Diversion 2.0 Thirty Day Song Challenge -- Day 9: A Song That Makes You Want to Dance

Lady GaGa featuring Colby O'Donis - Just Dance



Lady GaGa’s first single, and her most accessible, I love “Just Dance.” It’s one of the most-ubiquitously played songs of any social function I’ve been to since 2009, like Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration” or Jonathan Coulton’s “First of May” (scratch that last one). You’d think the track’s omnipresence would start to wear at me, but no; for every cheerful dance-off and sloppy, drunken sing-along involving this song, I feel like I appreciate it more and more.

Why do I like it so much? First of all, the song is catchy as hell. It wasn’t for nothing that RedOne, producer of “Just Dance” and most of GaGa’s other hits, became a (quasi-)household name with this song, with syrupy synth lines and an easy, pulsing beat that’s guaranteed to lodge itself in one’s frontal lobe and stay there. I also appreciate Colby O’Donis' performance on the track, adding a little bit of guy perspective and helping make “Just Dance” more inclusive—all the better to get more folks dancing. Thematically, the song is blissfully self-explanatory: just dance. Don’t worry about what else is going on, just have a good time right now. Not much to read into, but not much needs to be read. Get yourself some ducklips and get on the floor.

Despite the song’s wonderful production and great melodies, I love “Just Dance” the most for the festive atmosphere it creates, each and every time it’s played. I was at my friend Lauren and Eugene’s wedding last week and when this song played during the reception, there was an audible gasp of delight, and the dance floor filled up immediately. This song simply makes people feel good, and for that, it’s my Song That Makes You Want To Dance.



Small bit of trivia: “Just Dance” is the first, and so far only, song I’ve been able to 100% on Rock Band guitar, a feat I documented for posterity.