Dancing With Myself

Dancing With Myself by Billy Idol

Billy Idol, what an amazing artist.

Love him

I had heard his songs before on the radio, but when I first became a fan of his and obsessed with his music was after:

Not only does Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) gush over him:

But he has the best bit part:

This got me interested in listening to him more..and more is exactly what I did.

And one of my favorites (beside Rebel Yell), is the song Dancing With Myself. The song was written by Billy Idol and Tony James for their group,  Generation X, after they visited a Tokyo Dance Club and witnessed people preferring to dance with their images in the mirror, rather than with each other. It didn’t do very well and the band later broke up.

In 1981, Billy Idol, as a solo artist, made a few changes and rereleased it. It quickly grew popular and remains one of his most loved songs to date.

I think the reason the song does so well is first the music as it makes you want to dance

And secondly the personal connection. Most people don’t feel like they dance very well.

And it isn’t fun when you are rejected because of your lack of talents in that area.

And there is something so freeing about dancing by yourself. You know no one will judge you, you are free to do whatever dance move you want, to whatever song you want.

Well there’s nothing to lose
And there’s nothing to prove

It just makes you feel great!

I’m great

Like this song.

Plus you gotta love this ’80s music video. Oh Billy, only you could pull off an outfit like that and bleach blonde hair.

On the floor of Tokyo
Or down in London town to go, go
With the record selection
And the mirror’s reflection
I’m dancing with myselfWhen there’s no-one else in sight
In the crowded lonely night
Well I wait so long
For my love vibration
And I’m dancing with myself

Oh dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
Well there’s nothing to lose
And there’s nothing to prove
I’ll be dancing with myself

If I looked all over the world
And there’s every type of girl
But your empty eyes
Seem to pass me by
Leave me dancing with myself

So let’s sink another drink
‘Cause it’ll give me time to think
If I had the chance
I’d ask the world to dance
And I’ll be dancing with myself

Oh dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
Well there’s nothing to lose
And there’s nothing to prove
I’ll be dancing with myself

If I looked all over the world
And there’s every type of girl
But your empty eyes
Seem to pass me by
Leave me dancing with myself

So let’s sink another drink
‘Cause it’ll give me time to think
If I had the chance
I’d ask the world to dance
And I’ll be dancing with myself

Oh dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
If I had the chance
I’d ask the world to dance
If I had the chance
I’d ask the world to dance
If I had the chance
I’d ask the world to dance

[Scat]

Dancing with myself
Dancing with myself
Dancing with myself
Dancing with myself

If I looked all over the world
And there’s every type of girl
But your empty eyes
Seem to pass me by
Leave me dancing with myself

So let’s sink another drink
‘Cause it’ll give me time to think
If I had the chance
I’d ask the world to dance
And I’ll be dancing with myself

Oh dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
If I had the chance
I’d ask the world to dance
If I had the chance
I’d ask the world to dance
If I had the chance
I’d ask the world to dance

For more on Billy Idol and The Wedding Singer, go to Wanna Grow Old With You: The Wedding Singer (1998)

For more ’80s songs, go to Xactly Why I Think Beastly is An Xcellent Story

For more music I love, go to I Want You to Want Me

Don’t You Forget About Me

30 years ago, one of the best movies was released:

Yep this baby.

Now I know you all are thinking, but it says March 24, 1984. That’s the time in the movie, the film was actually released February 15, 1985.

This film was written by John Hughes in just two days and completely shot in sequence. What also is really interesting about this film is that Hughes actually allowed a lot of ab-libbing in the film. Such as Brian’s reason for a fake ID- “so I can vote”; the whole scene when they are in a circle sharing their feelings; and even the fist in the air by Judd Nelson at the end of the film. Now that last scene is extremely iconic, just like the song “Don’t You Forget About Me”. This song was especially written for the film and was turned down by a quite a few artists, like Billy Idol, to finally be performed by Simple Mind. Of course it became a huge hit for the band and is covered by millions, including Billy Idol. I guess he changed his mind.

