Sometime over the summer I read that Boy George had written a song inspired by Barack Obama’s historic bid for the presidency. Here’s what the former Culture Clubber had to say at the time:

“I was deeply moved and motivated by Obama’s ‘Yes We Can’ speech and I used it as a metaphor for personal change because there have been huge changes in my own life this past year. ‘Yes We Can’ equates as ‘Yes I Can’ from my own personal perspective, and like many people, I am excited by the prospect of Obama being the first black man in the White House and the next President of America.

Most politicians fail to live up to the huge expectations we have for them but Obama exudes a sense of calm and after the stutterings of George Bush, I feel he is just what America needs. I’m not too concerned about alienating Republicans because I’m pretty sure my audience is mostly Democratic!”

Only a short snippet of his yet-unreleased Barack track was featured on Boy George’s site at the time, and I didn’t remembered to look for the finished track later. Until last night.

Lo and behold, Boy George issued the “Yes We Can” single on October 12. A noteworthy addition, George hasn’t sounded so good in a long time (a performance made even better with the backing choir). Hear here:

In addition to five club mixes of “Yes We Can,” an imaginatively animated video features Barack, Boy, Bowie, what I think is Cinderella’s Castle, and a roller-skating Amy Winehouse. Yeah, it’s a little weird. But the sentiment is a good one.

So get out and vote for Obama today. Because you don’t really want to hurt Boy George and make him cry, do you?

Purchase Boy George’s “Yes We Can” via iTunes (single, remixes) or Amazon MP3 (single, remixes).