Some additional thoughts/corrections: 1) This video is about the original version of the song. There's also the video version, which is short, combines a lot of things a lot more quickly, and is, in my opinion, worse, and then there's a club remix where the main difference appears to be that the intro is a lot longer, but I chose to talk about the version I like best. 2) There seems to be some disagreement online about which exact drum machine this song used. Some sources say it's the LM-1, others say its successor, the LinnDrum. The LM-1 makes more sense to me, given the timing: The LinnDrum was released in 1982, and the album Rhythm of Youth was recorded in the very beginning of that year, so while I can't find an exact release date for the LinnDrum, there's a good chance it wasn't even an option for the band. The LinnDrum was also a much more popular and common thing later in the decade, so it seems plausible to me that insufficiently rigorous sources would simply attribute LM-1 parts to it 'cause it's close enough. Most of my digging seems to imply that the LM-1 is correct, but it's possible I missed something, in which case I'm sorry, I did my best. 3) Doroschuk has said that all the parts were played by hand with no sequencers, but if so the drum part definitely sounds to me like it's been quantized after the fact. 4) One thing I wish I'd been clearer about: The bass rhythm is not actually a tresillo. Having the two-note pairs breaks that structure, as I described. My point in bringing it up was that the rhythm has tresillo-like qualities, which are interestingly combined with the more straight-ahead groove underneath it to create something that isn't completely either one. That's why, throughout the video, I refer to groups of 3-3-2, rather than tresillos. 5) For the spoken vocals, I'm using pitch-zone notation, which I described in my video on pitch in rap. Basically, higher and lower notes correspond to higher and lower inflections but do not reflect precise intervals. It's a way of including some inflection information in parts that don't really have a definitive melody. 6) When I was talking about the line moving in 4ths, you may have been reminded of the Lydian Chromatic Concept if you've seen that video. (Or read that book.) I was reminded of it, anyway, and I considered mentioning it, but actually applying that model felt like a pretty significant stretch, and I didn't want to bring it up just to throw some fancy words around. Still! Some sort of vague connection there, probably, if you really want to go digging for it. 7) In a couple parts, most notably the synth melodies, the isolation process failed to properly capture the attacks that happen at the same time as those massive snares. I've notated them as they are in the song, but they may not perfectly line up with the isolated tracks. 8) I've chosen to leave out a couple synth accent parts because I didn't really have anything more insightful to say about them than "they are also there" and it didn't seem worth filling the video with a bunch of those. 9) I also didn't list which synths the lead parts were played on because honestly I'm not sure. There appears to be some disagreement on that too: Some sources say the lead synth is a Prophet-5, others say it's a Polymoog. I don't know enough about '80s synths to tell for sure, and with the amount of conflicting reports I found, it didn't seem like a good idea to make a statement either way. I'd rather leave information out than risk reinforcing misinformation, y'know? 10) "Pretty cute" is a technical music theory term for when something that happens in the music is pretty cute. 11) Whoops, there are kicks on the beats underneath that last barrage of hand-claps. My bad.
It's not the "original version". This is the version released in the USA release of the album. The version for the video is the one released on the album in the rest of the world which came out before the US album release. Making that the original and most likely the version most people in the world are familiar with.
Was coming in here to mention the 3 different hit versions. Good research fer a young'n who wasn't around to pick and choose (the very very slight difference in the original Canadian and the US album version is not worth speaking about... just a tiny difference in the echo on the opening snare). For info, though, it's really easy to get hold of Colin. I emailed him a couple of times to use a quote for a novel, and he had d-all knowledge of who I am.
As someone mentioned above this is technically not the original version. The original is the pop video version that came out in 1982. This one was released in 83 on the US version of the album. Personally I like the original better than this one. More interesting synth parts and layering. Dynamic level on this one is too plain. But there you go...different strokes....your vid so your choice...lol.
As an actual member of Men Without Hats in the 80s I loved your explanation, however the song wasn’t written with as much forethought as you might think! It was largely just a function of the machines. The Linn pattern was probably stock and the bass in our songs was almost always straight 8ths. I think the sync box was a JL Cooper that sent a trigger to a modified Prophet 5 every eight note. I think Ivan called it “pulse bass”. Safety Dance happened when the box was found to be able to send multiple clock pulses. You just held down a key on the Prophet and you got the triggers, controlling the pitch with the keyboard. Damn cool for the time. Later on, the bass lines were played on a real bass by Al Gunn, and even later on a keyboard manually by Marika Tjelios. Playing fast 8ths for a whole show proved to be a wrist smasher, soMarika developed a technique of using 2 or 3 fingers on the same key to lessen hand fatigue. Neat! BTW, I loved the doodles! Do you save them? I’d love to put them up in my studio! Thanks, Bruce
Oh, wow. How cool. Just a quick thanks from a true fan. Hate to make you feel old, but that came out while I was in utero. Rediscovered you guys in my mid-20s, and you're one of my favorite bands ever. I was wearing out MWH cassettes in the aughts. Now my kids seem to be as fond of you as I am of JW's War of The World's, which I learned from my dad. All this is to say: A) Just thanks again. The music means a ton to me, big fan. It's a neat thing to have an unexpected opportunity to say. B) I'm not pulling any rugs to say you guys have been accused of making music that was dismissable, and/or, wouldn't last. I serve as proof that that's hooey. I got r.o.y. for the first time from limewire, and my 17 year old son knows every word to Antarctica and Jenny. :)
I loved this song so much growing up in Montreal, I remember being thrilled that it was the theme of a satellite radio show decades later, and still being talked about today. I also had room for Corey Hart and Uzeb, such good times.
Wasn’t a huge fan, but I was there (More into the whole Damned, Siouxsie, Bauhaus, and then Christian Death, 45 Grave, Alien Sex Fiend, Sisters of Mercy… thing… You guys just weren’t “scary” enough… But my more “normal” friends found you guys to be “safe enough” to be accessible, without terrifying them as I and my friends did). But DAMN!!! Great to see people from that time alive… I think a girlfriend had an album of MWH from that period that I found a few other songs to be far better. The Video and MTV are what launched Men Without Hats, among countless other bands of the time. It wasn’t until the late-1980s that they really recognized anything beyond “The Cure” (ugh) “Bauhaus” and “Siouxsie” to even exist among the less scary “Goth” (like Sisters of Mercy), where “Deathrock” still sees many refusing to recognize the existence of…. I think the first time I heard this song, though, was on a show by George Gimarck in Dallas, TX on KZEW, which was the premiere Rock FM station at the time, who was the first to recognize that “Punk” existed, where all other “Alternative” subcultures of the period were subsumed. But you have my heartfelt gratitude for existing, and at least allowing my friends some connection that didn’t scare them to death… And it was a pretty good song to dance to, even if, as Philip Fry says “wasn’t as safe as they said it was.”
Somewhere deep in my soul I wish for this to be a true comment and not some off-handed troll. But i also want the painstaking analysis to be just as true. I feel like some where in time Shakespeare just wrote a story for rent money and then people studied it and found out why it was excellent in a way that just happened...
Fascinating. The song is so dance-friendly that it fitted the stepping for the English Morris Dancing that formed part of the footage in the video version. I belong to the Chippenham Town Morris Men and danced in the video. We had just invented the dance - named 'Monkton Park' - a few months before we were asked to take part in the filming. The stepping draws heavily on dances from the Fieldtown Morris tradition, and it was sheer luck that our newest dance happened to fit perfectly with the music. The video was filmed at a tiny village called West Kington and we had a blast hanging out with the band and all the crew. Those of us who are still dancing are long in the tooth these days, but we still end all of our public performances with 'Monkton Park'. One or two of the guys still have Men Without Hats badges on their kit. Happy days.
@@ajnormandgroome That's amazing. I'll pass that on to the guys. I was surprised just how many sides there are in the States. I've managed to keep dancing for 45 years and it's one of the things about my life I'd never want to change. I love Morris as much now as I ever did.
There's a reason this song was so memorable, loved and obviously a worldwide mega hit. As a producer, I find it fascinating to discuss each layer in detail. This is not an ordinary song, I think a well-justified 25 min is being spent here. I've reverse engineered this song and recorded it myself (kind of wish I saw this video prior to doing that, it would have helped lol) The video is focused heavy on rhythm [and doodling] but I was thinking more should have been said about the specific synths and arpeggios. I got the main tones from the Jupiter-8 and the other layer was the Minimoog. Great song, and nice breakdown analysis! 😎👍
The octave C beeps always reminded me of a type of "breaking news" type warning or a "This is a test of the emergency broadcast system" that you could sometimes get on the radio. Kinda '50s-'60s style. Or maybe those "check both ways before you cross the street kids" type things that were big in the '70s.
