Althouse: The story of "Dance Monkey."

February 14, 2020

The story of "Dance Monkey."

41 comments:

Chris said...: Crazy. I use this in the spin classes that I coach. Very popular.; 2/14/20, 6:21 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Damn kids!

They're young and I'm old!

Who in da hell do they think they are?; 2/14/20, 6:26 AM
rhhardin said...: Penelope Swales is an Australian busker who made it good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyI5hAvkIug

part of the Tiffany Eckhardt / Cyndi Boste / somebody else group of original Australian folk singer friends.

Other useful Australians, John Williamson and Bernard Bolan; 2/14/20, 6:27 AM
traditionalguy said...: Happiness is catching on all over. Wonder what changed?; 2/14/20, 6:28 AM
Beasts of England said...: Jimmy Buffett was a busker in Nashville. Not an easy existence; you hone your skills or you don’t eat.; 2/14/20, 6:30 AM
Mid-Life Lawyer said...: Good story. I don't know how I haven't heard of this song before. I'll ask my 14 year old; I'm sure it's old news to him.; 2/14/20, 6:44 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I know how I knew this song: TikTok. It's used over and over in TikTok videos.; 2/14/20, 6:47 AM
tim maguire said...: I think I've heard the word "busk" more in the last 5 minutes than in the previous 5 years.

Conclusion: I wasn't missing it.; 2/14/20, 6:50 AM
whitney said...: She looked really good as old tones. That was a nice story; 2/14/20, 6:54 AM
Larry J said...: Beasts of England said...

Jimmy Buffett was a busker in Nashville. Not an easy existence; you hone your skills or you don’t eat.

Hunger, like fear, is a powerful motivator.; 2/14/20, 7:05 AM
Mid-Life Lawyer said...: Ok. I guess I'm going to have to get TikTok.; 2/14/20, 7:16 AM
Mid-Life Lawyer said...: Got TikTok. Now to explore, after my run.; 2/14/20, 7:19 AM
David Begley said...: Thank god for copyright law.; 2/14/20, 7:21 AM
Jersey Fled said...: I saw a youtube video somewhere (here?) that described how popular music has gotten "dumber" over the last few decades. The music has gotten simpler and more repetitive, basically relying on a few notes and chords, a simple beat, and lyrics that have gone down by a full reading grade level. He contrasted it with songs from the late 30's and 40's. Think: soundtrack from The Wizard of Oz.

Dance Monkey pretty much encapsulates that.; 2/14/20, 7:23 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Add to my last post "and an over-reliance on the phrase Oh-Oh"; 2/14/20, 7:27 AM
Bill, Republic of Texas said...: I thought the "story of dance monkey" was going to explain the very racist and problematic history of the phrase "dance monkey."

She'll be cancelled in the next month.; 2/14/20, 7:43 AM
Megthered said...: Never heard of busking or Dance Monkey. She does have a powerful voice.; 2/14/20, 8:14 AM
NCMoss said...: Good for her and it's a great counterpoint to the contrived and dishonest world of politics that dominates the media and bloggerverse.; 2/14/20, 8:25 AM
Howard said...: You need to dig deeper Jersey fled. Popular music has never been better. From engineering to artistry. You just need to know how to apply a proper filter to separate the wheat from the chaff. That's what you are doing when you look in the past because no one is remembering all of the junk that was put out there from those days.; 2/14/20, 8:40 AM
Dave Begley said...: One thing is for certain, the barriers to entry have never been lower.

Congrats to Tones for determination and hard work!; 2/14/20, 8:41 AM
Dave Begley said...: Does Tones get paid when her song is used on Tik Tok?

I doubt it. IP theft!; 2/14/20, 8:42 AM
Howard said...: Good point Dave. The barriers to entry are so much lower because of all of The libtards who forgot that math is hard and invented the technology boom that has swallowed up the world of commerce and is enhancing free market capitalism and free-market expression of ideas.

We truly live in the best of times; 2/14/20, 8:56 AM
stevew said...: Nice story. Good for her, pursued a dream and seems to have achieved it (however temporary that may be). Never would have gotten where she is through the normal, industry channels. Wrong look.; 2/14/20, 9:08 AM
Mr. Groovington said...: Uplifting story, terrific girl, terrific song.; 2/14/20, 9:30 AM
Wince said...: Kind of s stylistic copy of Elle King and her "Ex's and Oh's"?

https://youtu.be/0uLI6BnVh6w?t=11; 2/14/20, 9:49 AM
Dave Begley said...: Howard:

The blogs have really hurt newspapers. And rightly so. Ann Althouse theoretically can reach the same size audience as the NYT. And she should considering that the quality of her content is way better than what the NYT publishes.

Anyone now can publish a book and it seems like everyone has. So, it is an issue of how to find a quality book.