So some of you many not be aware of the story, so here is a brief recap.

Five very different students have been sentenced with detention. We have Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy), “the basket case” who just came for fun; Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez), “the athlete”, who received detention for bullying a kid; John Bender (Judd Nelson), “the criminal”, sent there because of his acting up;  Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald), “the princess”, caught skipping school to go shopping; and Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall), “the brain”, who brought a flare gun to school.

In the beginning everyone abides by their cliques, Claire and Andrew sit together as they are on the highest level of the totem pole, while the rest sit by themselves. At first they keep their distance and Bender riles everyone, but through the course of the day they all bond together sharing their most personal secrets and working out their dysfunctions.

Allison feels ignored and therefore is a compulsive liar and a klepto, seeking out attention. Andrew hates his overbearing father who is always pressuring him. That is one of the reasons why he was bullying another kid, his father said he wasn’t being manly enough. Bender is abused by his father and ignored the rest of the time. Claire feels confined by the role she is in, as everyone sees her a certain way when in reality she has hardly ever dated and is a virgin. Brian feels so pressured by his family to be perfect and get into a good college, that he contemplated suicide over getting a bad grade in woodshop. Through these discussions, everyone feels much better and is much happier. But at the same time they feel sad and scared that once they are back in school Monday they will no longer be friends and things will continue as they have before.

Before the day ends, they hook up the sound system and have a big dance. Claire and Bender pair up and so do Allison and Andrew. Poor Brian gets stuck writing their detention assignment.

In the end Claire gives Bender one of her diamond earrings so they’ll never forget that moment. Allison steals Andrew’s Captain letter and the two kiss, while Brian gets nothing (poor nerdy guy). And the film ends with Bender’s triumphant arm thrust and Simple Mind’s Don’t You Forget About Me playing in the background.

Now I love this movie. Like freaking love it.

And watch it over and over.

I mean how could you not love it and the messages it covers? First of all you see that labels are nothing, just things we create ourselves to make us feel accepted, when in fact there is a little of everything in all of us.

We all have insecurities:

And that we all are strange. Nobody’s perfect or has it all together.

Yep, I just love this film.

In fact, I am such a fangirl over it that in one of my college courses, a group of us became such great friends and were all so different, yet the same, that we named our collective “The Breakfast Club”. Yep, my fangirl was showing.

So of course being a huge fan, when I saw a quiz to see which character I was, I had to take it. And I got:

To see who you are, click here.

Now this surprised me as I would have thought I’d get the Basket Case, Brain, or Athlete before I ever got the Criminal. But, and you guys will laugh at this, a few weeks ago (and right after I took this quiz) I was watching this film with four other friends. We started teasing my friend Gabe that he was Brian the Brain. He started joking that our friend Stephanie was Allison the Basket Case. Then we all started pairing up people and characters. Laurence did sports so he became Andrew the Athlete. And even though Jack was a boy, we decided he was Claire the Princess, or Prince in his case. And that made me Bender the Criminal. In fact, that night I was wearing a plaid shirt, jeans, and black boots; not the exact ones Bender wears, but pretty darn close. Now whenever I see Jack, I always joke around that he’s my girlfriend, or woman as I feel Bender would say.

So this is one fantastic film that I strongly suggest you view. If you’ve never seen it, get a copy and do so as soon as possible. If you have, another thousand viewings is what I recommend. 🙂

For more on The Breakfast Club, go to I Can See Your Beauty: The Breakfast Club (1985)

For more on Judd Nelson, go to I’m Going Down the Tubes: Making the Grade (1984)

For more about the ’80s, go to In Love With the ’80s (Pink Tux to the Prom)

For more quizzes, go to Shall We Dance?: What Happens in Vegas (2008)

Wanna Grow Old With You: The Wedding Singer (1998)

Romantic Moment #5

The Wedding Singer (1998)

The Wedding Singer  is my favorite Adam Sandler movie. I also love this movie because of how jam packed it is with ’80s music, moments, and outfits.

