"Welcome to the Pleasuredome" is a song by the English pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released on their 1984 debut album, "Welcome to the Pleasuredome". The lyrics were inspired by the poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In March 1985, it was abridged and remixed for release as the group's fourth UK single.
While criticised at the time of release and afterward for being a song that glorifies debauchery, the lyrics (and video), in accordance with Coleridge's poem, were about the dangers of mindless indulgence. This song, along with "Relax", made Frankie Goes to Hollywood even more controversial than they already were.
Billboard compared it to "Relax", saying that "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" had "less hook, less controversy, more drama."
Recording
"Welcome to the Pleasuredome" was developed over the course of three months. The song was written around a bass riff by Mark O'Toole, who was the main songwriter of the band, then Brian Nash and Peter Gill contributed to finish the track along with him. Initially, the song had a duration of three minutes, which was later extended beyond thirteen minutes by overlapping different sections and lengthening other passages. When working on the song, Stephen Lipson brought in multiple tape machines to offset the recordings by eight bars, which he explained to Sound on Sound.