@@Atarimetal A Hohner Clavinet? Sounds so different in an upper register.I’m more used to its timbre when it’s played in lower octaves like on Stevie Wonder’s Superstitious or on Steely Dan’s Kid Charlemagne. Really cool how you used it to create a Morse code sounding octave melody.
also i think i want to mention just how big this song was in canada. it may be slightly unknown outside but in canada it’s a whole other story. a lot of canadian music through the late 70s to the 80s has a very distinct sound compared to american contemporaries and still gets immense radio play here. bands like honeymoon suite, chilliwack, harlequin, and april wine will get any 50+ year old dad singing along. great stuff.
The best pogoing I ever saw was at a biker disco. Some punks came in and for some unknown reason one of the bikers seized a punk by the collar and the punk seized the biker by the collar. They then pogoed locked together. They bounced about face to face for an entire record track. Everybody there thought it was one of the most entertaining things they had ever seen.
The magic of The Safety Dance is that it's lyrically an exhortation, and it's musically a *demonstration* of the exact thing it's exhorting you to do. As you observe, it's not simple, at all -- it's deceptively well-crafted to *seem* simple, so it still *works* as a dance song. Exhorting you to dance in the words, to add "your life" to "mine," to throw yourself into the melting pot of individual elements to create a whole with a life of its own beyond the sum of its parts, the music does exactly that, with, as you note, pieces weaving in and out, stepping back then returning, senses of position, tiny shifts in the polyrhythmic tapestry. As you observe, it has melodic elements, but at its heart, it's a rhythmic song -- a *dance* song -- and a surprisingly intricate, layered, polyrhythmic one. It's so subtle in The Safety Dance, but I've occasionally compared its layers to the layers in Paul Simon's Boy in the Bubble -- and though these are very different songs, with very different energy and message, you'll see, I think, similarities in the way they use layered polyrhythms. I've spoken about the song at length lyrically -- about its timelessness, its elemental purity of message, and its lyrical impact, decades later, simple, to the point, clear and compelling. Thank you so much for illustrating, in ways I doubt I could have, how *musically* intricate it is, and just how much is going on in the arrangement, here. It's a deceptively nuanced, complex, brilliantly-crafted song, and you've absolutely showcased *why* this is.
@@UrsaMajorPrime Compare the way both songs state, wander away from, then return to their central mission statement, to great effect. "We can dance" versus "These are the days of miracle and wonder." There's remarkable craftsmanship of *how* they both use their core message, and how they use reiteration, then divergence, then reiteration again, to reinforce it. Then note the way both of these mission statements are used as rhythmic elements. The similarities are staggering, even if there's much more syncopation going on in "These are the days of miracle and wonder." The Safety Dance's rhythm is simple to be inviting; Boy in the Bubble's is complex to express the difficulty the narrator has in following the changes. But they use rhythm and specifically *mantra* in very, very similar ways, don't they?
This song means so much to me, i have lupus and many respiratory issues, and i was in a terrible health state(im very good nowadays by the way!) back in 2012 And by then i was bed ridden, even had issues with bathing by myself, so my parents had to help me with each task(which sucks when you're 14), and at around the turning point, a bit before things started to get better i was introduced to this song through a Nichijou AMV(anime music video) of this song, i know, some people could argue its not the best way to listen to this song first time but to me it was! Not only do i love nichijou but i loved the AMV and loved the song And to this day i remember when i started showering by myself, i'd wake up very early like 5am-ish, when the sky is that greyish blue, before the sunrise, and i didnt even turn on the light, i just let that blue optimistic, faint but hopeful light come in through the window as i listened to this song on my phone, its a rather weird experience i know but geez do this song mean to me, specially this small moment of independence and victory I didnt even know how to speak english back then! i just liked the vibe of the song, all i knew was the meaning of the sentence "we can dance" and i used to think "yea i can, i think i can dance" and yea we can dance! (Just dont do it in the shower)
So, you can listen to music. You can know the lyrics. You can know day, month, year of writing and release. You can know everything about the musicians and group. Or you can tear into every beat and instrument like this. I have worked in engineering since 1985 and tear into industrial instrumentation and PLC/DCS control systems to the exact same degree this guy does. I also apply knowledge of numerous software programs, just like he does. To many this may seem insanely intricate and perhaps even annoying, but I appreciate what he is doing and why. Fascinating how much there is to know about the composition of music, instruments, synthesizers, and the programs they use. Bravo, sir. Bravo!
What you omit is that the Pogo was a result of the fast tempos of New Wave songs like Rock Lobster, Turning Japanese and Echo Beach. Safety Dance was an older, Disco tempo that allowed for more time for movements in between beats.
@@genevievehoskins6829oh it was real! It was so ubiquitous when I was in college in the early 80’s that even I - someone whose favorite song in middle school was “Moonlight Sonata” - actually knew the words. One of those songs that might not happen nowadays, but pretty iconic back in the day!
as someone that primarily listens to "dance"-ish electronic music (and a big fan of your channel), it was nice to see you talk about a song as being in "layers" instead of sections, as thats more how i personally experience the music that i enjoy love your work!!
This song means so much to me, i have lupus and many respiratory issues, and i was in a terrible health state(im very good nowadays by the way!) back in 2012 And by then i was bed ridden, even had issues with bathing by myself, so my parents had to help me with each task(which sucks when you're 14), and at around the turning point, a bit before things started to get better i was introduced to this song through a Nichijou AMV(anime music video) of this song, i know, some people could argue its not the best way to listen to this song first time but to me it was! Not only do i love nichijou but i loved the AMV and loved the song And to this day i remember when i started showering by myself, i'd wake up very early like 5am-ish, when the sky is that greyish blue, before the sunrise, and i didnt even turn on the light, i just let that blue optimistic, faint but hopeful light come in through the window as i listened to this song on my phone, its a rather weird experience i know but geez do this song mean to me, specially this small moment of independence and victory I didnt even know how to speak english back then! i just liked the vibe of the song, all i knew was the meaning of the sentence "we can dance" and i used to think "yea i can, i think i can dance" and yea we can dance! (Just dont do it in the shower) Edit: i got carried away, it wasnt supposed to be that big, im gonna copy this and paste it as its own comment sorry bout the big text LOL
The first time I saw the video for this on MTV, I immediately thought "this is stupid". Within the first minute I had already changed to "this is great".
As a left-hander, it amused and comforted me to see someone else write from right to left. I do that in my notebook, and sometimes I'll add notes to my daily to-do list at the bottom, from bottom to top.
@@TheoRae8289 You can't unless what you're doing allows for writing right to left, like done in this video. You can't realistically write sentences and paragraphs right to left.
As a lover of prog rock and tech death, but still early in my bass and guitar playing... I've really started to appreciate what goes into these "simpler" tracks. This vid, your recent vid on punk rock, and my recent excursions into Rammstein's discography have made me appreciate and regain my enjoyment of songs that do a lot, even if they aren't overly complicated.
If you dig up some tracks from "Feeling B" you can hear the impact of Landers and Flake on Rammstein; when the band was formed, all members were past their mid 20s and had each about 10 years of touring experience. I think it shows, especially in the way they use samples and synth. You can readily tell when some band tries to immitate the "Rammstein style", but didn't put enough care into the synth because they mistook them for "just another metal band". On that note, "Die Krupps" is also a wonderfull blend of early techno, synthpop and metal that predates Rammstein by a few years, but were unfortunately so much fans of Metallica that most of their early works are just... not well mixed. :/ "Iron man" (not the Black Sabbath one) is still a banger though.
If you listen to the full album (not saying that you should, but you should), you'll see Men Without Hats is actually pretty proggy for a synth-pop band. There's a level of drama and self-seriousness which could be bad, but for me, it really works. I love that first album. "Antarctica" is a good next step, if you're not ready to commit to 40 minutes...
@@Testgeraeusch The production is definitely something I've really come to love about Rammstein. While the guitar parts are certainly really nice, the synths and samples add that awesome touch. Probably why I love the intro to Deutschland so much
As per usual, my mind struggles to grasp all the concepts 12tone mentions, but the cartoons, the wonderful music and clearly thought out descriptions let me enjoy the video, even if I dont understand every single thing. Cheers 12tone, you've done amazing work yet again!
Dude!!! This was one of your bests yet. Glad you ditched chasing sponsors. I'm a little embarrassed by how much entertainment and education I've received from your vids in the past without contributing to the cause. I am embarrassed no longer...thanks for the patreon heads up. Sorry it took me so long.
Was on holiday in Canada (from the UK) in 81 or 82 and heard this song. Loved it so much that I bought the 12" vinyl and took it back home with me. Still got it!!!! So thanks for bringing back some very cool memories. I'm now going to go and put the record on and dance!!!
if someone would have told me, I'd watch a 25 minute video breaking down a 5 minute song... and "Safety Dance" at that, I'd have told them they were crazy... but I watched the entire thing.. all of it !! Like most things that seem not complex, music is a world unto itself as vast and deep as any other... it's amazing how this catchy song embodies such deep and, to me, complex musical patterns... people with a gift make the complex look effortless... well done, sir, well done...
