What Is ‘Dance Monkey’ and How Did It Take Over the World? | Diary of a Song
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2024
- The hit song by Tones and I started as a sensation on the streets of Australia before reaching No. 1 in 20 countries and topping 1 billion plays on Spotify. See how it was made.
Read the story here: nyti.ms/2uJEJ71
Subscribe: bit.ly/U8Ys7n
More from The New York Times Video: nytimes.com/video
----------
Whether it's reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, New York Times video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world. It's all the news that's fit to watch.
I am one of the old guys with the red jumper dancing in the music video , and i participated for over 15 music videos as an actor, i have to say one thing ,"Tones and I" apart from been a great artist , and singer ,she is a magnificent human being ,she treated everybody with respect, she was one of us all the way ,never met anybody like Tones and the cast and crew i worked with, she deserves anything she gets!!! For you anytime TONES! great staff.
Antonios Baxevanidis wow that’s amazing !
Sir
Love you SIR !!!! 💕
You are so precios man!!! 💜
😘
I hope she’s making money and not getting screwed over by her managers.
One of the best songs I heard in a long time
@Greg Fakerson jeez man chillax
Greg Fakerson i hope you get a soul and a heart
Greg Fakerson man it cost $0 to post that
@@yofamdonknow8464 Yea after Cradles
when I first heard this song on the radio I thought: "Wtf is this? Why does the singer use so much autotune?" Recently I found some videos where she is singing in public and after that I liked that song very much. I looked for more videos and found this one. Now I have a lot of respect for her singing and for her background story. A great woman!
Crazy how it's her actual voice! Amazing!
designamk1 my first thought with you was that you don’t like people that go to church
SAME
It's kind of sad how so many people have no clue what autotune is about and jumps straight into assuming that singers bleed in autotune straight off.
I used to live in Byron and watching this was surprised to see my bald self in two of the the flashback vids...i can attest to her outstanding live vocals. No backing tracks and an incredible work ethic, she worked hard and is very deserving of all the success.
“People think I’m an overnight success, but they don’t know all the work I put in...” WE CAN ALL LEARN FROM THAT!
@James Franko If you want to be good, there definitely is
We? You, you mean. 😂
my hands are twisted and the main joints didant move,but i opened my left hand playing guitar as a kid,,i started my 1st band in 1975,,hundreds of gigs ect taught 2 national champions 2 that became music teachers,, some of us have done 40 years of work for no fame
James Franko she wasn’t just singing. She was hauling her equipment and instrument onto the streets, getting harassed and bullied, & doing it every day. Anybody can sing, but not everybody puts in the work to succeed!
ekidmusic Humility is a virtue! 🙏🏼
This young lady is making Australia so proud
Not just for her unbelievable talent but for the exceptional sweet down to earth Aussie girl she is
Fame will not change her
You go girl
Sadly, ask the stage crew that work with her live performances... Apparently not so nice or humble. Shame.
I was driving in an Uber in Saudi Arabia and the driver put this song on and didn’t play any others the rest of the ride
Lydia Moriah Chan the art of fine torture
Better than mambo #5....
Lydia Moriah Chan Who was driving? You or the driver?
i did it that in my car the first week when i first listened that song .it was maybe 10 days .all the time .this song!!
Random
I always thought she was singing “Dance for me, dance for me, dance for me, ohh ohhhhh...”
Gregory Ashton she is I think
She is
Yeah I realise that now, but why is it called Dance Monkey then? 😂
Gregory Ashton ”Like a monkey I would dance for all my life” or something like that
Gregory Ashton You never heard the phrase “dance for me monkey”? A dance monkey is someone you objectify as only there for your entertainment. Kind of how people forget celebrities and entertainers are also human and not soulless robots just existing for your pleasure.
Hope she is not a one-hit-wonder.
Bisayaaawaaa
You're out of luck
They play her other songs on the radio
Ivy Alonso they’ve been playing dance monkey daily ever since it came out. I’m about to rip my ears off if I hear that voice ever again.
