Talk:The Safety Dance

The 12" "Extended 'Club Mix'" vs the Single/Album/Video edit

Where I grew up, in the northeastern US, the only version played on the radio was the 12" version, (called the "Extended 'Club Mix'") so-much-so I didn't know there was a shorter (and very different) version until it debuted on American Top 40 weeks after it had already gotten heavy airplay. I am looking for references, if anyone knows of any, that discusses or documents how and why radio played the extended remix, as I feel there's a significant bit of radio history here, since this may have been one of the first times a remix became the hit version over the original (a much more common occurrence in the decades since).

--BananaManager (talk) 03:28, 4 August 2022 (UTC)

Thing in sky

At the start of the song there is something in the sky. Anyone know what it is? blimp? UFO? UAV? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcOZ6xFxJqg&feature=related

Reasons for the Dance

Ivan Doroschuk specifically stated on VH1 that the moshing was part of the reason for the Safety Dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi1EY24jNK4

Just posting it here for discussion rather than changing it outright.

Yeah I think the part referring to dancing not being part of the inspiration being erroneous needs to be removed. The song may be part going on your own, but Ivan definitely says its about dancing.--65.29.105.253 05:41, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Is this link a good enough source? http://matadorlounge.com/features/mwh.shtml - cs302b

Sigh

All that trivia and no mention of who wrote the song. I know it was "Doroschuk", but which one? --kingboyk 11:22, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

In the time it took you to type that, you could have just gone to Google and learned that Ivan Doroschuk wrote the song :) wikipediatrix 12:45, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

And still you didn't bother updating the article. Nothing like being helpful, is there? Sigh. --kingboyk 18:43, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Canadian chart

I found on this website that the song peaked at #22 on the Canadian singles chart, however, I don't know how reliable this source is. I tried looking for the song at http://www.cria.ca but I didn't know how to search for it there. NorthernThunder 12:39, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

Why is there words like "POO" and "BUM" and "ARSE" in it?

Fair use rationale for Image:Men without hats-the safety dance s.jpeg

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Trivia Section

Shouldn't there be a trivia section since I know that there have been several placed on TV where the song was mentioned/used (eg Scrubs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-bIhCBSrzU)

Français girl

Seriously, no one has identified the dancing girl who says "Français?" Either spoken or visual? --Scottandrewhutchins (talk) 18:42, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

she says "and sing" 142.162.150.174 (talk) 05:07, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

It's "dancer", the infinitive form of "to dance" in French. Pronounced 'dan-say'

It's "Dancez!", the second-person imperative form. Pronounced as above.--72.53.87.203 (talk) 22:09, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

And spelt dansez, believe it or not. —Tamfang (talk) 06:37, 29 June 2013 (UTC)

Another interpretation??!

I would just like to question the list of interpretations, and that it's missing the most blatent of all of them. If you listen to the words, it seems a fairly safe bet that they could in fact be talking about taking drugs, and in particular ecstasy. I'm sure I don't need to point out the references - but it's late, I'm bored and have nothing better to do so I will, apologies.... - to doing something only with people who will join you, and "leaving behind" those who don't. To sum it up, the extract of lyrics: "I say, we can go where we want to, A place where they will never find. And we can act like we come from out of this world. Leave the real one far behind".

Unless this is just a very, very unfortunate coincidence, surely this has to be mentioned???! Movingpictures100@hotmail.com (talk) 23:23, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Sounds kinda like people saying that LOTR was allegory for technology verses nature order versus chaos or one of a hundred different meanings that could be placed on the books. Anyways point is there are about a hundred different interpretations of what the lyrics could mean and the only one that matters are the interpretations of the writers so unless you have a quote from them saying that it was about drugs... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.111.105.124 (talk) 19:06, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

I agree whole-heartedly with Movingpictures. 98.215.33.188 (talk) 03:55, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Sorry man.. it's just about dancing if you want to..

No secret meaning at all... The author himself is interviewed in this VH1 clip in the exact subject ( his interview is the last 45 seconds or so ): http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/music_alternative/watch/v16725574hRwbx5sZ

Sorry I've got no Wiki skills... 99.14.108.93 (talk) 04:34, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

Location

I enjoy finding exact locations in satellite photos so here is the bridge the dancers cross as they enter the town: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=west+kington&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=86.595945,109.335938&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&ll=51.493518,-2.280275&spn=0.001261,0.003422&z=19

The cluster of buildings behind the bridge in the video is below the bridge in the center of the photo. Above the bridge (in the photo) is a house with a stone wall around its yard; the long-distance shot of the bridge and buildings was taken just above and right of the sharp corner in the wall, which is visible in the foreground of the shot.

Pbyhistorian (talk) 06:38, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Kate Lonergan

Kate Lonergan could be the woman in the video, she looks like the woman from the video and is the right age. However it would be either a huge coincidence as she was later Marion in Maid Marion and her Merry Men alongside Mike Edmonds, unless their connection is closer. Theladfromtheeast (talk) 19:50, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

video reference to works of Bruegel?