I was only about 9 years old when this song came out but love the video on MTV, it was definitely catchy. It was a couple of decades later when I learned what it was about and developed a real affinity for it and now your masterful breakdown of it gives me a whole new appreciation on so many more levels. Thanks!
4 minutes of discussion of the programmed drums. Glorious!! Something seemingly so simple yet has so much nuance. Thank you for this, I had to play this drum part for years in an 80s cover band and always enjoyed it.
Gotta say that while they may have been a "one hit wonder" as far as the charts, Men Without Hats had a bunch of other tracks that could have been hits and are as good as Safety Dance, like Pop Goes The World, Where Do The Boys Go, Living In China, and others, and if you like some of those songs you musssst check out their 2012 record Love In The Age Of War, it's as good as their 80s stuff and there's no filler, every track is good!
Antarctica, The Great Ones Remember, Messiahs Die Young, Folk of the 80s (the song), On Tuesday, Jenny Wore Black, Eloise and I, You and Me, Sideways... I love MWH.
Excellent job filling in the blanks, Edward. I can only think of two we forgot in Ivan's upper echelon, to my mind. Ideas For Walls and I like deserve mentions, though. EDIT: I knew there was one brimming, and then felt like I'd forgotten my father when I heard it's first 3 notes again, just now. "I Got The Message." Thematically, it's crucial to R.O.Y. I don't think the album works half as well without it. It would be lesser without Safety Dance. It'd be something altogether different without Ban the Game, I Got the Message, and Things in My Life.
I think “Better” than Safety Dance. MTV and radio refusing to play anything else is where their problem arose. Many bands of that time had that problem… Or worse… In the Subcultural Genre to which I/we belonged (Deathrock - which isn’t Goth, and damned sure isn’t “Death Metal”), there is still a resistance to admit it even exists beyond the contemporaries of that time. So we couldn’t get airplay, EVEN on the supposedly dedicated “Alternative Shows” of the time. We DID get some airplay on University Radio Shows the world over. Usually until someone’s parents heard their kid’s Cassette recording of such a show with one of our songs (or a band like Christian Death, Alien Sex Fiend, 45 Grave, etc.) on it, and called the University (and their Church) inundating them with calls/threats regarding Funding… And we would never be heard of again on those stations.
@@edward8597 Eloise and I!!! I was trying to recall that song just a minute ago in another response… The rest of their canon of work is far superior to Safety Dance in terms of “the Scene” at the time. But Safety Dance was “Safe” for the public, while still seeming “Edgy.” A musicologist I knew at UCLA (Jerome Camal) said that the legitimacy of the 1980s Punk and Post-Punk Subcultures, and that of the early Rap/Hip-Hop Subculture is something that has driven a LOT of contemporary Social pathologies in people trying to appropriate it for the present, rather than inventing something new. He was specifically referencing what would later become known as “Edgelords” whether online, or in Musical Groups just trying to “shock” the audience. He pointed specifically to me and many of my peers from the 1980s as being something “Unrepeatable.” We F-ing TERRIFIED the USA and much of the rest of the world (I actually got a job scaring the populations in what was then still called the “Third World” countries because of that), and that was before you even got into my specific subculture, Deathrock, which was looking to be explicitly terrifying, and not the rather watered-down “spooky” of the 1990s and later “Goth” that was trying to imitate us without actually BEING what we were. But Dr. Camal pointed-out that this has been the way of Popular Music since the Phonograph and Radio became commonplace. The only distinction is that pre-1994 (roughly… He was then working on a project to better nail down that specific date) the Musical Groups tended to actually seek to create anew, rather than simply repeating what came before. He noted at the time that Punk and Goth were still around, yet it had been twice as long as the period between the first generations of Punk breaking-away from their antecedents than it had been since these Subcultures were just as old as those they broke from. Hop-Hop/Rap had the exact same problem, even worse (as the artists there ceased to care about much beyond “selling-out” as rapidly as possible, unashamedly saying so in the lyrics of their music). And the prevalence of “DJs” today was another sign of that decline he noted. But, to circle back to the original point…. Men Without Hats were robbed of the acclaim for other songs they wrote because of the “Safeness” of their first hit in a period when the New Wave/Punk Subcultures were TERRIFYING the population as a whole. I don’t know anyone of that period who hadn’t had an experience in the late-1970s or 1980s from the first time they traveled outside of a major city (and sometimes IN major cities), where they would stop for gas, or to get something to eat, only to be surrounded by cops a few minutes later. Or to be followed by Security through any Mall or Supermarket they entered. In England it wasn’t so bad after about 1978, and in the USA by around 1984 it had “cooled” a bit in the larger cities. But bands like “Men Without Hats” allowed the population as a whole to “Better acclimate” to the changes that would be an extreme that would never really see an equivalent, afterwards.
I've listened to this song more times than I care to admit, and my brain has always interpreted the chromatic alterations as more of playing around with Mixolydian (Bb) and Lydian (F#). I really appreciated approaching it from the perspective that all modern pop music evolved from the blues, and that these might be interpreted as blues inflections. Not sure if I'm 100% convinced yet, but I'm sure it's something I'll think about every time I hear this song now.
Thanks so much for this deep dive into this song. Back story, thorough breakdown, fun visuals -- what's not to like? Oh, and, along with your new appreciation, you gave me a new appreciation for this song as well.
8:20 I heard this song basically my entire life, but only the 2:47 single version, which does not include those beeps. I didn't even know the beeps were part of the song until 80s Guy in Futurama mentioned them, and for years afterwards I thought it was something the show made up either to avoid having to pay to license the song or to show that 80s Guy didn't actually know what he was talking about. It wasn't until the 2010s that I actually heard the extended version and it blew my mind that the beeps had been part of the song the whole time but the radio programmers had decided to hide them from us.
@@goodmaro The shorter single version, without the beeps, came first, in 1982 and is the version that was a hit around the world except the USA. The longer version, with beeps, appeared in 1983 when the song was released in the USA.
Really good video as usual! As an electronic music producer myself, it’s really exciting to see my favorite TH-camrs talk about my kind of music (as much as I enjoy your rock and pop stuff too) If I ever find myself with any disposable income, yours is one of the first patreon accounts I’ll contribute to 😊
I must say, this was one of my favourite songs to dance to in the 80s... I played the piano and you've broken down everything perfectly. I felt everything you said in the song, but could NEVER put it to words why everything seemed so 'off', but yet worked so beautifully.
Of course it is! That´s why the original, and shorter version IS the one, in which you can fully enjoy the melody played by the synthesizers. In the longer (and most known version), this part is like overshadowed...hidden in some way... Of course this is only my opinion.... thank you very much for this!
In 1983 "Men Without Hats" performed at Hofstra University, sponsored by "Hofstra Concerts". All the promotional posters were vandalized to read "Men Without Hits." IIRC, it wasn't a full house.
Spectacular song analysis, with clear and well-paced explanations, AND with cute and easy to follow hand-drawn visuals? I only wish I'd subscribed sooner! This fantastic!!
The high speed poity thumb and fingers to indicate the snare pan is a joy :) a kinda visual snare snap Remides me of the Wnona's Big Brown Beaver video where the used the same 'film slow then speed it up' technique for cartoonish quick movent
Awesome work. To paraphrase The Band: "I can't take the way he 'splains, But I love to hear him talk" - Or more to the point... I have NO idea what you're talking about. I know NOTHING about music. But man, I LOVE me some DECONSTRUCTED stuff. Continued Success and I'm subscribed!
Wow -- you've really upped your game. Haven't seen one in a while, now I have to check previous. Illustrations were excellent - and the editing to sync with the narrative AND the music is just perfection. I always loved Safety Dance. It was so simple and clear. Turns out all those subtle effects (did you hear the vocal treatments!) were working their Subconscious magic. Thanks for this analysis.
"(The vocals sang by Ivan Doroschuk) reminds you that no matter how digital the sounds are, at the heart of it all is still a real person making music for fun." A beautiful way of putting that.
Thankyou for this. The song came out when I was a kid, and I've loved it ever since. Had no idea there were different versions, though - I only knew the video version. It was a roller-dance staple at the time.
I was a little kid when this was out and I always loved seeing the video having no idea what any of it was about. It always brings back good childhood memories anytime I happen to hear it.
