happylaney

It's time to lose your mind and let the crazy out.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Solve Our Household Debate

Which is a better Wang Chung song?
Everybody Have Fun Tonight or Dance Hall Days?

posted by happylaney @ 8:00 AM  

13 Comments:

  • At 8:49 AM, July 14, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    tough question. either way you choose, it's a chance to dance, dance, dance...
    i gotta go watch a molly ringwald movie now...
    becky

     

  • At 5:45 PM, July 14, 2006, Blogger Michael said…

    This is really no contest. "Everybody have Fun, etc." is clearly superior for the following reasons:

    1) It's got a good beat, and you can dance to it.

    2) More uplifting lyrics ("I'd drive a million miles to be with you tonight, so if you're feeling low turn up the radio") compared to Dance Hall Days inane lyrics ("Take your baby by the hair, hold her close and there, there, there" What the hell does that mean?)

    3) One the coolest music videos ever!

    4) The bridge of Everybody Have Fun ("On the edge of oblivion...") is very cool, and the horn/guitar break at the end is an excellent air guitar moment!

    5) The band references themselves in the song, much like today's "Gangsta" rappers. Way ahead of it's time.

    So there you have it...

     

  • At 9:40 PM, July 14, 2006, Blogger happylaney said…

    Couldn't have said it better myself. ;)

     

  • At 12:41 AM, July 15, 2006, Blogger Michael said…

    Are you saying that John choose Dance Hall Days?

     

  • At 5:16 PM, July 15, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I have chosen "Dance Hall Days" and will address Michael's contentions, one at a time, shortly and present my case. All in due time. Issues of this importance simply can not be rushed. Until then, I leave you this to ponder.

    ARTIST: Wang Chung
    TITLE: Dance Hall Days
    Lyrics and Chords


    Take your baby by the hand
    And make her do a high handstand
    Then take your baby by the heel
    And do the next thing that you feel

    / FaddG CaddG G - / / / /

    {Refrain}
    We were so in phase
    In our dance hall days
    We were cool on craze
    When I, you, and everyone we knew
    Could believe, do, and share in what was true
    Oh, I said
    Dance hall days, love

    / F C G - / / / F C Eb G / F E Am Gsus4G / FaddG CaddG G - / /

    Take your baby by the hair
    And pull her close and there, there, there
    And take your baby by the ears
    And play upon her darkest fears

    {Refrain}

    Dance hall days
    Dance hall days, love

    Take your baby by the wrist
    And in her mouth an amethyst
    And in her eyes, two sapphires blue
    And you need her and she needs you (5X)

    {Refrain}

    Dance hall days, love
    Dance hall days
    {Repeat, ad lib to fade}

     

  • At 6:48 PM, July 15, 2006, Blogger Michael said…

    Finally! An educated debate about Wang Chung! This is what I went to grad school for. I eagerly await...

     

  • At 11:02 PM, July 15, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Wow you guys sure are music nerds!! I thought I was one, but I don't think I'll ever quite make it to your level!! I think I have to go w/ Everybody have Fun Tonight although it makes me cringe a bit every time I hear it due to the version I played in 7th grade band. ICK!! I guess that shows Bayless was a little behind if I played it in a concert in 1997.
    -Sally :)

     

  • At 10:10 AM, July 16, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    The song Everybody Have Fun Tonight (EHFT from now on,) certainly achieved greater commercial success than the song Dance Hall Days, DHD from now on. However, in the following paragraphs, I will address the reasons why I believe DHD to be the superior song.

    1. The "beat" of EHFT is no better than that of DHD, and if you can't dance to DHD, you have no business being on the dance floor.

    2. The lyrics of EHFT are pure fluff, and have no real meaning.

    Id drive a million miles
    To be with you tonight
    So if youre feeling low
    Turn up your radio
    The words we use are strong
    They make reality
    But now the musics on
    Oh baby dance with me

    Rip it up - move down
    Rip it up - move it down to the ground
    Rip it up - cool down
    Rip it up - and get the feeling not the word

    Chorus:
    Oh everybody have fun tonight
    Everybody have fun tonight
    Everybody wang chung tonight
    Everybody have fun tonight
    Everybody wang chung tonight
    Everybody have fun

    Deep in the world tonight
    Our hearts beat safe and sound
    Ill hold you so close
    Just let yourself go down

    Rip it up - move down
    Rip it up - move it down to the ground
    Rip it up - cool down
    Rip it up - get the feeling not the word

    Repeat chorus

    On the edge of oblivion
    All the world is babylon
    And all the love and everyone
    A ship of fools sailing on

    Across the nation, around the world
    Everybody have fun tonight
    A celebration so spread the word

    Repeat chorus

    The particular line "Everybody Wang Chung tonight" is simply ludicrous. How does one "Wang Chung" to begin with?

    The lyrical content of DHD....

    Take your baby by the hand
    And make her do a high hand stand
    Take your baby by the heel
    And do the next thing that you feel

    Chorus:
    We were so in phase
    In our dance hall days
    We were cool on craze
    When i, you, and everyone we knew
    Could believe, do, and share in what was true
    Oh, I said

    Take your baby by the hair
    And pull her close and there there there
    Take your baby by the ears
    And play upon her darkest fears

    Repeat chorus

    So take your baby by the wrist
    And in her mouth an amethyst
    And in her eyes two sapphires blue
    And you need her and she needs you
    And you need her and she needs you

    Repeat chorus

    is obviously referencing sexual intercourse. Any song about sex is better than any song not about sex. A deeper analysis of the lyrical content of DHD will reveal the important social statements being made by Jack Hues, writer of DHD.

    The following is an synopsis from a book entitled Dance Hall Days, by Assistand Professor of History Randy McBree from Texas Tech University.

