“The Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats
Although the heyday of Men Without Hats was short-lived, “The Safety Dance”, their signature song, is a popular hit from the early 1980s, complete with a pretty-memorable music video. As such, the lyrics have been subject to a couple of colorful interpretations.
But a more literal reading of the wording easily reveals that what we’re dealing with here, most simply put, is an advocacy of free-spirited dancing. However, it also becomes apparent by the second verse that said dancing, in context, is a metaphor or allegory for feeling uninhibited, alongside likeminded individuals, in general.
But the backstory to this piece is even more literal to the lyrics than that. According to Ivan Doroschuk, who wrote and sings “The Safety Dance”, the inspiration behind the song sprang from him getting thrown out of disco clubs for doing a new wave (i.e. a genre that succeeded disco) dance called the pogo.
The best way of describing the pogo, by the looks of things, is as an early form of moshing. And you can easily picture in your mind how such a style would differentiate from disco dancing, which for instance is often done in pairs instead of individually and tends to be more stationary.
So basically, we can take it that Ivan was offended by being thrown out of those clubs for that reason.
But there’s more to it than that. Men Without Hats is reportedly an act with anti-mainstream leanings. It is for this reason that the music video to this track ends with images pointing to the concept of nuclear war (during one of the eras in which the Cold War was at its peak), not because the song is anti-war but rather, according to Doroschuk, anti-establishment in general.
In Conclusion
So with that in mind, even though the featured narrative is placed within a night-on-the-town context, the vocalist putting forth that “we can act [up] if we want to” would clearly be in defiance of the established norm, if you will. Indeed, he feels as if doing so is a duty, as “if we don’t, nobody will”. So it’s as if Ivan is calling for a revolution, in a roundabout, microcosmic kinda way.
However, this effort does not entail violence. Rather, it revolves around behaving in such a manner that the powers that be know that you’re not cool with the status quo. And all things considered, what the vocalist would then be saying is something to the effect of pogoing or slam dancing , in his mind, being a form of protest.
“I say, we can dance, we can dance
Everything is out of control
We can dance, we can dance
We’re doing it from pole to pole
We can dance, we can dance
Everybody look at your hands
We can dance, we can dance
Everybody’s taking the chance”
Release Date of “The Safety Dance”
“The Safety Dance” is the sixth track on Men Without Hats’ maiden album entitled “Rhythm of Youth”. This song, which has a release date of January 1, 1982, was part of four singles that accompanied its album.
Credits
This was written by the group’s founding member Ivan Doroschuk, who is famous for being their lead singer. Canadian artist Marc Durand is the record producer behind this track, and he also worked on its entire album.
“The Safety Dance” is accompanied by a music video, directed by Tim Pope. This video was shot in West Kington village in England.
Success of “The Safety Dance”
This single made huge waves in the US and the UK. It peaked at #3 and #6, respectively, on the official singles charts in both regions.
Album
“Rhythm of Youth” dropped in April of 1982. “I Like”, its first single, was released a few months earlier, in January that year. The third single, “I Got the Message”, was made public on May 27 of 1982. “Living in China”, the last single from the album, was issued in July, the same year.