This is one of my very favourite songs. I still have a first release (Australian 1983) 7” vinyl. With my wee gaggle of new waver friends in 1983, we sang and acted the video on our walk to school. Thanks for this brilliant essay 💃🏻🕺🏼
Timeline on the subject: 1982 - Safety dance comes out people wonder if it's just pogo dancing that's banned. 1984 - Footloose with Kevin Bacon. It turns out that all dancing is banned by the townspeople 1990 - Tremor with Kevin Bacon. Sequel to Footloose; the reason dancing is banned is because of the giant worms that follow vibrations and eat people
I was at “The New Wave Lounge” in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in May, 1980 with two friends. We were 19 year old cadets with our NY Merchant Marine training ship “Empire State V.” That’s when I first heard “Planet Claire” by The B-52s. We saw several dancers jumping around with one arm over their head. It looked comical to us so we started bouncing around with them. The people dancing the Pogo all looked very serious. But we were laughing because it seemed funny to us. The other dancers were not amused because they thought we were mocking them. So we headed over to “The Button” instead. That was my first exposure to New Wave and Ft. Lauderdale. Our next stop on that cruise was Montreal.
I am in serious awe of your mastery of theory... plus, your hypnotic monogram voice seriously incurs relaxation and even sometimes sleep? :) this isn't in any way detractory, much love ❤
I am in awe that you edited this all together with the voiceover, notation* and drawings all coming together seamlessly, that's talented! (*I'm a musical dunce so not sure if that's correct terminology, sorry). Also, jealous as always of anyone who's talented in more than one area 😛 But seriously, thank you.
One of my fav songs, 'The Safety Dance - Men Without Hats', still got the vinyl. I love to dance (disco dance) but i've never tried to mosh/pogo/bounce to this tune, just like listening to the beat is all. And the official video is cool too. Love your graphics BTW
Dude I got to say that was eye-opening. As a drummer I rarely have to look at music in such a light. I just keep the train going and let the magicians do their thing. But wow this is such a great breakdown of this song even if it was with synth drums. A breakdown like this makes me think "man, these guys were really thinking about the music." Your pics brought me in but the theory kept me here.
I love these breakdowns of "simple" songs like the daft punk one. It gives so much more appreciation (and ideas for my own work). Also, my new kitten loves your video and has been chasing your hand across the screen
Are you positive about this being the "original version of the song"? The original UK and Canadian LP issues use the 2:44 version also used in the video, but the U.S. LP issues on Backstreet, with the exception of one pressing, uses the 4:32 "Extended 'Club Mix'" (among other changes) which I spotted right away in this video because I have it on the 12" single I bought around the time it was originally released.
That bit highlighting the first note of the bass tresillo really made me think of Hydrogen by M|O|O|N. Also, excellent video! It's made me listen to my Men Without Hats album again.
Fascinating, I have always loved the song but didn't realise the underlying complexities. I remember the Pop-Up Video on VH1 describing the story leading up to the song, so this is a great counterpoint by digging deeper into how the song was constructed!
The Safety Dance was one of the few records that I bought back in the 1980s basically for many of the same reasons that you pointed out, but I didn't have the music theory chops to explain it then.. or now. Thanks for a nice revisit to this song that I enjoyed for the first time 40 years ago!
This track appeared to me to be reminiscent of an emergency announcement... A PSA if you will Your analysis explains to me why I thought that The drum machine, the beeps and the spoken intro... Thanks
Excellent video!! Love the history note in there, too - I didn’t know about pogoing at all. One request, that I realize isn’t as popular and is maybe a bit more of an Adam Neely song than a 12Tone. But GOAT’s Let it Burn is just awesome, and pretty rhythmically and structurally interesting.
WOW! Just WOW. 🤯 Found your channel yesterday. I am thoroughly fascinated by Music Theory. I honestly didn't know it existed. And your delivery is awesome! The use of illustrations drives this home for me! Off to watch more. I literally can't get enough!
Safety Dance = Safe To Dance. That's the best explanation of the song I've ever heard. All I knew that was that it was a catchy song, and I don't even like or care about dancing. Also, while I tend to think of popular music in layers of melody, harmony, rhythms, chord progressions, verses, choruses, transitions, etc. sometimes it can be simplified to "groove" and "beat." I'll have to look more into this tresillo thing, as it seems close to what I like to do rhythmically in my own music: a Triplet phrasing over four beats, but the last triplet is shortened to 2 to make it fit in the bar. So I emphasize the 1 downbeat, the and of 2, and then the 3 downbeat, and repeat.
new fan! I'd love your take on a few songs, 80's child here from the MTV generation as well -- Suddenly Last Summer, Rio, All Night Long for starters! Your analysis is terrific and includes physics of the music PLUS the emotional rides they take us on. Well done, sir!
This channel explains music to me in a comfort zone. I process the information so much easier here. First time watcher, might have been a really easy song. It really kinda' is, but still good work. I appreciate the effort!
This is the first time watching a video made by you, and while it's not completely original, you do it very well. I especially appreciate, the drawing of a pile of logs, to represent "tone" 😄
Just discovered this channel. I subbed. What a creative way to break down what's going on in a song. I learned so much and was glued to the monitor just to see what doodle would come up next. Very well done.
I personally hear the verses as C mixolydian, not C minor. Especially because that E in the melody. You're definitely right that the harmony is second to the rhythm. Fantastic video!
This is one of my favorite songs of all time and I love this video! I would never have thought to break it out like this, and it makes me love it even more. MWH is a band that I have been listening to since childhood and there are very few songs that I don’t like. Thanx for giving me even more love for them!
3:41 The Sea of Sixteenths sounds like a great name for a Post-Rock band, and _Within The Sea of Sixteenths_ is the perfect name for their first album.
AT 13:10 as to why it is E flat. Perhaps a less lazy answer is that we are at the part where you CAN dance it you want to. So e flat lends itself to the sound of potential to move into tonality where you WILL be able to dance.
Some additional thoughts/corrections:
1) This video is about the original version of the song. There's also the video version, which is short, combines a lot of things a lot more quickly, and is, in my opinion, worse, and then there's a club remix where the main difference appears to be that the intro is a lot longer, but I chose to talk about the version I like best.
2) There seems to be some disagreement online about which exact drum machine this song used. Some sources say it's the LM-1, others say its successor, the LinnDrum. The LM-1 makes more sense to me, given the timing: The LinnDrum was released in 1982, and the album Rhythm of Youth was recorded in the very beginning of that year, so while I can't find an exact release date for the LinnDrum, there's a good chance it wasn't even an option for the band. The LinnDrum was also a much more popular and common thing later in the decade, so it seems plausible to me that insufficiently rigorous sources would simply attribute LM-1 parts to it 'cause it's close enough. Most of my digging seems to imply that the LM-1 is correct, but it's possible I missed something, in which case I'm sorry, I did my best.
3) Doroschuk has said that all the parts were played by hand with no sequencers, but if so the drum part definitely sounds to me like it's been quantized after the fact.
4) One thing I wish I'd been clearer about: The bass rhythm is not actually a tresillo. Having the two-note pairs breaks that structure, as I described. My point in bringing it up was that the rhythm has tresillo-like qualities, which are interestingly combined with the more straight-ahead groove underneath it to create something that isn't completely either one. That's why, throughout the video, I refer to groups of 3-3-2, rather than tresillos.
5) For the spoken vocals, I'm using pitch-zone notation, which I described in my video on pitch in rap. Basically, higher and lower notes correspond to higher and lower inflections but do not reflect precise intervals. It's a way of including some inflection information in parts that don't really have a definitive melody.
6) When I was talking about the line moving in 4ths, you may have been reminded of the Lydian Chromatic Concept if you've seen that video. (Or read that book.) I was reminded of it, anyway, and I considered mentioning it, but actually applying that model felt like a pretty significant stretch, and I didn't want to bring it up just to throw some fancy words around. Still! Some sort of vague connection there, probably, if you really want to go digging for it.
7) In a couple parts, most notably the synth melodies, the isolation process failed to properly capture the attacks that happen at the same time as those massive snares. I've notated them as they are in the song, but they may not perfectly line up with the isolated tracks.
8) I've chosen to leave out a couple synth accent parts because I didn't really have anything more insightful to say about them than "they are also there" and it didn't seem worth filling the video with a bunch of those.
9) I also didn't list which synths the lead parts were played on because honestly I'm not sure. There appears to be some disagreement on that too: Some sources say the lead synth is a Prophet-5, others say it's a Polymoog. I don't know enough about '80s synths to tell for sure, and with the amount of conflicting reports I found, it didn't seem like a good idea to make a statement either way. I'd rather leave information out than risk reinforcing misinformation, y'know?
10) "Pretty cute" is a technical music theory term for when something that happens in the music is pretty cute.
11) Whoops, there are kicks on the beats underneath that last barrage of hand-claps. My bad.
12) The Glee version, in which we finally get to see Kevin McHale get his moves on 😁
It's not the "original version". This is the version released in the USA release of the album. The version for the video is the one released on the album in the rest of the world which came out before the US album release. Making that the original and most likely the version most people in the world are familiar with.
Was coming in here to mention the 3 different hit versions. Good research fer a young'n who wasn't around to pick and choose (the very very slight difference in the original Canadian and the US album version is not worth speaking about... just a tiny difference in the echo on the opening snare). For info, though, it's really easy to get hold of Colin. I emailed him a couple of times to use a quote for a novel, and he had d-all knowledge of who I am.
