The lyrics of the song were written by Lear herself, who contributed words to every track on
Sweet Revenge, and the music was composed by
Anthony Monn, her long-time producer and collaborator. Musically, "Follow Me" showcased a mainstream
disco sound, which in the second half of the 1970s was at the peak of its popularity, however, with
symphonic elements, and inspired by the innovatory work of German band
Kraftwerk. Lyrically, the song tells about
seduction as the first track in conceptual
suite on side A, which tells a story about a girl tempted by the Devil. The suite is concluded with an alternative version of the song, billed as "Follow Me (Reprise)", which contains different lyrics and sees the girl reject the Devil's offers. The 10-minute Wally MacDonald
remix of the song was released in Canada, which in fact was a medley of the original version and the
reprise. "Follow Me" was released as the first single from Amanda's second album,
Sweet Revenge, in the spring of 1978. In most countries, the B-side of the single was "Mother, Look What They've Done to Me". The only exception to this in Europe was Spain, with "
Run Baby Run" on side B, although the song would also be released as a separate A-side in selected territories. In Canada, the B-side was "
Enigma (Give a Bit of Mmh to Me)", later released as a single in its own right in Europe. The song was a major commercial success, reaching the top 10 in no less than six European countries. In Germany, it was the sixth biggest-selling single of 1978, and in Belgium – the second, only behind
John Travolta and
Olivia Newton-John's "
You're the One That I Want". It remains Amanda's
signature song and arguably her biggest hit to date, having sold several million copies worldwide. The singer performed the track in numerous television shows across Europe as well as in the erotic Italian documentary film
Follie di notte (1978) in which she appeared as the hostess. The song was also featured in the film
Dallas Buyers Club (2013). A new version of the song was released as the single in 1987,
remixed by
Christian De Walden who produced Lear's most recent album at the time,
Secret Passion. In 1989, DJ
Ian Levine produced
hi-NRG remixes of "
Gold" and "Follow Me", which were released as a commercial double A-side single on both vinyl and CD. Lear re-recorded the song with slightly changed lyrics in 1992 and the new version appeared on her 1993 album
Cadavrexquis as well as side B of the single "Fantasy". It was performed at concerts and on television. Another re-recording appeared on the 1998 album
Back in Your Arms and later released in Italy as the double A-side 12" vinyl single with "
Tomorrow". This version would subsequently end up on numerous budget compilations released in Europe up until the early 2010s. In 2000, a new version of the song was included on a various artists compilation released to celebrate
Paris Pride. Also in 2000, the 1978 version was released as the CD single in Belgium as part of the "45 Hit Collection" series, back with the original version of "
The Sphinx". The song was also included on the soundtrack of the 2014 French film
The New Girlfriend. Most recently, "Follow Me" was re-recorded again on Lear's 2016 album
Let Me Entertain You. In 2023, the original 1978 song was used in a
Chanel worldwide advertisement campaign for the fragrance Coco Mademoiselle, in a one-minute film directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring
Whitney Peak. The song gained a new following and was searched one million times on the global Shazam charts in June 2023. For the occasion, the 2016 mix of the song was released as a digital single in June 2023, and subsequently gained one million stream on Spotify in one month, boosted by the streams of the 1978 version. == Music videos ==