You Make Me Feel Like Dancing

Mar 13, 2007

Picture the scene: I’m walking down the street, or sitting on the bus, minding my own business and listening to my iPod, through headphones.

Then a song comes on, and I have an almost uncontrollable urge to bust a move, right there, despite the fact that

a) no-one else can hear the music
b) the song is naff or otherwise cheesy
c) I can’t dance.

Some of the songs that have made me do this recently:

There’s something about some songs – the beat? the bass? the pace? – which is just infectious and gets under my skin, into my shoes, making me want to wiggle or walk in time, or pop a shoulder wave, or get the whole bus station suddenly erupting in Bollywood-esque formation dancing, shopping bags and all.

I never do, though.

Well, almost never.

Which songs make you want to dance in the middle of the street?

Category: Music, fmp

Tagged:

San Sharma says:

March 13, 2007 at 11:55 am

Great list! Love Billie Jean. Unfortunately for me (and innocent bystanders) I recently loaded the Superman soundtrack to my iPod and every once in a while, when the shuffle function fancies a laugh, I pull off my glasses, rush into the nearest phone booth and rip my shirt open, only to reveal the patchy hair of my concave chest. There’s nothing Super about that.

ChrisE says:

March 13, 2007 at 12:23 pm

“Marconi plays the mamba….listen to the radio”

Sorry – was getting carried away there.
Great song.

For me the song that makes me want to break out of normality and start boogieing (if that is a real word) is “Mr E’s Beautiful Blues” by Eels. There is something about the bass line that does it for me.

Timbo says:

March 13, 2007 at 12:31 pm

‘Drink the Elixir’ by Salad (an oldie) is rocking my socks at the moment, and eliciting unwanted foot taps, knee jerks, and shoulder waggles. I possibly look like a twat.

Meg J says:

March 13, 2007 at 1:33 pm

Starship’s We Built This City! The song that *has* caused me to dance in the middle of the street, to the bemusement of everyone else. Other songs that come straight to mind: Float On by Modest Mouse, On the Radio by Regina Spektor and much like ChrisE, the Eels’ Mr E’s Beautiful Blues.

And I once accidentally serenaded a bus in Prague with the Pythons’ Oliver Cromwell. Sigh.

srah says:

March 13, 2007 at 1:44 pm

I usually listen to my mp3 player when I’m walking on the track at the gym, and there are certain songs that make me want to skip and jump and wave my arms in the air in time with my stepping when they come on. “Good Morning Baltimore” from Hairspray was the one that got me last night.

Jen says:

March 13, 2007 at 1:47 pm

Magic Carpet Ride from Steppenwolf
Walking on Sunshine from Katherina and the Jets
Baba O’Reilley from the Who
Eep Aap Ork Ah Ah from the Violent Femmes
My Girl from the Temptations

I just hope my neighbors can’t see in when I’m listening to these :-)
Jen

Nic Dempsey says:

March 13, 2007 at 2:08 pm

Greener Pastures and Just Wanna Play from Little Barrie.
I Saw Her Standing There – The Beatles
Can’t Get Next To You – The Temptations
Higher Ground – Stevie Wonder

I don’t often break into dance though – commuters on the District Line have enough to contend with!!

Uma says:

March 13, 2007 at 2:48 pm

There are so many… but right now it’s “No Tomorrow” by Orson. I was on a plane this past week and I really wanted to bust out of my seat and dance down the aisles.

But then I realized that it was 12 hours into a 13 hour flight and people wouldn’t be too impressed ;)

Meg says:

March 13, 2007 at 3:22 pm

Glad to know it’s not just me, then. Phew.

Some of the songs mentioned above:
– The Eels – Mr E’s Beautiful Blues
– Modest Mouse – Float On
– Regina Spektor – On the Radio
– Good Morning Baltimore from Hairspray
– Steppenwolf’s Magic Carpet Ride for some reason behind a montage of Doctor Who scenes
– Katrina and the Waves – Walkin’ on Sunshine behind lots of dreary home video/advertising clips
– The Temptations – My Girl
– Couldn’t find Eep Aap Ork Ah Ah from the Violent Femmes, but I did find their Gone Daddy Gone, which has much the same impact
– A wonderfully dated video of The Who doing Baba O’Riley (the crazy guitar shapes! The shaggy perms! The facial hair! The tight jeans!) (though it’s also worth seeing Hugh Laurie as House doing a bit of air piano)
– Little Barrie – Greener Pastures
– More House MD for some reason now, this time acting as a video for The Beatles – I saw her standing there
– The Temptations – I can’t get next to you
– Stevie Wonder – Higher Ground (live)
– Orson – No Tomorrow

I can’t find any Salad. Boo. Sorry.

Oh, but I thought of another one – Feist’s One Evening (that’s my sort of dancing).

Stephanie says:

March 13, 2007 at 3:57 pm

Every group needs a heathen so I guess I will jump in here.

All the songs listed here are great but none of them make me want to get up and dance. They all make me sing along and tap my feet and chair dance etc but not actually physically break into the Fame opening sequence … I am a total heathen I know.

March 13, 2007 at 4:04 pm

Ah, but it’s got nothing to do with the specific songs, really, Steph. Sometimes the songs I listed do nothing for me. It’s not their innate danceability that caused them to be listed here, or how good they are – absolutely not!

The thing is, sometimes the weather and your mood and a particular beat or bass riff combine and you find yourself walking in time to the song and bouncing slightly and, well, then you’re just a step-change away from breaking into a routine on the pavement. It could be any song at all. It’s a primal thing.

In a similar vein, when you’re feeling particularly hormonal or otherwise emotional, a song (any song, even the most unlikely) might make you get a big lump in your throat, as you choke up, as if you might start to cry. Doesn’t have anything necessarily to do with the song, but instead something elusive which catches you unawares.

March 13, 2007 at 4:15 pm

K, there are defintiely songs I can have a connection with that cause me to do or feel something very particular. As you say, that can be a very random thing rather than happen every time with the same song, it comes down to a collection of weather, mood, location, volume etc.

Thing is, for me, the response I have is never dancing. It’s often something physical like breaking into air guitar or a particular drum movement or a very deep breath as that riff reaches in to sooth and soften a very broken day … all that good stuff. Just never dance.

I know what you are saying though, just not my thing is all. That and I probably spent too much time watching TOTP as a kid .. left me scarred ;)

March 13, 2007 at 5:13 pm

I definitely agree with your last comment, Meg. Right now, the weather is having a lot to do with my dancing mood… it seems like spring is finally here and I just want to go out into the sunshine and dance and (even worse) sing along with the music that no one else can hear.

Dan says:

March 14, 2007 at 12:04 am

‘Outside Chance’ by The Turtles and ‘Loose’ by The Stooges will make me jump up and down. In headphones. In the living room. Hopefully with the blind down.

Ariel says:

March 14, 2007 at 2:54 am

Gosh! I do that all the time!!! A party for one I call it… and sod the onlookers, if they don’t like it, they don’t have to look at it, do they? There are many tunes that get me going, but the jazzy sounds of John Lester do a lot for me. And never mind the dancing, there’s also the singing along…

mike says:

March 14, 2007 at 11:03 am

At the moment, it’s Take That’s “Shine”, and a couple of tracks from the new LCD Soundsystem album.

Chrislunch says:

March 14, 2007 at 11:27 am

My almost psychic iPod shuffle has only ever troubled me emotionally once – on the way to work during a particularly stressful period it chose to start my day with Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t you worry ’bout a thing”. It worked.