As someone mentioned above this is technically not the original version. The original is the pop video version that came out in 1982. This one was released in 83 on the US version of the album. Personally I like the original better than this one. More interesting synth parts and layering. Dynamic level on this one is too plain. But there you go...different strokes....your vid so your choice...lol.
@@ChristyAbbey huh? The original and this one (the USA version) are completely different. The main top keyboard line.
Pogo dancers and bouncers - an ironically named rivalry on the dance floor
Oh, so _you're_ a bouncer, but when I bounce, I'm kicked out?
@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 hmmmm... seems a little unfair to me
That was a great statement!
For some reason I'm picturing the exchange.
“Hey you! Quit that bouncing!”
“No, you!”
“Carry on”
SSSS AAAAA FFFFF EEEEE TTTT YYYYY Safety ddddance! Men Wthout Hats 1982 AD.
As an actual member of Men Without Hats in the 80s I loved your explanation, however the song wasn’t written with as much forethought as you might think! It was largely just a function of the machines. The Linn pattern was probably stock and the bass in our songs was almost always straight 8ths. I think the sync box was a JL Cooper that sent a trigger to a modified Prophet 5 every eight note. I think Ivan called it “pulse bass”. Safety Dance happened when the box was found to be able to send multiple clock pulses. You just held down a key on the Prophet and you got the triggers, controlling the pitch with the keyboard. Damn cool for the time. Later on, the bass lines were played on a real bass by Al Gunn, and even later on a keyboard manually by Marika Tjelios. Playing fast 8ths for a whole show proved to be a wrist smasher, soMarika developed a technique of using 2 or 3 fingers on the same key to lessen hand fatigue. Neat!
BTW, I loved the doodles! Do you save them? I’d love to put them up in my studio!
Thanks,
Bruce
Oh, wow. How cool. Just a quick thanks from a true fan. Hate to make you feel old, but that came out while I was in utero. Rediscovered you guys in my mid-20s, and you're one of my favorite bands ever. I was wearing out MWH cassettes in the aughts. Now my kids seem to be as fond of you as I am of JW's War of The World's, which I learned from my dad.
All this is to say: A) Just thanks again. The music means a ton to me, big fan. It's a neat thing to have an unexpected opportunity to say. B) I'm not pulling any rugs to say you guys have been accused of making music that was dismissable, and/or, wouldn't last. I serve as proof that that's hooey. I got r.o.y. for the first time from limewire, and my 17 year old son knows every word to Antarctica and Jenny. :)
I loved this song so much growing up in Montreal, I remember being thrilled that it was the theme of a satellite radio show decades later, and still being talked about today. I also had room for Corey Hart and Uzeb, such good times.
Thanks for the song. I first heard it on south park and it's still a great song to listen to from time to time
Wasn’t a huge fan, but I was there (More into the whole Damned, Siouxsie, Bauhaus, and then Christian Death, 45 Grave, Alien Sex Fiend, Sisters of Mercy… thing… You guys just weren’t “scary” enough… But my more “normal” friends found you guys to be “safe enough” to be accessible, without terrifying them as I and my friends did).
But DAMN!!! Great to see people from that time alive…
I think a girlfriend had an album of MWH from that period that I found a few other songs to be far better. The Video and MTV are what launched Men Without Hats, among countless other bands of the time.
It wasn’t until the late-1980s that they really recognized anything beyond “The Cure” (ugh) “Bauhaus” and “Siouxsie” to even exist among the less scary “Goth” (like Sisters of Mercy), where “Deathrock” still sees many refusing to recognize the existence of….
I think the first time I heard this song, though, was on a show by George Gimarck in Dallas, TX on KZEW, which was the premiere Rock FM station at the time, who was the first to recognize that “Punk” existed, where all other “Alternative” subcultures of the period were subsumed.
But you have my heartfelt gratitude for existing, and at least allowing my friends some connection that didn’t scare them to death… And it was a pretty good song to dance to, even if, as Philip Fry says “wasn’t as safe as they said it was.”
Somewhere deep in my soul I wish for this to be a true comment and not some off-handed troll. But i also want the painstaking analysis to be just as true. I feel like some where in time Shakespeare just wrote a story for rent money and then people studied it and found out why it was excellent in a way that just happened...
“You know, that dance wasn’t as safe as people said it was.”-Philip J Fry
dun-dun DUN-DUN dun-dun dun DUN-dun DUN!
@@shlatekkin love it
actual quote, or just trying to make a funneh? :O
@@kurzackd It's from an episode where Fry meets a businessman from the eighties who was frozen because of a medical condition.
@@kurzackd "Futurestock" is episode 21 in season 3 of Futurama.
I think it aired as episode 9 in season 4.
Fascinating. The song is so dance-friendly that it fitted the stepping for the English Morris Dancing that formed part of the footage in the video version. I belong to the Chippenham Town Morris Men and danced in the video. We had just invented the dance - named 'Monkton Park' - a few months before we were asked to take part in the filming. The stepping draws heavily on dances from the Fieldtown Morris tradition, and it was sheer luck that our newest dance happened to fit perfectly with the music. The video was filmed at a tiny village called West Kington and we had a blast hanging out with the band and all the crew. Those of us who are still dancing are long in the tooth these days, but we still end all of our public performances with 'Monkton Park'. One or two of the guys still have Men Without Hats badges on their kit. Happy days.
Thanks for sharing this piece of your history, which is another piece of the band's history ...
Wow thank you.. that answers a long standing question.
When I first starting Morris dancing in USA in early 1980s, I had to point to MTV and your team to explain what I did
Awsome! Love the video and the song since it came out!
@@ajnormandgroome That's amazing. I'll pass that on to the guys. I was surprised just how many sides there are in the States. I've managed to keep dancing for 45 years and it's one of the things about my life I'd never want to change. I love Morris as much now as I ever did.
I must say that I did not expect to see an almost 25' long analysis of The Safety Dance of all things.
if anything, it shows how much is going on in things we take for granted
@@pizzaivlife Exactly, the best complicated things are the things that don't sound complicated until you start to deconstruct them
I'm entranced by this... is every song this detailed? I listen to this on repeat at work and I've gotten really good at fractions down to 16ths anyway
Me neither. It was shorter to write it!
There's a reason this song was so memorable, loved and obviously a worldwide mega hit. As a producer, I find it fascinating to discuss each layer in detail. This is not an ordinary song, I think a well-justified 25 min is being spent here. I've reverse engineered this song and recorded it myself (kind of wish I saw this video prior to doing that, it would have helped lol) The video is focused heavy on rhythm [and doodling] but I was thinking more should have been said about the specific synths and arpeggios. I got the main tones from the Jupiter-8 and the other layer was the Minimoog. Great song, and nice breakdown analysis! 😎👍
The octave C beeps always reminded me of a type of "breaking news" type warning or a "This is a test of the emergency broadcast system" that you could sometimes get on the radio. Kinda '50s-'60s style. Or maybe those "check both ways before you cross the street kids" type things that were big in the '70s.
Well it is a Safety Dance. ;)
@@tinkertailor7385 I know! I always thought that was brilliant about it.
Kind of puts me in mind of Morse code. Though I don't think it could be interpreted that way.
That's a Hohner Clavinet, keyboard with guitar strings. It's kicking around somewhere in my basement
@@Atarimetal A Hohner Clavinet? Sounds so different in an upper register.I’m more used to its timbre when it’s played in lower octaves like on Stevie Wonder’s Superstitious or on Steely Dan’s Kid Charlemagne. Really cool how you used it to create a Morse code sounding octave melody.
proud of your ability to draw the maple leaf. not even many of us canadians can do that.
also i think i want to mention just how big this song was in canada. it may be slightly unknown outside but in canada it’s a whole other story. a lot of canadian music through the late 70s to the 80s has a very distinct sound compared to american contemporaries and still gets immense radio play here. bands like honeymoon suite, chilliwack, harlequin, and april wine will get any 50+ year old dad singing along. great stuff.
Seconded. My past is littered with horribly crooked leaves - my greatest shame.
r/place 2 moment
@@Alex-js5lg Exactly. Same.
Wait... the canada flag isn't weed?
The best pogoing I ever saw was at a biker disco. Some punks came in and for some unknown reason one of the bikers seized a punk by the collar and the punk seized the biker by the collar. They then pogoed locked together. They bounced about face to face for an entire record track. Everybody there thought it was one of the most entertaining things they had ever seen.
Seems staged
@@timnor4803 Nah, that sort of thing happened all the time. Spontaneous goofy synchronization.
I can just picture it 😅. Epic!
