Calum Scott’s “Dancing on My Own” Lyrics Meaning

Calum Scott’s “Dancing on My Own” is like a homosexualized version of a song a female artist originally put out. Actually, the wording between the two versions is almost identical. But that is in fact what makes Scott’s rendition gay, i.e. the fact that he did not modify the gender pronouns from the original. So just like Robyn, the lady who put this song out, was lamenting her boyfriend developing an interest in another lady, Calum is likewise beefing because the male apple of his eye has gotten a girlfriend in general.

So in his case, the concept of the vocalist “dancing on his own” takes on an extra meaning.  In the original, it most simply points to the reality of the singer being forced to spend the evening alone after her guy decides to take another lady home. But for Calum, his loneliness is exacerbated by the implication that his romantic interest is actually a straight male. So with that added dimension, Scott’s “Dancing on My Own” almost becomes a lamentation of gayness, so to speak.

Song’s Success

This is a track that was originally dropped by Swedish songstress Robyn in 2010. Calum Scott, who was an amateur at the time, took a liking to “Dancing on My Own” and instantaneously covered it.

Calum Scott participated on Britain’s Got Talent during the first half of 2015. Things didn’t go particularly well for him in that respect, as he ultimately finished in sixth place.

During the time Scott was participating on the aforementioned show, a cover of “Dancing on My Own” which he posted on YouTube the year prior went viral. And that reality afforded him the opportunity to officially release a cover post-reality TV, despite as noted, him not performing particularly well therein. And said version of the song was issued by the Warner Music Group (and subsequently Capitol Records) on 15 April 2016.

Robyn’s original was a mild hit. However, Calum’s cover proved to be an absolute smash hit. It charted in approximately 20 nations overall. This included an impressive showing on Scott’s native UK Singles Chart, where the tune peaked at number 2. 

His version, unlike Robyn’s, also went certification crazy. It went quadruple-platinum in the UK and triple-platinum in the US. Furthermore, it went multi-platinum in a handful of other nations (including nonuple-platinum down under).

Even More Success

This song has also been featured on a few popular TV shows, including The Vampire Diaries in 2016. It also appeared in Grey’s Anatomy in 2017.

Overall the success of this piece turned Calum Scott’s life story into sort of a tale of rags to riches. Prior to it blowing up he had actually been working in an office for almost a decade. So once his livelihood transformed from a traditional grind to touring the world as a professional musician, even he admitted that “I shouldn’t be able to say this [i.e. a music career] is my day job”. 

And to help put this all into perspective, take for instance the fact that, despite finishing sixth on Britain’s Got Talent, since then Calum Scott has, by far, become the most famous contestant of that season. Indeed the act that came in first place, Jules O’Dwyer & Matisse, is likely one that most readers never even heard of.

Below are the countries where “Dancing on My Own” enjoyed top-10 hit status:

• Australia
• Denmark
• Ireland
• Netherlands
• Mexico
• New Zealand
• Portugal
• Scotland
• Sweden
• United Kingdom

Did Calum Scott write “Dancing on My Own”?

No. Robyn the original performer of this song is one of its two writers. Patrik Berger is the song’s other writer. 

And the producers of Calum Scott’s version are Fraser T. Smith and John McIntyre.

More Facts about “Dancing on My Own”

This is actually the earliest song in Calum Scott’s discography. It actually holds the distinction of being the lead single from his debut album, “Only Human” (2018). And as of the writing of this post, it is also soundly holding down its position as being the most-successful song he has put out. 

So those who advised him to officially release this cover, while Scott was simultaneously reeling from his less-than-stellar reception on Britain’s Got Talent, definitely knew what they were talking about.

This song also, to this point, marks the only time Calum had been nominated for a Brit Award. And that was for Song of the Year in 2017. This is an accolade that ultimately went to Little Mix’s “Shout Out to My Ex”.

But things weren’t all love as far Calum’s cover was concerned. For instance, despite being gay himself, he experienced a backlash from a notable segment of the gay community who felt like Scott didn’t do the original justice. Yet all things considered, the homosexual aspect of this piece proved more beneficial to the success of the tune, as well as Scott’s career in general, than not. 

Furthermore, as a result of its widespread acceptance, he has gone about using his resultant celebrity standing to become a voice of the LGBT community.

Ryan Pallota, directed the music video to this track. Calum produced it.

I’m Coming Out!

As implied earlier, Calum Scott did not change the gender pronouns of this song, as rendered by the original. This was because at the time he actually had romantic feelings for a fellow male who, to his disappointment, was heterosexual. 

Moreover, even though he didn’t have a hand in writing “Dancing on My Own”, its issuance did, in a way, represent his own coming out. For instance, as recounted by Calum, when he first recorded the piece his mother and sister cried over it.

What has Robyn said about Calum’s cover of “Dancing on My Own”?

Even though Calum Scott sought out to gather Robyn’s reaction to his cover for almost two years after it blew up, the vocalist never got a direct response. However, he did have the opportunity to meet the aforementioned Patrik Berger, i.e. the song’s co-writer. 

And on top of expressing his own appreciation of Scott’s rendition, Berger affirmed to the singer that Robyn was indeed diggin’ it also. However, it would appear that Robyn herself, even to this day, never interacted with Calum Scott personally.