Smells like it to me.
Dee B somebody i used to know
This girl is absolutely brilliant. I love every song she's wrote. Keep going girl. Love ya Tone, I.💖💖💖💖💖💖❣️❣️❣️❣️💋💋💋
You too are brilliant.
What your saying that I am brilliant.
2 be honest when I first heard the song I thought it was Sia singing it but kudos to her. I have it on my playlist.
I thought it was Paloma faith
I thought it was Duffy lol
Crimea River well its been top1-top3 on spotify for months and has had i think the fastest 1 billion streams I've seen in spotify history.
If you dont look there we cant blame you for not knowing but lot of people have heard it. But nowadays even for hits id bet a lot of people havent heard it because they arent in the streaming and arent in the radio ecosystem.
I thought it was Tash Sultana...
@Arkham Knight Of course I do troll. That's y I made the statement genius.
Honestly I just thought this was another EDM song but it’s good to know the story behind it she seems really down to earth
Her voice is just so unique and the fact it didn't need autotune makes it even better.....
@@mv9140 If her voice was like "millions of others", she wouldn't have shot up this high.
Cailin Price: she’s a one hit wonder
@@mv9140 Tones sounds exactly the same live and on recording (see: Dance Monkey). Why you're bringing autotune concerning her is beyond me as it is largely irrelevant.
What do you mean by "thick"? I've never heard anyone describe a song or a voice as "thick" on its own before, and never people other than physically.
@@mv9140 Fair enough but you don't have to disregard people's work and talent just because it's not your thing.
I'm not into this kind of music either but I can appreciate the work put into it and appreciate it hitting high up in the charts.
It IS pop song, therefore being "one with the masses", but that doesn't belittle the story behind this song and the artist.
Uniquely annoying.
Her voice is uniq so her personality and I like the last phrase she said
Hicham Agb too bad she is ugly ... so she can’t become a great artist
Santiago Villegas sh is kinda fat. I think if she lost the weight she would look alright
strangeKE yeah and maybe add some weird looking style (authentic style) like Sia or something
This comment thread just gave me cancer.
No One cares
I think half the reason this song was a hit is because you can sorta understand the words but you also can’t. It’s intriguing. The rasp in her voice, the accent or vocal tone you can’t pinpoint where it’s from, etc. It makes you ask, who is this? You can’t really create that, you just are that.
I’ve heard the song but never knew how big it was until I’m watching this and my 6 year old niece walks in the room and starts to sing along.
Wow. An artist that sings live and sounds just as good as it does when edited on a soundtrack. Amazing!
This is my favorite 2019 song. This song is addictive.
I was hopeless and didn’t listen to other 2019 songs until this came out.
I remember my neighbours blasting this from across the street for literally 12 hours straight for like a week in September
"I wrote it in thirty minutes, and it was done."
That's how it always goes!
Ok the thumbnail looks like how my dad typically dresses. He's so ahead of his time, if popular kids are dressing like this haha
Have heard the song a lot but didn't know the story, pretty cool
This is so inspiring. Passion and dedication can lead to great things. I just took it as a random song but the backstory makes me want to cry. Rooting for her to succeed. What a talent.
Saw her live tonight in Seattle! She’s was amazing!
@@Wisdom23 Australia
She deserves all the success
You comment on the most random videos. This is like my 5th time seeing you comment on a video.
harris I love this song =)
Ray Mak I don’t.
I hope my crush notice my love the way I see your comments on all videos.
@@hsupyaepyaelwin5179 lmao
I remember when how proud I was when I discovered this unique song when it was still unknown outside of Australia 😊️
She’s got a very unique voice, I hope she has the right people to groom her talent and make her an icon in current era.
Excited to see more from her! Loving it so far!
It’s very easy to take it for granted, as today’s consumer of pop music is ‘over’ every song the third time they hear it, but she has really brought something original and extraordinary to the world wide scene.
This is my first time hearing about this artist and this song.