The magic of The Safety Dance is that it's lyrically an exhortation, and it's musically a *demonstration* of the exact thing it's exhorting you to do. As you observe, it's not simple, at all -- it's deceptively well-crafted to *seem* simple, so it still *works* as a dance song. Exhorting you to dance in the words, to add "your life" to "mine," to throw yourself into the melting pot of individual elements to create a whole with a life of its own beyond the sum of its parts, the music does exactly that, with, as you note, pieces weaving in and out, stepping back then returning, senses of position, tiny shifts in the polyrhythmic tapestry. As you observe, it has melodic elements, but at its heart, it's a rhythmic song -- a *dance* song -- and a surprisingly intricate, layered, polyrhythmic one. It's so subtle in The Safety Dance, but I've occasionally compared its layers to the layers in Paul Simon's Boy in the Bubble -- and though these are very different songs, with very different energy and message, you'll see, I think, similarities in the way they use layered polyrhythms.
I've spoken about the song at length lyrically -- about its timelessness, its elemental purity of message, and its lyrical impact, decades later, simple, to the point, clear and compelling. Thank you so much for illustrating, in ways I doubt I could have, how *musically* intricate it is, and just how much is going on in the arrangement, here. It's a deceptively nuanced, complex, brilliantly-crafted song, and you've absolutely showcased *why* this is.
Never thought I'd hear "Boy in the Bubble" and "Safety Dance" discussed in the same technical breakdown. :)
@@UrsaMajorPrime Compare the way both songs state, wander away from, then return to their central mission statement, to great effect. "We can dance" versus "These are the days of miracle and wonder." There's remarkable craftsmanship of *how* they both use their core message, and how they use reiteration, then divergence, then reiteration again, to reinforce it.
Then note the way both of these mission statements are used as rhythmic elements. The similarities are staggering, even if there's much more syncopation going on in "These are the days of miracle and wonder." The Safety Dance's rhythm is simple to be inviting; Boy in the Bubble's is complex to express the difficulty the narrator has in following the changes. But they use rhythm and specifically *mantra* in very, very similar ways, don't they?
what does "everybody, look at your hands" mean?
This song means so much to me, i have lupus and many respiratory issues, and i was in a terrible health state(im very good nowadays by the way!) back in 2012
And by then i was bed ridden, even had issues with bathing by myself, so my parents had to help me with each task(which sucks when you're 14), and at around the turning point, a bit before things started to get better i was introduced to this song through a Nichijou AMV(anime music video) of this song, i know, some people could argue its not the best way to listen to this song first time but to me it was! Not only do i love nichijou but i loved the AMV and loved the song
And to this day i remember when i started showering by myself, i'd wake up very early like 5am-ish, when the sky is that greyish blue, before the sunrise, and i didnt even turn on the light, i just let that blue optimistic, faint but hopeful light come in through the window as i listened to this song on my phone, its a rather weird experience i know but geez do this song mean to me, specially this small moment of independence and victory
I didnt even know how to speak english back then! i just liked the vibe of the song, all i knew was the meaning of the sentence "we can dance" and i used to think "yea i can, i think i can dance" and yea we can dance!
(Just dont do it in the shower)
Love this. Glad to hear your health is better now!!
Isn't music just the most miraculous thing?!
I think Nietzsche said it best: "Life without music would be a mistake."
I loved this story ❤ you paint such a vivid sad but funny picture 😅thanks for sharing
what a cool story! :O
Where are you from? :)
@@alarcon99 thx
So, you can listen to music. You can know the lyrics. You can know day, month, year of writing and release. You can know everything about the musicians and group. Or you can tear into every beat and instrument like this. I have worked in engineering since 1985 and tear into industrial instrumentation and PLC/DCS control systems to the exact same degree this guy does. I also apply knowledge of numerous software programs, just like he does. To many this may seem insanely intricate and perhaps even annoying, but I appreciate what he is doing and why. Fascinating how much there is to know about the composition of music, instruments, synthesizers, and the programs they use. Bravo, sir. Bravo!
What you omit is that the Pogo was a result of the fast tempos of New Wave songs like Rock Lobster, Turning Japanese and Echo Beach. Safety Dance was an older, Disco tempo that allowed for more time for movements in between beats.
So Turning Japanese WAS a real song. I thought it was a fever dream I had when I was younger 😆
@@genevievehoskins6829oh it was real! It was so ubiquitous when I was in college in the early 80’s that even I - someone whose favorite song in middle school was “Moonlight Sonata” - actually knew the words. One of those songs that might not happen nowadays, but pretty iconic back in the day!
The stopmotion quality of your pointing the beat direction is really good.
I laughed when you said “to keep it from being too distracting” and then drew a squirrel.
as someone that primarily listens to "dance"-ish electronic music (and a big fan of your channel), it was nice to see you talk about a song as being in "layers" instead of sections, as thats more how i personally experience the music that i enjoy
love your work!!
YES! The *greatest* composition in human history is finally on 12 Tone! I'm only half joking. Dang I love this song. :)
This song means so much to me, i have lupus and many respiratory issues, and i was in a terrible health state(im very good nowadays by the way!) back in 2012
And by then i was bed ridden, even had issues with bathing by myself, so my parents had to help me with each task(which sucks when you're 14), and at around the turning point, a bit before things started to get better i was introduced to this song through a Nichijou AMV(anime music video) of this song, i know, some people could argue its not the best way to listen to this song first time but to me it was! Not only do i love nichijou but i loved the AMV and loved the song
And to this day i remember when i started showering by myself, i'd wake up very early like 5am-ish, when the sky is that greyish blue, before the sunrise, and i didnt even turn on the light, i just let that blue optimistic, faint but hopeful light come in through the window as i listened to this song on my phone, its a rather weird experience i know but geez do this song mean to me, specially this small moment of independence and victory
I didnt even know how to speak english back then! i just liked the vibe of the song, all i knew was the meaning of the sentence "we can dance" and i used to think "yea i can, i think i can dance" and yea we can dance!
(Just dont do it in the shower)
Edit: i got carried away, it wasnt supposed to be that big, im gonna copy this and paste it as its own comment sorry bout the big text LOL
The first time I saw the video for this on MTV, I immediately thought "this is stupid". Within the first minute I had already changed to "this is great".
@@charlesclark3840 Dance music just has a magic to it.
As a left-hander, it amused and comforted me to see someone else write from right to left. I do that in my notebook, and sometimes I'll add notes to my daily to-do list at the bottom, from bottom to top.
wait. I'm also left-handed. How do you do the right-to-left?
You mean you don't just smear the ink with your hand?
@@TheoRae8289 You can't unless what you're doing allows for writing right to left, like done in this video. You can't realistically write sentences and paragraphs right to left.
As a lover of prog rock and tech death, but still early in my bass and guitar playing... I've really started to appreciate what goes into these "simpler" tracks.
This vid, your recent vid on punk rock, and my recent excursions into Rammstein's discography have made me appreciate and regain my enjoyment of songs that do a lot, even if they aren't overly complicated.
If you dig up some tracks from "Feeling B" you can hear the impact of Landers and Flake on Rammstein; when the band was formed, all members were past their mid 20s and had each about 10 years of touring experience. I think it shows, especially in the way they use samples and synth. You can readily tell when some band tries to immitate the "Rammstein style", but didn't put enough care into the synth because they mistook them for "just another metal band". On that note, "Die Krupps" is also a wonderfull blend of early techno, synthpop and metal that predates Rammstein by a few years, but were unfortunately so much fans of Metallica that most of their early works are just... not well mixed. :/ "Iron man" (not the Black Sabbath one) is still a banger though.
If you listen to the full album (not saying that you should, but you should), you'll see Men Without Hats is actually pretty proggy for a synth-pop band. There's a level of drama and self-seriousness which could be bad, but for me, it really works. I love that first album. "Antarctica" is a good next step, if you're not ready to commit to 40 minutes...
@@Testgeraeusch The production is definitely something I've really come to love about Rammstein. While the guitar parts are certainly really nice, the synths and samples add that awesome touch.
Probably why I love the intro to Deutschland so much
@@zestiebumwhig6363 At this point, I've listened to all sorts of genres, so I'd be open to checking that out. I thank ya
"simpler" indeed, when I saw this video I wasn't expecting nearly 24 minutes :) Always learn a lot about stuff I never think about from 12Tone
As per usual, my mind struggles to grasp all the concepts 12tone mentions, but the cartoons, the wonderful music and clearly thought out descriptions let me enjoy the video, even if I dont understand every single thing. Cheers 12tone, you've done amazing work yet again!
OMG! Love Shrek's S as an illustration for "layers"! So much humour in these illustrations, wonderful, thank you!
Dude!!! This was one of your bests yet. Glad you ditched chasing sponsors. I'm a little embarrassed by how much entertainment and education I've received from your vids in the past without contributing to the cause. I am embarrassed no longer...thanks for the patreon heads up. Sorry it took me so long.
Was on holiday in Canada (from the UK) in 81 or 82 and heard this song. Loved it so much that I bought the 12" vinyl and took it back home with me. Still got it!!!! So thanks for bringing back some very cool memories. I'm now going to go and put the record on and dance!!!
