Dancing On My Own 3
Dancing On My Own 3
Dancing On My Own 3
Kinsey Blain
English 1201
Dancing On My Own
In the music industry, songs are always being covered and remade. Many of the most
popular songs have been remade and shaped into what they are today. Whether it be by another
artist or the original artist, songs are always changing. One song that has been remade is
“Dancing On My Own” by Robyn. Calum Scott’s version of “Dancing On My Own” changes the
meaning of the song without lyrically changing it. In Robyn’s version, the song is about being
over your ex and doing just fine on your own. Calum Scott’s version is about still trying to get
Robyn wrote and released the song “Dancing On My Own” in 2010. The music video
was released on Youtube on May 28th, 2010. Calum Scott covered the song and released a music
video to his own version six years later, on June 14th, 2016. The songs are lyrically the same,
with the exception of a few little pronouns. The main difference between the two versions is the
pace of the song. Calum’s version is much slower and more calm than Robyn’s version. Robyn’s
version is loud and has more of a disco feeling to it, whereas Calum’s version has a sad
The auto tune and instruments in each song majorly affects them. In Robyn’s version, the
autotune is the main thing that one notices. Immediately as the song starts, the listener is drawn
minimal instruments that are noticeable. His version is mainly vocals which is appealing to some
Robyn’s song “Dancing On My Own” is a post-breakup song. In the music video, Robyn
is the main character. She is in a club watching her ex with another girl. Throughout the video
she is dancing by herself, hence the title. In the video, whenever you hear the lyrics, “I keep
dancing on my own…” the camera pans to her having a good time by herself. This song makes
the claim that you can have a good time on your own and don’t necessarily need someone else to
have fun.
In Calum’s version, he is the main character watching an ex with someone else. They are
in a room with everyone wearing the same thing and looking alike. Everyone in the video is
staring emotionless ahead except for him, his ex, and the person his ex is with. This video is
about him not being fully over his ex and still emotional about it. The story being told is
sometimes it takes a while to get over someone, and you can be upset about it. The claim this
video makes is that it is okay to be upset about a break up and it can take time to fully get over
Throughout the videos, one can see how the claims are being supported. In both of the
videos, the claims are supported by the things going on. The claims are being supported by the
lyrics and the way that the lyrics are acted out throughout the videos. The evidence in these
videos is the first-hand experiences that are going on. Once someone watch the videos, it is clear
These two versions both use pathos. In Robyn’s version, pathos is used through the lyrics
and how the video is presented. In Calum’s version, the pathos are stronger and make the
audience feel the words more. His vocals and emotion he puts behind each word he sings makes
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the viewer and listeners feel the emotions as he sings. The video uses pathos in other ways too.
The way that the setting is set up, the atmosphere, and the filter on the video go well with the
words and emotions that he sings about. For these reasons, Calum does a better job with getting
The audiences vary for each video. The main audience for Robyn’s video is people who
are going through a break up and need a song that makes them stronger. The audience for
Calum’s version is teenagers, or anyone going through a tough time that's looking for a good, sad
song. Even though the lyrics are the same, the way each artist presents the song appeals to the
different audiences.
The visual appeals and the ways each song are presented make it almost like a different
song. Calum did a good job of taking a song that is already well made and adding his own
personal touches to make it even better. Even though it is the same song, one of the versions is
disco and electric and the other one is more calm and relaxed. If you watched both music videos
without sound, it would be very difficult to know it is the same song, just two different versions.
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Works Cited