Monday, April 26, 2010

Dancing With Myself

It's no surprise that I adore the show Glee.  It's quirky, sometimes smart, and has musical numbers!  I feel giddy when I can curl up on the couch for an hour a week and really get into a show like this.  One of my favorite things about it are the musical numbers.  They're incorporated into the show through actual glee club performances or character dream sequences.  Most of the time they don't feel forced, but rather feel like a natural thing for the characters to do.


Their song catalog so far has been very impressive.  They've covered 80's ballads, recent hip-hop numbers, and some good old fashioned malt shop numbers.  My all time favorite cover (so far) on the show is 'Dancing with Myself' as sung by Kevin Michael McHale playing the wheel-chair bound character Artie (video here).  His cover is a version of the cover done by Nouvelle Vague.  The song was originally done by the band Generation X (which consisted of Tony James and Billy Idol) and was later covered by Idol on his self-titled album.  


The song seems to fit the character at that moment so well.  He's different from all the other Glee kids not by popularity, but because he is bound to his chair.  He can't ride the same bus they get to ride to regionals and getting into the auditorium for practice is quite a difficulty.  He also cannot move around and perform like the other kids.  Rather than be pitied by his peers, they see him as just another person.  All the difficulties he has to face to be a part of the group do not bother them and they assume he's used to it because that's just how he has to do things.  Sure, he's nice enough to write it off and agree with them, but just like Mr. Shue, I feel bad for the kid.  He deserves better.  He should be able to ride the same bus and be a part of the fun of the ride rather than be stuck riding with his dad.


Anyway, back to the song.  I've always liked this song.  There's something about the beat and lyrics that make me feel like moving around and lonely at the same time.  I know that doesn't sound like a good combination, but when you're feeling down it's nice to dance around to a song that best expresses that feeling.    That might also be why I enjoy this song so much.


So go dance with yourself!  Note:  I do not mean go masterbate.  That is not what the song is about even though it sounds like it.  It's actually about a dance club in Tokyo.  Fun facts!


Edit:  My font formating refuses to cooperate with this post.  I cannot kill it with fire.

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