The US postal service logo for consistency, well played :)
if someone would have told me, I'd watch a 25 minute video breaking down a 5 minute song... and "Safety Dance" at that, I'd have told them they were crazy... but I watched the entire thing.. all of it !! Like most things that seem not complex, music is a world unto itself as vast and deep as any other... it's amazing how this catchy song embodies such deep and, to me, complex musical patterns... people with a gift make the complex look effortless... well done, sir, well done...
Thank you, 12tone, for letting me know that there is more than one version of this amazing song!
I was only about 9 years old when this song came out but love the video on MTV, it was definitely catchy. It was a couple of decades later when I learned what it was about and developed a real affinity for it and now your masterful breakdown of it gives me a whole new appreciation on so many more levels. Thanks!
I used to make my roommates listen to this more than they wanted to! This video is a pleasant surprise
4 minutes of discussion of the programmed drums. Glorious!! Something seemingly so simple yet has so much nuance. Thank you for this, I had to play this drum part for years in an 80s cover band and always enjoyed it.
Fascinating autopsy of this ubiquitous 80's song. You earned a new subscriber and a thumbs up. Cheers! 🤗
Gotta say that while they may have been a "one hit wonder" as far as the charts, Men Without Hats had a bunch of other tracks that could have been hits and are as good as Safety Dance, like Pop Goes The World, Where Do The Boys Go, Living In China, and others, and if you like some of those songs you musssst check out their 2012 record Love In The Age Of War, it's as good as their 80s stuff and there's no filler, every track is good!
Pop Goes the World charted so they're a 2-hit wonder! :)
Antarctica, The Great Ones Remember, Messiahs Die Young, Folk of the 80s (the song), On Tuesday, Jenny Wore Black, Eloise and I, You and Me, Sideways... I love MWH.
Excellent job filling in the blanks, Edward. I can only think of two we forgot in Ivan's upper echelon, to my mind. Ideas For Walls and I like deserve mentions, though.
EDIT: I knew there was one brimming, and then felt like I'd forgotten my father when I heard it's first 3 notes again, just now. "I Got The Message."
Thematically, it's crucial to R.O.Y. I don't think the album works half as well without it. It would be lesser without Safety Dance. It'd be something altogether different without Ban the Game, I Got the Message, and Things in My Life.
I think “Better” than Safety Dance.
MTV and radio refusing to play anything else is where their problem arose.
Many bands of that time had that problem… Or worse… In the Subcultural Genre to which I/we belonged (Deathrock - which isn’t Goth, and damned sure isn’t “Death Metal”), there is still a resistance to admit it even exists beyond the contemporaries of that time.
So we couldn’t get airplay, EVEN on the supposedly dedicated “Alternative Shows” of the time.
We DID get some airplay on University Radio Shows the world over.
Usually until someone’s parents heard their kid’s Cassette recording of such a show with one of our songs (or a band like Christian Death, Alien Sex Fiend, 45 Grave, etc.) on it, and called the University (and their Church) inundating them with calls/threats regarding Funding… And we would never be heard of again on those stations.
@@edward8597
Eloise and I!!!
I was trying to recall that song just a minute ago in another response…
The rest of their canon of work is far superior to Safety Dance in terms of “the Scene” at the time.
But Safety Dance was “Safe” for the public, while still seeming “Edgy.”
A musicologist I knew at UCLA (Jerome Camal) said that the legitimacy of the 1980s Punk and Post-Punk Subcultures, and that of the early Rap/Hip-Hop Subculture is something that has driven a LOT of contemporary Social pathologies in people trying to appropriate it for the present, rather than inventing something new.
He was specifically referencing what would later become known as “Edgelords” whether online, or in Musical Groups just trying to “shock” the audience.
He pointed specifically to me and many of my peers from the 1980s as being something “Unrepeatable.”
We F-ing TERRIFIED the USA and much of the rest of the world (I actually got a job scaring the populations in what was then still called the “Third World” countries because of that), and that was before you even got into my specific subculture, Deathrock, which was looking to be explicitly terrifying, and not the rather watered-down “spooky” of the 1990s and later “Goth” that was trying to imitate us without actually BEING what we were.
But Dr. Camal pointed-out that this has been the way of Popular Music since the Phonograph and Radio became commonplace. The only distinction is that pre-1994 (roughly… He was then working on a project to better nail down that specific date) the Musical Groups tended to actually seek to create anew, rather than simply repeating what came before.
He noted at the time that Punk and Goth were still around, yet it had been twice as long as the period between the first generations of Punk breaking-away from their antecedents than it had been since these Subcultures were just as old as those they broke from. Hop-Hop/Rap had the exact same problem, even worse (as the artists there ceased to care about much beyond “selling-out” as rapidly as possible, unashamedly saying so in the lyrics of their music). And the prevalence of “DJs” today was another sign of that decline he noted.
But, to circle back to the original point….
Men Without Hats were robbed of the acclaim for other songs they wrote because of the “Safeness” of their first hit in a period when the New Wave/Punk Subcultures were TERRIFYING the population as a whole.
I don’t know anyone of that period who hadn’t had an experience in the late-1970s or 1980s from the first time they traveled outside of a major city (and sometimes IN major cities), where they would stop for gas, or to get something to eat, only to be surrounded by cops a few minutes later.
Or to be followed by Security through any Mall or Supermarket they entered.
In England it wasn’t so bad after about 1978, and in the USA by around 1984 it had “cooled” a bit in the larger cities.
But bands like “Men Without Hats” allowed the population as a whole to “Better acclimate” to the changes that would be an extreme that would never really see an equivalent, afterwards.
I didn't want to know any of that but couldn't stop watching.
Great video!
I've listened to this song more times than I care to admit, and my brain has always interpreted the chromatic alterations as more of playing around with Mixolydian (Bb) and Lydian (F#). I really appreciated approaching it from the perspective that all modern pop music evolved from the blues, and that these might be interpreted as blues inflections. Not sure if I'm 100% convinced yet, but I'm sure it's something I'll think about every time I hear this song now.
Thanks so much for this deep dive into this song. Back story, thorough breakdown, fun visuals -- what's not to like? Oh, and, along with your new appreciation, you gave me a new appreciation for this song as well.
8:20 I heard this song basically my entire life, but only the 2:47 single version, which does not include those beeps. I didn't even know the beeps were part of the song until 80s Guy in Futurama mentioned them, and for years afterwards I thought it was something the show made up either to avoid having to pay to license the song or to show that 80s Guy didn't actually know what he was talking about. It wasn't until the 2010s that I actually heard the extended version and it blew my mind that the beeps had been part of the song the whole time but the radio programmers had decided to hide them from us.
Huh. When it came out, I never heard it played without the beeps. You're saying a version was later released that omits them?
@@goodmaro The shorter single version, without the beeps, came first, in 1982 and is the version that was a hit around the world except the USA. The longer version, with beeps, appeared in 1983 when the song was released in the USA.
This is such an iconic song. 💖 And this was a fantastic breakdown of a phenomenal track.
Never thought I would get to watch to see a musical analysis of Safety Dance, and yet here we are!
One of my favorite songs of all time. Thanks for breaking it down.
I wish I knew enough about music theory to understand these videos because I love them
Really good video as usual! As an electronic music producer myself, it’s really exciting to see my favorite TH-camrs talk about my kind of music (as much as I enjoy your rock and pop stuff too)
If I ever find myself with any disposable income, yours is one of the first patreon accounts I’ll contribute to 😊
Omg thank you, as an 80s kid and a musician this filled me with so much joy
I must say, this was one of my favourite songs to dance to in the 80s... I played the piano and you've broken down everything perfectly. I felt everything you said in the song, but could NEVER put it to words why everything seemed so 'off', but yet worked so beautifully.
I've always thought the melody hit at 12:45 is the most iconic/recognizable part of the song.
Of course it is! That´s why the original, and shorter version IS the one, in which you can fully enjoy the melody played by the synthesizers. In the longer (and most known version), this part is like overshadowed...hidden in some way... Of course this is only my opinion.... thank you very much for this!
ugh. you've made me appreciate a song i've hated since it came out. curses!
Thanks for being part of my learning something every day! Excellent job!
In 1983 "Men Without Hats" performed at Hofstra University, sponsored by "Hofstra Concerts". All the promotional posters were vandalized to read "Men Without Hits." IIRC, it wasn't a full house.
Spectacular song analysis, with clear and well-paced explanations, AND with cute and easy to follow hand-drawn visuals? I only wish I'd subscribed sooner! This fantastic!!
This song brings me right back to the early 80s, living with my new step-family in suburban Vancouver.
The high speed poity thumb and fingers to indicate the snare pan is a joy :) a kinda visual snare snap
Remides me of the Wnona's Big Brown Beaver video where the used the same 'film slow then speed it up' technique for cartoonish quick movent
6:54 "the song is built... more out of layers" Like onions and Ogres. Love it.
