbs' 2007 single "Go Too Far".

Music video

The music video is set in New York City. When Janet and her boyfriend (played by Taimak Guarriello) go out for a magical night on the town, her boyfriend wants to end the evening by taking their relationship a step further, but Janet wants to wait until they're both ready.

Chart performance

Released in 1987, the single peaked at two in the USA becoming Jackson's fifth Top 5 single on the Billboard Hot 100; it also hit one on the R&B singles chart becoming her fourth to top that chart. It was also Jackson's first number one single in South Africa. The single was the forty-eighth biggest Hot 100 single of 1987 and the forty-second biggest Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks single of 1987. The song was kept from number one with "Lean on Me" from Club Nouveau.

Charts

Chart (1987)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	2
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	1
U.S. Adult Contemporary	2
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40	2
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	19
Canadian Singles Chart	14
German Singles Chart	34
Holland Singles Chart	16
Japan Singles Chart	1
Official UK Singles Chart	3
South African Sales Chart	1
Switzerland Singles Chart	27
United World Chart	3

Track listing

UK 12" Vinyl maxi single

1. Let's Wait Awhile (Remix) (4:30)
2. Nasty (Cool Summer Mix Part 1) (7:57)
3. Nasty (Cool Summer Mix Part 2) (10:12)US 7" vinyl single
4. Let's Wait Awhile (Remix) (4:30)
5. Pretty Boy (6:32)UK - 7" Vinyl single [LIMITED EDITION PICTURE DISC]
6. Let's Wait Awhile (Remix) (4:30)
7. Nasty (Cool Summer Mix Part 1) [Edit] (4:10)
8. Nasty (Edit of Remix) (3:40)
9. Control [Edit] (3:26)

Official versions/remixes

• Album Version – 4:37
• Remix – 4:36