I just watched the official video for the song (currently here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcOZ6xFxJqg&feature=related ) and was immediately struck by how much the subject matter, coloring, and Renaissance costumes seemed to intentionally reference the paintings Pieter Breugel the Younger, for instance,

'The Wedding Dance': http://i.pbase.com/v3/93/329493/1/47977448.parisaug051826.JPG

and

'Dance Around the May Pole': http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/154040/1/The-Dance-Around-The-May-Pole.jpg

If anyone has any info on the making of the video and whether the artistic reference was intentional, it might add depth to the wiki entry. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.2.241.143 (talk) 00:36, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

Those paintings just look like any country dance or May Day celebration in any of a thousand English villages this year. I think a lot of colonists have somehow got it into their head that maypole dancing, mummers, morris dancing and punch and judy somehow only exist in history; this is wrong, they are practised to this day in thousands of English villages. Maypole dances are found throughout Northern Europe; Punch and Judy extends through France and Italy. Most of the activities shown in the video are part of the MODERN British folk revival which began in the 1890s. This is not a renaissance fair or medieval puppet show, this is a modern day folk revival, this are modern day celebrations. The info about the video which clarified this seems to have been removed, I will go through the page diffs and add it back in. Andrew Oakley (talk) 13:22, 13 September 2011 (UTC)

Aaarrrgggh. After all that bitching I discover some quotes with the video's director in which he acknowledges the Breugel references: [1] . My point is: Breugel, and this video, just depict any old May Day celebration in any old English village; it is not historic, it happens every year. It was present-day in the 1980s and a similar celebration happens in thousands of English villages present-day now. Andrew Oakley (talk) 13:39, 13 September 2011 (UTC)

Cover versions

I wouldn't mind the section about the cover versions if the material was sourced but since there are no external references I tend to agree more with removing them. I guess I'll spend 10 minutes googling for some references. --Devourer09 16:23, 28 August 2010 (UTC)

"The" Safety Dance

I've always thought this song was called "Safety Dance" rather than "The Safety Dance". If you go to Men Without Hats' official website, they list it as "Safety Dance" in the history section. Is it a case of "The Safety Dance" being a name which most people call it (similar to the Tina Turner song "The Best" which many people refer to as "Simply the Best")when it's not actually the name of the song? Or is it actually called "The Safety Dance"? 90.220.45.249 (talk) 23:11, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

It varies everywhere you look, but on average 'The Safety Dance' is used more often, and that does seem to be the title on the album. —Half Price 16:00, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Record label

This article cites GMC/Virgin as the label who released it. However, in one of my inlay cards, it states "℗ 1983 Demon Music Group Ltd." Who is right?--85.210.31.179 (talk) 13:31, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Hmm that's a good question. Firstly, what country are you in, as different labels are sometimes used depending on country? The big issue is that record labels change names; some labels acquire others, and sometimes a record changes between two labels! —Half Price 13:50, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

In the USA, both the single version of the "The Safety Dance" and it's accompanying album "Rhythm of Youth", which had a remixed version of "The Safety Dance" on it, were released via a one-off deal on Danny Bramson's Backstreet Records through MCA Records. I happen to have both the US version of the album and the single version in my respective collection.

One other thing, in the USA, the B-Side of "The Safety Dance" was "Living In China", while the article states that "Security" was the B-Side. "Living In China" is actually a track on the UK version of "Rhythm of Youth" while "Security" wasn't even on any version of the album in either the UK or the USA. Could it be that "Security" is the international B-Side?

Any thoughts or answers? Frschoonover (talk) 21:13, 30 August 2012 (UTC)

Warcraft reference

I've never edited a wiki before, so I'm not sure this is relevant, but there's a reference to the Safety Dance in World of Warcraft. If you defeat Heigan the Unclean in Naxxramas in 10- or 25-player mode without any of the players dying, you earn the achievement The Safety Dance (10 player) or The Safety Dance (25 player). To survive, players must 'dance' around the room to avoid plague eruptions from the floor. If anyone thinks it's relevant, please add to this wiki. :) Meridwyn (talk) 19:32, 17 June 2011 (UTC)

The best way to determine relevance is whether or not there's reliable third party sourcing discussing the reference. If there is then it may be worthy of inclusion, but WP articles shouldn't include indiscriminate lists of alleged references without any indication of how they are significant.