@Angry Ox Nice to know I'm not alone. I was thinking I'm out of the loop or something if this is supposed to be a popular song. But I'm guessing mainly in Australia and just getting a little US exposure.
Where are you from? It's very popular in Northamerica, Australia and Europe. Anytime you turned on the radio...
I'm in canada and I've never heard of this either. Wth lmao
@@Nadia-cr2rs I'm in California. I travel a lot too and haven't heard it. Maybe some radio stations do play it. But there are thousands of radio stations certain stations play songs that you wouldn't hear other stations play.
Nadia K Seriously, it’s so over played now. Not an hour goes by without this song playing on the radio at work🙃 It’s a shame, it’s a really nice song but I just associate it with work now. Kinda like how the default alarm sound makes me feel
Take a shot everytime they say, "busk"
i eat a double big mac each time she says it. she is a fellow high weight person, anytime one gets some shine i celebrate.
Instructions unclear. I own a ranch in Arizona now.
@@cdorresteijn sounds like a win to me.
Well they really want to push the narrative as hard as possible. Wouldn't want us to realize that shes not actually a rags to riches story. Even though she told us that she quit her cushy job on a beach to pretend to be homeless.
If you wanna die... 😑
I might live under a rock, I didn’t know about this song until today
You definitely do
They had this song blasting everywhere. Restaurants, tunzafuns, and any other birthday place etc etc
I wish I was as lucky as you, it's been inescapable in Australia
Never heard it until now
me too didnt know abt it until 4 or 5 days ago
i met her in byron and hanged out with her after her show in "the art factory" such humble person she is,, real talk
Just when I thought I couldn’t love the song anymore I find out how much of an awesome person Tones is
Does her voice remind anyone else of Elle King?
She reminds me of Tash Sultana
Both have an affected style of singing as if chanelling the spirit of a small child. Only difference Elle King has far more power and range in her pipes. The song America’s Sweetheart has far more musicality and not what you would call a novelty hit.
as in horrid?
Olivia Sharp yaaaassss!! I said that the other day at work!!
@olivia sharp and Gin Wigmore too from New Zealand. Check her out
I never knew that was called busking.
The more you know
I'm not a native english speaker, still not sure what it means, could you explain to me?
It’s singing or dancing out on the street trying to get money
Yeah you live under a rock
its called pan handling here in the USA
From the Spanish verb "buscar" to search, to ask.
What an incredible song, incredible story, and incredible person... makes me proud to be an Aussie!
I didn't even know this was on the billboards already.
Lol since last decade 🤷🏻♂️
jason4275 It has over a billion streams on spotify
it's currently at #5 on the US billboard hot 100.
@@loganstewart7717 Oh really? I thought youtube was leading with 500M views. Gosh she got rich in a blink f an eye.
@@zacharyf.568 Wow, it's blowing right now when I thought we've already listened to it too many times. First of all she was indie, but I see the song is now licenced to WMG, warner media group, Atlantic Records. Indies are not allowed to hit until they join a record label.
Goes to show , as long as you have just 1 person that believes in you fully , you can absolutely move mountains.
She is amazing and her voice is so unique. I love this videos when we learn the story behind a song. Thank you for the video.
Sad I just turned 44 and I'm playing it for my 7 kids. My favorite song I'm keep playing for everyone to listen too. I heard her story first which turned up my pushing. Love this girl like she's my own. I have my oldest biological daughter who is singer. This is huge. Dreams do come true. But I live this beautiful girl first as artist. Amazing. So proud of her
I found out about this song from my friend’s younger sister. She was like “PLAY DANCE MONKEY! PLAY DANCE MONKEY!” And I was like what is that? I found it on TH-cam and by the middle of the song we were all singing, dancing, and jumping around. This is one of my favorite songs of all time now.
I'm obsessed with this song. I even set this song as my phone ringtone. Wishing Tones further success in life. May the good Lord bless her. Love from India, Meghalaya.
First time hearing this song and probably last time. I'm going back to live under my rock
Dance monkey was my & my 3 year old granddaughters theme for the whole summer last year during the lockdown lots of beautiful memories all triggered by this amazing song,
She lights up whenever she hears it & drags me up to dance 🕺
💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗
So inspiring... She is so genuine. A pure talent!