Awesome work. To paraphrase The Band: "I can't take the way he 'splains, But I love to hear him talk" - Or more to the point... I have NO idea what you're talking about. I know NOTHING about music. But man, I LOVE me some DECONSTRUCTED stuff. Continued Success and I'm subscribed!
Wow -- you've really upped your game. Haven't seen one in a while, now I have to check previous. Illustrations were excellent - and the editing to sync with the narrative AND the music is just perfection. I always loved Safety Dance. It was so simple and clear. Turns out all those subtle effects (did you hear the vocal treatments!) were working their Subconscious magic. Thanks for this analysis.
Yes! The editing to match the narration and the overlaid music is impeccable!
The harmonic structure and the video reminded me of Jethro Tull. Ian Anderson was experimenting with synth music then as well.
"(The vocals sang by Ivan Doroschuk) reminds you that no matter how digital the sounds are, at the heart of it all is still a real person making music for fun."
A beautiful way of putting that.
Thankyou for this. The song came out when I was a kid, and I've loved it ever since.
Had no idea there were different versions, though - I only knew the video version. It was a roller-dance staple at the time.
I was a little kid when this was out and I always loved seeing the video having no idea what any of it was about. It always brings back good childhood memories anytime I happen to hear it.
You said "echo-ey" and drew Ecco. Respect for such an obscure reference lol
The simple octave melody on the extended version is one of my favorites. How can two notes (practically one note) be so catchy?
This is one of my very favourite songs. I still have a first release (Australian 1983) 7” vinyl. With my wee gaggle of new waver friends in 1983, we sang and acted the video on our walk to school. Thanks for this brilliant essay 💃🏻🕺🏼
Timeline on the subject:
1982 - Safety dance comes out people wonder if it's just pogo dancing that's banned.
1984 - Footloose with Kevin Bacon. It turns out that all dancing is banned by the townspeople
1990 - Tremor with Kevin Bacon. Sequel to Footloose; the reason dancing is banned is because of the giant worms that follow vibrations and eat people
I was at “The New Wave Lounge” in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in May, 1980 with two friends. We were 19 year old cadets with our NY Merchant Marine training ship “Empire State V.” That’s when I first heard “Planet Claire” by The B-52s. We saw several dancers jumping around with one arm over their head. It looked comical to us so we started bouncing around with them. The people dancing the Pogo all looked very serious. But we were laughing because it seemed funny to us. The other dancers were not amused because they thought we were mocking them. So we headed over to “The Button” instead. That was my first exposure to New Wave and Ft. Lauderdale. Our next stop on that cruise was Montreal.
First 45 I ever bought with my own money! Thanks for doing this one.
I am in serious awe of your mastery of theory... plus, your hypnotic monogram voice seriously incurs relaxation and even sometimes sleep? :) this isn't in any way detractory, much love ❤
I am in awe that you edited this all together with the voiceover, notation* and drawings all coming together seamlessly, that's talented! (*I'm a musical dunce so not sure if that's correct terminology, sorry). Also, jealous as always of anyone who's talented in more than one area 😛 But seriously, thank you.
One of my fav songs, 'The Safety Dance - Men Without Hats', still got the vinyl. I love to dance (disco dance) but i've never tried to mosh/pogo/bounce to this tune, just like listening to the beat is all. And the official video is cool too. Love your graphics BTW
12tone you are among the most criminally undersubscribed TH-camrs out there. Keep up the excellent work!
Dude I got to say that was eye-opening. As a drummer I rarely have to look at music in such a light. I just keep the train going and let the magicians do their thing. But wow this is such a great breakdown of this song even if it was with synth drums. A breakdown like this makes me think "man, these guys were really thinking about the music." Your pics brought me in but the theory kept me here.
I love these breakdowns of "simple" songs like the daft punk one. It gives so much more appreciation (and ideas for my own work). Also, my new kitten loves your video and has been chasing your hand across the screen
Your ability to write with that sort of grip is amazing
Are you positive about this being the "original version of the song"? The original UK and Canadian LP issues use the 2:44 version also used in the video, but the U.S. LP issues on Backstreet, with the exception of one pressing, uses the 4:32 "Extended 'Club Mix'" (among other changes) which I spotted right away in this video because I have it on the 12" single I bought around the time it was originally released.
That bit highlighting the first note of the bass tresillo really made me think of Hydrogen by M|O|O|N. Also, excellent video! It's made me listen to my Men Without Hats album again.
Excellent analysis.
I always quite liked the song, but had no idea of all the sophistication that went into it.
Fridays are the best when Polyphonic and 12Tone drop videos on the same day.
you took one of my favorite songs and made my head hurt about it.
The beeps! I never realized it before, but Macklemore’s Downtown samples the beeps!
This is awesome, thank you. This song deserved such a thoughtful analysis. Great channel, Much appreciated.
Fascinating, I have always loved the song but didn't realise the underlying complexities. I remember the Pop-Up Video on VH1 describing the story leading up to the song, so this is a great counterpoint by digging deeper into how the song was constructed!
Duuuddeeeee you made me appreciate viewing music like this so much more!!!!!!!! You are MARRRVVVEEELLOOUUSSS
The Safety Dance was one of the few records that I bought back in the 1980s basically for many of the same reasons that you pointed out, but I didn't have the music theory chops to explain it then.. or now. Thanks for a nice revisit to this song that I enjoyed for the first time 40 years ago!
This track appeared to me to be reminiscent of an emergency announcement... A PSA if you will
Your analysis explains to me why I thought that
The drum machine, the beeps and the spoken intro...
Thanks
Excellent video!! Love the history note in there, too - I didn’t know about pogoing at all.
One request, that I realize isn’t as popular and is maybe a bit more of an Adam Neely song than a 12Tone. But GOAT’s Let it Burn is just awesome, and pretty rhythmically and structurally interesting.
Oh they also use a synthetic shaker as well, along with the hats...
GREAT VIDEO!!!
WOW! Just WOW. 🤯
Found your channel yesterday. I am thoroughly fascinated by Music Theory. I honestly didn't know it existed. And your delivery is awesome! The use of illustrations drives this home for me! Off to watch more. I literally can't get enough!
Safety Dance = Safe To Dance. That's the best explanation of the song I've ever heard. All I knew that was that it was a catchy song, and I don't even like or care about dancing.
Also, while I tend to think of popular music in layers of melody, harmony, rhythms, chord progressions, verses, choruses, transitions, etc. sometimes it can be simplified to "groove" and "beat."
I'll have to look more into this tresillo thing, as it seems close to what I like to do rhythmically in my own music: a Triplet phrasing over four beats, but the last triplet is shortened to 2 to make it fit in the bar. So I emphasize the 1 downbeat, the and of 2, and then the 3
downbeat, and repeat.
"Sorry if it's a cop-out" then draws a Twitter Verified symbol. Hot damn are the art references in this vid on point!
new fan! I'd love your take on a few songs, 80's child here from the MTV generation as well -- Suddenly Last Summer, Rio, All Night Long for starters! Your analysis is terrific and includes physics of the music PLUS the emotional rides they take us on. Well done, sir!
This channel explains music to me in a comfort zone. I process the information so much easier here. First time watcher, might have been a really easy song. It really kinda' is, but still good work. I appreciate the effort!
I had no clue about ANY of this. Thanks for the lesson.
This is the first time watching a video made by you, and while it's not completely original, you do it very well. I especially appreciate, the drawing of a pile of logs, to represent "tone" 😄
Just discovered this channel. I subbed. What a creative way to break down what's going on in a song. I learned so much and was glued to the monitor just to see what doodle would come up next. Very well done.
Super happy to see this amazing song featured on this amazing channel. Well done!
I danced to this song a LOT in college in the '80's! :)
I personally hear the verses as C mixolydian, not C minor. Especially because that E in the melody.
You're definitely right that the harmony is second to the rhythm. Fantastic video!
I never thought there was so much going on in this song. I really like it!
This is one of my favorite songs of all time and I love this video! I would never have thought to break it out like this, and it makes me love it even more. MWH is a band that I have been listening to since childhood and there are very few songs that I don’t like. Thanx for giving me even more love for them!
You've managed to bring musical knowledge to an humble ignorant such as me.
Brilliant explained!
Thanks so much for analyzing a song from my of my favourite groups! I'd greatly appreciate any analysis of other Men Without Hats songs!
Can you examine A Flock of Seagulls - I Ran (So Far Away)? It may be a simple song but it’s tones are incredible
3:41 The Sea of Sixteenths sounds like a great name for a Post-Rock band, and _Within The Sea of Sixteenths_ is the perfect name for their first album.
AT 13:10 as to why it is E flat. Perhaps a less lazy answer is that we are at the part where you CAN dance it you want to. So e flat lends itself to the sound of potential to move into tonality where you WILL be able to dance.