    "Free from their parents and their strict rules governing sexual conduct, working women took advantage of their time in dance halls to challenge conventional gender norms. They routinely passed certain men over for dances, refused escorts home, and embraced the sensual and physical side of dance to further accentuate their superior skills and ability on the dance floor. Most men felt threatened by women's displays of empowerment and took steps to thwart the changes taking place. Accustomed to street corners, poolrooms, saloons, and other all-male get-togethers, working men tried to transform the dance hall into something that resembled these familiar hangouts.

    McBee also finds that men frequently abandoned the commercial dance hall for their own clubs, set up in the basements of tenement flats. In these hangouts, working men established rules governing intimacy and leisure that allowed them to regulate the behavior of the women who attended club events. The collective manner in which they behaved not only affected the organization of commercial leisure but also men and women's struggles with and against one another to define the meaning of leisure, sexuality, intimacy, and even masculinity."

    3. The music video for EHFT is again plagued by the same fluff of the song, and makes me dizzy. The video for DHD, found below,

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5uOveRDPvs

    contains a dancing jazz band conductor, twins, a snake, gymnastics and a sort of innocent nostalgia that makes the viewer long for a simpler time.

    4. Air guitar is for the weak.

    5. By 1986, when EHFT was released, referencing yourself had been going on for quite some time. The Sugar Hill Gang was doing it as early as 1979 in the landmark recording Rappers Delight. Wang Chung was not ahead of it's time, simply seven years behind The Sugar Hill Gang.

    So it is.

     

  • At 3:23 PM, July 16, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    dude, score one for john mooney. DHD it is then. i suck at air guitar anyway.
    i have the feeling we haven't heard the last of this debate...

     

  • At 12:27 AM, July 17, 2006, Blogger Michael said…

    John, well and generously spoken. You bring up interesting points, but I feel your argument draws conclusions that are somewhat flawed, and perhaps downright incorrect. For example:

    1. EHFT does have a more danceable beat, particularly in terms of tempo. DHD lives in that in-between tempo that is neither good for slow dancing or “freestyle” or whatever the kids are calling it these days. DHD is the type of tune that you might hear in a Breakfast Club-type pensive moment, or that a middle school girl would listen to in her room late at night. I think it is even slower than a typical “dance-hall” big band tune from the time period this song tries to harken back to.

    2. OK, this is where you really start to reach. Neither tune has great lyrics, but to say that DHD has some sort of deeper meaning as documented by a history professor from Texas Tech…well, I cannot let that slide by. I read the rest of the website from which you pulled your quote (it was easy to find since it was the very first hit on Google…two points to you for not using Wikipedia) and it is very clear that the author is referencing neither the same time period nor the same circumstances for “hooking up” that you mention. DHD can be about sex, and that’s fine…but not in the same battle-of-sexual-dominance that the author is alluding to. At least that is what I gather from the music video, which I will address shortly.

    “How does one Wang Chung?” It’s called metaphor. How does one “take their baby by the wrist and in her mouth an amethyst?” Remember that EHFT was released during the height of the Cold War. We needed a distraction from our impending doom, we NEEDED to Wang Chung tonight. Don’t you see? We had to have fun and Wang Chung our collective hearts out. Because that was the only way of dealing with the pressure. How do you Wang Chung you ask? You’re already doing it. And have been for 20 years.

    3. OK, the video. The video for DHD does create a memorable visual image, but you have to admit that it is one of the campiest videos ever created. You cannot say that this song is making any sort of strong social statement regarding the sexual mores of American immigrant society. (see point 2). Oh yeah, the snakes, head-bobbing, and the dancer that comes out of a mirror ball (where they even around during that time?) do make me long for “simpler times.” Nice try.

    On the other hand, EHFT at least attempts to be innovative. The technique used in that video was created by utilizing a “jump cut” between two takes. The mood created is one of euphoria, which completely echoes the instructions “everybody have fun…TONIGHT!” Music and visual working together, sounds like a good idea to me.

    4. Please do not disparage air guitar. It is a right-of-passage for young men and women everywhere. It is somehow engrained in our genes that music elicits movement, and the act of mimicking the production of sound on an instrument is part of us, it’s what makes us human. The hook in EHFT is probably one of the most recognizable in 80s music, after hearing it once or twice, the listener can easily recognize it. If you have never been driven to play air guitar, or tap the steering wheel, or in someway acknowledge that lick, then you are a sad, heartless individual indeed…or you are 60 years old.

    5. You are right, referencing one’s self in a song has been around for ages. I think even Mozart assured his listeners that he would “bring it correct.” Never before, however, had a band referenced themselves in the form of an action verb. Again, cutting edge.

    I will let the people decide.

     

  • At 6:34 PM, July 19, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Neither...Wang Chung SUCKS!!!

     

  • At 10:56 PM, November 28, 2009, Anonymous Joe said…

    There needs to be a college course dedicated to this worthwhile debate, truly. It is an excellent example of differing points of view not being wrong, which is what most people are wilfully ignorant of.

    They argue over things like "religion" and fail to realise it is merely their opinion, which is like their favourite colour, its not wrong to say your favourite is blue, just unpopular

     

  • At 11:50 AM, July 29, 2011, Blogger djhutch said…

    Late to the party, but I'll go with Dance Hall Days. The tempo is actually not as slow as it feels at times, but the minor keys help give it a slower feel. Not to mention the lyrics. I will say this about EHFT - mentioning themselves in the song, the band was obviously trying to equate itself with "fun." Everybody "have fun", everybody "Wang Chung." Who doesn't want to be equated with having fun. A noble pursuit for sure, but not a better song.

     

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