This showed in my feed and I have never heard this song before. Fell immediately in love w her and got caught in the spell of the song. Tones, you reminded me that it takes 20 years to be an overnight success. THANK YOU.
My relatives at a gathering: Why don't you sing a song for us? Show us some of your talents!
Me: 0:09
the first time i heard this son was on a rural town in sinaloa,called cerro agudo!! i was shock the way they dance this song, because is pretty much a town of maccho people who used to listen only banda music!!!
Not only are you gifted with an amazing personality and unique voice...you are so down to earth! Please don't ever change this about yourself :)
She looks so....... Normal.
Love it.
They told Kate Bush the same thing about Wuthering Heights. I wish Tones loads of success.
James Mills Really Wuthering Heights ? That’s an amazing song !!
Difference is Hounds of Love is one of the best albums of all time and Dance Monkey is one of the worst hit songs of all time
@@lovejoymbedzi9643 The label wanted another song to be the lead single, 19 year old Kate insisted on Wuthering Heights and how right she was.
I love wuthering heights!
At least people had taste when Wuthering Heights became a hit.
This video made me love the song even more 🤩She's earned the spotlight 👌🏽
People love her because she loves her own music and loves sharing it with others and it clearly shows. No airs, no pretenses or snobbery out of her. I wish her all the success in the world.
Sad to hear of her rough experiences; people can be the worst. Beautiful, unique voice that goes straight to my heart! I just wish her so much luck, not that she needs it.
Her story is one of few that truly tear me up 🙌🙌💖💖 hope you enjoy every bit you can sweetie
I didn’t realize this song was so popular?? good on them though, it’s a good song
It's because of TikTok
I have great respect to all those who worked their way up and she really did went through a lot to reach where she is today. Like they say, one minute of performance on stage, ten years of hard work off stage.
I love tones she's wonderful she has respect dignity honour an integrity
Australia is so proud of Tones!
damien gleeson not really.
Random Name every Triple J hottest 100 house party I know of went absolutely nuts when Tones and I didn’t win #1.
Enjoy her why she last because shes awful. Id say 1 hit wonder but that dance monkey is not goid
@@johnobrien1759 what is "goid"?
What an amazing and unique voice and style...I LOVE HER!!!!!!!
There's some really gross and mean comments here. This song literally caught my attention everytime it played on the radio and honestly I never thought that it'll be an aussie! I've been to Melbourne and bourke street. Wish I could have seen her play!
I am in the USA ... LOVE this song!! Want to dance when I am driving and listening to your song! Thank you! ❤
Love how he says "No one ever walks past Tones. No one."
Then only a minute later, specifically shows someone walking past
And he says "people just loved it" while showing people standing there not moving, looking at their phones.
It's so good that i cry listening this song live. Best of the best. Human girl with both legs on the ground. I am amazed.
What amazing talent,i hope she stays on track,she’ll go places🔝
My dad doesn’t even listen to english songs but when he first time he listened to this one he fell in love w it n sings to it until now😂
Idk why I’m crying, but I’m so so incredibly proud of this girl. I’ve never heard of this girl, but I love her
I remember first hearing this song...it came on the radio and I instantly started looking for it and it wasn't even done playing through yet
As an indie artist....this motivated and inspired me like no other. Literally dropped everything and about to go INNN on my music 🎵
She is so real and humble amazing voice god bless you
4:45 „That caught a fire real quick“ in the context of Australia
Ohh i'm so happy for her! I dance to this with my kids! Keep making music that inspires the world!
My daughter loves this song! She's 3 and knows every word... As do I. We listen to it everyday 💜🤜🤛
Dear Tones,
Keep up your great work!
I don't know why, but Dance Monkey hits me hard every time, I listen to it - and I love it.
God bless you and your music.