My buddy Mike Kennedy a/k/a M. Reese Kennedy is a Harvard grad with an English degree. He's written 4 novels that are really good. I adapted two to screenplays with the best one being "Frankenstein, Part II." My challenge is to sell it to Hollywood. And that's very hard.; 2/14/20, 9:49 AM
Howard said...: Good luck Dave. Nothing is more competitive and cutthroat than Hollywood. They make the Wolf of Wall Street look like the sheep ready really is; 2/14/20, 10:07 AM
Curious George said...: The video has 672,937,014 views. Wow.; 2/14/20, 10:07 AM
Howard said...: Wince:. I love Elle King. I still can't believe that her father is Rob Schneider; 2/14/20, 10:08 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Thank god for copyright law."

"How Does Tik Tok Use Music Legally?"

"The most important thing for TikTok users to know is that all of the music available on the platform is legal to use in your own videos. If you use the TikTok music library, you should never be subject to a DMCA requests or any legal action. Royalties are paid and the music is licensed so you’re covered.... TikTok doesn’t really advertise its business practices but it is sort of widely known that it has struck deals with rights holders and pays royalties in return for being able to use their music. It’s the same kind of arrangement that apps, websites, YouTube, streamers, podcasts, radio stations and other broadcasters pay. It’s usually a set fee or percentage in return for being able to use artist’s music on their platform. There is nothing published about how much that might be but I’m sure it’s a decent chunk of change. These arrangements seem to be negotiated per platform and as far as I can tell, there is no set fee of ‘x amount per 100 tracks’ or something. I’m sure there is some very complicated math and legalese involved but I haven’t seen it."; 2/14/20, 10:39 AM
Ann Althouse said...: The artist is also benefited by the virality generated by TikTok users passing along 15 seconds of the song and lodging it in a billion heads. This is how "Old Town Road" became a massive hit last year. TikTok links to Apple Music, so anyone who feels like hearing the whole song is just a click away.; 2/14/20, 10:41 AM
Tomcc said...: Nice to see hard work paying off for her. Interesting that there's a town for "buskers".; 2/14/20, 11:22 AM
Marc in Eugene said...: I follow very few people on TikTok but one of the most amusing is @caenhillcc, an Engliish non-profit that introduces city kids to life on the farm. The human protagonists have just returned from ten days in Kenya where they visited (so far as I could tell) some other non-profit with a school. Cuthbert the goose and Ken the rooster were presumably pleased to see their return. Those people don't use the music clips at all.

Would never have known the source of 'Dance Monkey' (indeed deplorably ubiquitous on Tok) without the NYT article nor however had it ever occurred to me to search it out.; 2/14/20, 11:47 AM
Sydney said...: I’ve started listening to radio music in the car instead of my iPhone and hear Dance Monkey frequently. Don’t care much for it, but it is kind of catchy. It’s one of those songs that makes me wish I could skip to the next song like I do with my iPhone. Could switch stations but there is only one good radio station with contemporary music in our area. I am intentionally listening to the radio to hear what the latest in music is since I was feeling isolated in my old downloaded music.; 2/14/20, 12:12 PM
readering said...: Now a good NY Times article in origins of Renegade dance and difficulty of getting credit on Tik Tok.; 2/14/20, 12:31 PM
eddie willers said...: Add to my last post "and an over-reliance on the phrase Oh-Oh"

Or "Oh oh wee oh" a/k/a The Millennial Whoop; 2/14/20, 12:39 PM
Ann Althouse said...: @eddie willers

Fascinating!

My favorite oh-oh song is this.; 2/14/20, 3:51 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I just listened to this Top 20 "Oh Oh Oh" Songs and I am horrified by the cliché now.; 2/14/20, 4:00 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: An insult to dance, music, monkeys, humans, and primates in general. But mostly humans, and they deserve it.; 2/15/20, 6:01 AM
Zach said...: She has an interesting voice -- kind of harsh and oddly pitched, but it stands out from the keyboard well and has a fun feeling of anarchy.

The video showed a saxophone playing the chorus, and the sound was a surprisingly good match to her voice.; 2/15/20, 11:41 AM
Zach said...: I saw a youtube video somewhere (here?) that described how popular music has gotten "dumber" over the last few decades. The music has gotten simpler and more repetitive, basically relying on a few notes and chords, a simple beat, and lyrics that have gone down by a full reading grade level. He contrasted it with songs from the late 30's and 40's. Think: soundtrack from The Wizard of Oz.

Dance Monkey pretty much encapsulates that.

I disagree.

For one thing, it's dance music you can actually dance to. Complicated lyrics are pointless if all you can do is stand around and sway.

Two, it's an interesting arrangement. I mentioned how her voice sounds saxophone-ish. The song is built around a base drop chorus, which is pretty innovative. It doesn't sound like anything else on the radio right now.; 2/15/20, 11:46 AM