A couple of months ago, when I still considered myself “recently moved” to the District of Columbia, I was walking along Wisconsin Avenue back from Safeway, and had put my iPod on shuffle to accompany the walk. It’s not unusual that I did this – I always shuffle the ‘Pod when I’ve got a walk ahead of me. The moment that made this particular walk memorable was that, when a certain song came on, I lost all my inhibitions (I should probably note here that my inhibitions are practically world-famous) and started dancing, for God and all the cars in Georgetown to see. I think I was still in the mindset of being a driver; of course, people can certainly see you through car windows, too, but somehow it feels like there’s a visual barrier. I realized what I was doing approximately three fist-pumps in, but that moment has stuck with me.
Anyway, that song (Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl”) came on the iPod again today as I walked from pilates to Trader Joe’s and yet again, I had to fight the urge to dance my way down M Street. Over these past months (I’ve been in DC now, what, seven months?) I’ve found myself in the same predicament more than just that once. So, for the sake of making a list (and after all, I love making a good list) I give you:
Songs That I Have Accidentally Danced To In Public
I should note here that I define “dance” broadly – namely, made some kind of movement that allowed unwanted attention to be drawn my way. This actually has most frequently been manifested through hand-drumming on the seat in front of me on the MetroBus.
- Air Traffic – “Never Even Told Me Her Name”
- The Apples in Stereo – “Energy”
- Arctic Monkeys – “Balaclava”
- Art Brut – “Good Weekend”
- The Beach Boys – “Help Me, Rhonda”
- Ben Folds Five – “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces”
- The Black Crowes – “Hard to Handle”
- The Cure – “Friday I’m in Love”
- The Futureheads – “Hounds of Love”
- Gipsy Kings – “Bamboleo”
- Gnarls Barkley – “Run (I’m a Natural Disaster)”
- Jack Peñate – “Torn on the Platform”
- Jamie Lidell – “Wait for Me”
- Kaiser Chiefs – “Everything is Average Nowadays”
- Late of the Pier – “The Bears are Coming”
- Mika – “Love Today”
- Mos Def – “Quiet Dog”
- NOFX – “I Want You to Want Me”
- Pharcyde – “Devil Music”
- Poison – “Talk Dirty to Me”
- Rage Against the Machine – “Guerrilla Radio”
- Romantics – “What I Like About You”
- The Roots – “Web”
- Rufus Wainwright – “Zing! went the Strings of my Heart”
- Scissor Sisters – “Music is the Victim”
- Voxtrot – “Brother in Conflict”
- The Who – “Won’t Get Fooled Again”
