i promise – i rarely dance

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”