Adolescence was a cage for me, non-wonder years that taught me how to bottle up whatever I felt unless I would prefer to be a castaway from my friends, or even my family. These were tiny, private moments of emancipation.Įmotional repression can do you wonders when you finally grow legs strong enough to stand on your own. *** After college, I learned about the wonders of a dance mixtape, which I would shuffle along to whenever I found myself alone, without any prying eyes judging my awkward dance moves or my choice in music. In fact, I am dancing along to one (“Do it Again,” in case you’re curious) as I write this, bopping my head, shaking my shoulders, and gyrating my hips for a bit - in the office, I might add. Because the gays, bless them, never seem to get enough of this cathartic release.Īnd man, Robyn just really knows how to craft a good danceable song. It’s that one song that never goes away and people will probably never get tired of, along with any Carly Rae Jepsen or Spice Girls track.
Sometimes, I feel it’s a bit old, like there have already been too many tears shed to this song, that there are newer songs that we could cry/dance along to (anything from Troye Sivan or Stars, at least in my book), that we all should just move on. Here are fabulously single gay men and their fag hags latching their own woes onto a 6-year-old song, screaming along with all their might: “I’m in the corner, watching you kiss her” and “I’m giving it my all, but I’m not the girl you’re taking home.” (I always liked to pretend Robyn actually sings “guy” instead of “girl,” furthering her into my own pantheon of pop goddess-dom.) People outside run into the bar when they hear the first few beats, as if the song were summoning them. Manila (CNN Philippines Life) - I feel a slight twinge of embarrassment whenever someone plays “Dancing on my Own.”Īt a bar I frequent, Robyn’s hugot electro-pop hit is always met with a resounding mix of cheers and yells of despair.