Dancing On My Own

Kinsey 1
Jayla Kinsey
Dr. Cassel
ENG 1201
5 April, 2020
Dancing On My Own
The song “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn was released in 2010 and covered by Calum
Scott in 2016. Robyn released her song with a video that matched the music’s fast pace,
percussive, and almost irate tone. Quickly changing scenes with a busy background, full of
movement and props, accentuates Robyn’s attitude and emotions portrayed within her song.
Most of the video, she is alone in a room with sound equipment or a hallway, and the other
portions she is wandering throughout a dancing crowd without interacting with anyone. With his
rendition, Calum Scott dramatically slows down the feeling of the song and accompanies his
passionate voice with a soft piano part. His video is matches the simplistic tone of his music
while still making the story clear. In the video, Scott is centered in a large group of people gazing
at a white light, in a white room, wearing all white without any expression. The two renditions of
"Dancing On My Own" by Robyn and Calum Scott portray the two sides of being unseen by
someone they love and how the heartache of rejection can affect a person. Robyn shows the rage
felt with rejection with the use of fast and heated music and imagery while Calum Scott shows
the sadness and numbing of rejection with somber sounds and dull tones.
The beginning of Robyn’s video of “Dancing On My Own” starts with a quick tempo and
Robyn bearing two clenched and shaking fists at the camera. Her song shows the side of
Kinsey 2
rejection that is angry, desperate, and out of sorts. In her video, Robyn often dances with and
presents tightly closed fists to the camera. In one scene, she is mimicking punching motions to
the camera while singing the lyrics, “Stilettos and broken bottles.” Tightly closed fists and
punching can convey the anger she feels for being left by a man she liked for another girl.
Broken bottles show that she was angry and upset and breaking things due to her anger. Robyn
also represents her anger with the use of the color red in almost all of the scenes she is seen with
a large group of dancing people. She is often standing alone or wandering through the crowd
with the camera showing occasional shots of couples kissing. The color red helps portray this
because it is often associated with anger and is often seen as an emotionally intense color.
Robyn’s lyrics, “I’m right over here, why can’t you see me?” and, “I’m giving it my all/ But I’m
not the girl you’re taking home” paired with loud and bold dance moves shows her desperation
to be noticed. Her lyrics are literally asking why she is not seen, and they are calling out to the
man she wants, saying she is right there next to him. She is putting forth all of her effort to be
noticed by this guy, her bold dance moves shown in the video also display this, however she is
still not the girl he is interested in. Throughout the video, Robyn is shown doing very erratic and
jerky dance moves that are very unlike the other people in the video. When she is in the group of
people dancing, Robyn often wanders through the crowd almost senselessly. These images along
with the start of the song’s second verse, “I’m all messed up, I’m so outta line,” show she is out
of sorts over the rejection. The erratic and jerky movements of her dance show she is not in tune
with the pulse surrounding her. Wandering through the crowd without a purpose shows she is not
focused on anything going on around her except for him. Lastly, the lyrics themselves clearly tell
her mental state that that moment.

Kinsey 3
Calum Scott’s video for his cover of “Dancing On My Own” opens completely void of
color and sound until the piano opening pierces the silence. His rendition of the song and video
represents the side of rejection that is deeply sad to the point of being numb. This numbness is
represented within the first verse with the lyrics, “There’s a big black sky over my town.” This
black sky shrouding Scott symbolizes the emptiness he feels from rejection. All the people, other
than Scotts while singing, are completely void of emotion as they stare into a flaring light. They
all wear simple clothes with no color, matching the dull tones of the room. They never speak or
waiver their gaze from the light in front of them. These all represent numbness where you cannot
do anything except for stare straight ahead. Eventually, a man and a woman across the crowd
from each other look away from the light and make eye contact. They begin to push past the
people to each other, meet, and embrace, all while staring into each other’s eyes as the light
flares back up. As they strode towards each other, Scott tried to push past the people in front of
him. However, he ended up stopping as he saw the light flare again. The flaring light that
stopped Scott in his track conveys waves of sadness that overwhelm someone from doing
anything once they have been turned down by the person they love while everyone else
continues with their lives.
The two renditions of "Dancing On My Own" by Robyn and Calum Scott show the very
different emotions that are caused by being turned down by someone you love. Robyn shows the
anger, disparity, and senselessness of rejection while Calum Scott shows the sadness and numb
feeling often paired with going unseen by the one you love. Both of the videos use representation
of emotions, words, and music to appeal the viewer’s emotions, or pathos. The viewer could be
of any age, race, religion, or gender to enjoy these songs and videos, especially if they have gone
through the same thing.

Kinsey 4
Works Cited
Robyn. Dancing On My Own. YouTube, 28 May 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=CcNo07Xp8aQ. Accessed 1 April 2020.
Scott, Calum. Dancing On My Own. YouTube, 14 June 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=q31tGyBJhRY. Accessed 1 April 2020.

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Kinsey 1

her mental state that that moment.

continues with their lives.

through the same thing.

Robyn. Dancing On My Own. YouTube, 28 May 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=CcNo07Xp8aQ. Accessed 1 April 2020.

Scott, Calum. Dancing On My Own. YouTube, 14 June 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=q31tGyBJhRY. Accessed 1 April 2020.

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