In other words, we don't just want evidence of its existence, we want evidence that its existence was important enough for someone else to comment on it. Hope this helps! Doniago (talk) 19:57, 17 June 2011 (UTC)

I see, thanks for that. :) If I find anything, I'll post it here. Meridwyn (talk) 21:19, 17 June 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome! Doniago (talk) 12:49, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

Unsourced Material

Article has been tagged for needing sourcing since 2010. Please feel free to re-add this material to the article with appropriate references. Doniago (talk) 13:20, 9 September 2011 (UTC)

Video

==Video== The music video for the song, directed by Tim Pope, is notable for its English folk revival imagery, notably Morris men, Mummers, Punch and Judy and a Maypole. It was filmed in the village of West Kington, near Bath, in southwest England. Ivan Doroschuk is the only member of the band to actually perform in the video. Doroschuk, and others in the video, can be seen repeatedly forming an "S" sign by jerking both arms upward into a stiff pose, one arm in an upward curve and the other in a downward curve, apparently referencing the first letter in 'safety'. The Morris Dance side in the video was Chippenham Town Morris from Wiltshire, performing Three Musketeers. The dwarf actor is Mike Edmonds; his T-shirt says "RHYTHMYOUTH".

Sanitizing of political views

The current wording midleads readers, stating "he explained that it is not an anti-nuclear protest despite the nuclear imagery at the end of the video. Doroschuk says that he considers Men Without Hats "a punk band with one hit song" and that as such they were "anti-everything"" This gives the (false) impression that the band was either pro-nuclear, or else, at the very least, that they had no views on the matter, which is also not the case. The fuller quote from the same video interview, is as follows:

"we were pretty much anti-everything; it wasn't a question of just being anti-nuclear, it was a question of being anti-establishment"

The word "just" makes it clear, very explicitly that there is no ambiguity: the sentiment was most certainly anti-nuclear, as he makes clear it was not "just" that, but being anti-establishment. In sum,

1. Ironic that a quote which explicitly states they were anti-nucear (just not only anti-nuclear) is misleadingly summarized to readers as "the song is not about anti-nuclear". Far more honest and accurate to state the song's sentiment [as he explains in the interview] is about resistance which includes, but goes beyond anti-nuclear views"

2. The second sanitization is the avoidance of the explicitly stated "anti-establishment" (which also clarifies point #1 at fuller quote)

This misleading or sanitizing aspect might not have been (and per WP policy we shall assume by default it was not) deliberate, however it is the de facto effect of the misleading summary. Harel (talk) 22:44, 30 December 2012 (UTC) Modified entry to reflect this Harel (talk) 23:17, 30 December 2012 (UTC)

Louise Court

The article mentions that Louise Court appears in the video. But who did the female vocals that she mimes?

Montalban (talk) 23:07, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

Anne Dussault was the female vocalist on the recording.

--Adc1966 (talk) 19:00, 13 December 2016 (UTC)

The article also says her character's name in the Safety Dance video is "Jenny". I'm not sure the character is identified as Jenny in this particular Men Without Hats video, however. Muzilon (talk) 22:03, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

TROLL

Futurama, Season 4, Episode 6: Fry remembers the 80's stating, "You know, that dance wasn't as safe as THEY said it was." There is no reason to remove this entry - it is verifiable and TRUE. This is one of the reasons I don't contribute to Wikipedia because some troll sits on EVERY page. Wikipedia is a place for EVERYONE to contribute not just you and your ego. And NO I did not watch this page. I haven't made an entry to Wikipedia in three years because it is a waste of my time seeing minor contributions rescinded by someone who thinks this page is owned. Wikipedia just felt it HAD to tell me that the entry was deleted by you - get a life! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cyberfreeworld (talk • contribs) 04:29, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

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Eliminating songs from commercials

Thanks to the ongoing retail apocalypse phenomenon and websites such as Commercials I Hate and Am I Right, we should be eliminating songs used in commercials. — Preceding unsigned comment added by CodyFinke2020 (talk • contribs) 10:12, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

Your explanation does not make sense. How do the so-called "retail apocalypse" and the existence of these websites impact what Wikipedia includes? - SummerPhD^v2.0 22:30, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

Ninja Sex Party's Version

Ninja Sex Party, an American musical comedy duo, covered the song on their 2019 album Under The Covers Vol III

Since there is a Popular Culture heading in the article, it should probably be added. After all, the album itself has a Wikipedia page ( Under the Covers, Vol. III ) and all the songs are listed there and linked to all of the song pages, including this one.

Under the Covers, Vol. III Charts for reference:

Chart (2019)	Peak position
Australian Digital Albums (ARIA)	12
US Billboard 200	42

Dominakiara (talk) 05:08, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

The cover version is not notable, per WP:COVERSONG. - SummerPhD^v2.0 06:09, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

References

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion:

• Louise-s-move.jpg

You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 08:07, 28 March 2022 (UTC)

Super Bowl

To start off, I am a novice editor. Recently, I have received a lesson from an experienced editor, Donlago, on Wikipedia regarding the "in pop culture" section. One of the takeaways from the lesson was that a pop culture reference should have a source, namely a retrospective one (secondary source), and the source should adequately cover the topic. With that said, I am still learning, and would like to know how the Super Bowl passage is "notable". Misterspaceman (talk) 01:29, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

FWIW, I agree that it should be sourced...given that we're talking about the Super Bowl, it doesn't seem as though a source should be especially hard to come by, either. DonIago (talk) 18:13, 13 February 2023 (UTC)