I LOVE the ’80s

Almost every line in this film is amazing! I can’t describe how much I enjoy this film; I pretty much have the whole thing memorized.

The film is about wedding singer Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) being jilted at the altar by his long time girlfriend Linda.

Julia (Drew Barrymore) a fellow co-worker and friend; tries to get him out of his depression by having him help her plan her wedding. Soon Julia and Robby start developing feelings for each other.

Julia’s fiancé is a self-centered jerk that is cheating on her, so Robby tries to tell her how he feels. But through a series of misunderstandings, each thinks the other doesn’t care for them.

It all comes to  head when Julia decides to fly off to Vegas to be married and Robby chases after her.

Most Romantic Moment: Oh It Could Be So Nice, Growing Old With You

Robby jumps on the last flight, scoring the only available seat in first class. There he befriends everyone by telling them the story of him and Julia. Billy Idol has a priceless part in this. Love him!

After Robbie finishes, they discover that Julia is on the same flight with the jerk fiancé, Glen. Robbie, Billy, and the rest of the first class passengers take over the intercom system and Robbie sings a romantic song he wrote for her.

Now this song and moment is really romantic for three reasons:

First: He WROTE HER A SONG! AND IS SERENADING HER! Now what can be more romantic than that? This is on boom box level. Every girl dreams of having a song written, dedicated, and serenaded to her. It’s one of those romantic clichés we all dream about.

So romantic

Second: He wrote this song because of what Julia told him about her views on love and finding “the one” were.

“Robbie: How did you know that Glenn was the right one? 
Julia: The right one, ah… I always just envisioned the right one being someone I could see myself growing old with. 
Robbie: Yeah. 
Julia: And… Glenn would be a really good-looking older man. Like Blake Carrington. 
Robbie: I’m gonna probably look like Buddy Hackett.“

He knew that finding someone to grow old with was most important thing to her; so not only did he choose to write a song for her about her ideals, but she also has the knowledge that she inspired him, she’s his muse.

So romantic

Third: If you actually review the lyrics of the song they are really meaningful. I had to do a write up for one of my classes on what song I thought was most romantic; and I chose this one. I love this song because it shows the commitment and value that he is placing on their relationship and marriage. A friend of mine once said that, “Love is knowing someone is always there for you, for better or for worst, sickness or in health. No matter what happens or what hardships you face, you face them together, and always knowing that you are not alone.”; and I feel this song really captures that sentiment.

[Billy Idol (Speaking):] Good afternoon everyone. 
We’re flying at 26, 000 feet, moving 
Up to thirty thousand feet, and then we’ve got clear skies 
All the way to Las Vegas, and right now we’re bringing you some in-flight 
Entertainment. One of our first-class passengers would like to sing you a song 
Inspired by one of our coach passengers, and since we let our first-class 
Passengers do pretty much whatever they want, here he is. 

[Robbie Hart (Singing):] 
I wanna make you smile whenever you’re sad 
Carry you around when your arthritis is bad 
Oh all I wanna do is grow old with you 

I’ll get your medicine when your tummy aches 
Build you a fire if the furnace breaks 
Oh it could be so nice, growing old with you 

I’ll miss you 
Kiss you 
Give you my coat when you are cold 

Need you 
Feed you 
Even let ya hold the remote control 

So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink 
Put you to bed when you’ve had too much to drink 
I could be the man who grows old with you 
I wanna grow old with you

So romantic

To start Romance is in the Air from the beginning, go to Boom Box of Love: Say Anything (1989)

For the previous post, go to Carried Away: An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)

For more on The Wedding Singer, go to Love Stinks

On an unrelated note, this marks my 100th post! Yay! I hope you all have been enjoying reading as much as I like making ’em. Happy 100th Post!

Took me less than six months! I’m impressed with myself.

For the 200th post, go to A Letter of Love: Persuasion (2007)