Best wishes from Denmark.
if she copyrighted literary everyone, she gon be way more richer
Lol she probably already did
She has!
that's not how music industry and copyright works
I had no idea. The back story is very sad. Brings me to tears. I wish Tones the best. Beautiful girl.
I love how her voice could do that naturally with out using auto tune in live performances
don't demonize auto tune.
It’s pretty cool it can sound so terrible with out auto tune.
I have to get up and go to work at 3 in the morning here in California United States of America. It's 1:45 in the mornin I just woke up from a fabulous dream that I had with tones. She was in a medical clinic having a procedure and when I met her I was very polite and respectful and I simply told her you're so fabulous that meeting you in person has made me stop smoking cigarettes. Ask anybody anybody and they will tell you Michael cares more about cigarettes do when somebody either life if they tell him is smoke bothers them. She was so nice to me and she invited me to her home hom. When they got there everybody was so nice to me and she put on a concert and started singing dance monkey. I started crying and I was jumping up and down and Dam it, I woke up. I started playing it on my computer full blast without ever opening up my eyes and the tears started flowing down my face.. Now I'm writing this ... I'm going to stay up go to work and have a kicking my step like I haven't had in years, and I went to bed and I went to bed exhausted. Thank you for being in my dreams...ps. this is the first time in years I haven't woke up and let a cigarett. I just stopped smoking because of you Tones... Thank you very much. Thank you very very much... Love from California United States of America...Michael.
Guess I ahve been under a rock cause first I have heard of it...and now a fan all in a space of 3 minutes...Go Tones ...you amazing
I love roller skating to that song. It makes you dance and it feels good.
I've abused this song and now I hate the sound of it. Like eating too much chocolate cake and then falling ill from it
Lol ....
don't worry, it's how nature plays out. I also got sick from it.
I totally get you 😭 that happens every time I discover an amazing sing or like a song that's on the radio and then it plays everyday for 3 months (Gangnam style/diamonds Rihanna/imagine dragons songs etc)
@@saskiadenboer3239 You look like a superstar. Are you sure you don't have a hit song?
Not me.
I played it for 90 min nonstop last nite.!
It ruined my sleep time however. 😊
when i first heard this song i didnt think too much of it and then a few days later i hear my kids singing it while it was on the radio ... i asked them if they knew all the words to the song and they said yea we know most of them ... I grabbed my bass and had the main bass line down in 10minutes,showed my daughter how to drum to it and BOB ya Unkle .
Tones, my kids and i love your music cant wait to see you in NZ
She works hard and very talented ! She deserved all the awards
So much joy to see her flying up there... and more than that is to see the ppl getting crazy thanks to her music...
“That caught a fire real quick in Australia”
D D My apology, I was just simply trying to point out the bad choice in words during this video.
D D 4:46
i remember when i first heard dance monkey i was up late lookin at youtube and suddenly i stumbled across dance monkey and literally a week after that i heard people listening to it everywhere. So i heard it before it was big
I just love you. You're absolutely unique. Please bring it to the states. You will be stepping into your own little world. All right, we will absolutely love you and go bonkers. ! Bring it girl bring it. And if you do bring it to Peoria, Illinois, if you make it here, you'll make it anywhere.
Ramona meischner Tones and I is currently touring the US
I worked in Peoria. I used to jam out to this song going to different high schools to cover games
Her story got me goosebumps....... amazing.
I don’t even like this song but she looks like an amazing woman
She is quite fat you know
@@hsvr she didn't said amazing body , she said AMAZING WOMAN
namee ee I’m not denying what she said
@@hsvr she's an amazingly fat woman.
It took me to get to the first quarter of this video before I even clicked the LIKE button. I started loving this video when I found out how determined she is.
She has such an appealing voice. It’s sort of scratchy/rough but in a good way.
She makes me so proud to be Australian. Good on her. I wish her all the best. She has an amazing talent and an amazing voice.
I wish her more success on her future endeavors. Very inspiring. My daughter loves her song! Didn’t know the grind she put in to achieve this level of success. Welp , time to buy a van🤣
Literally never heard this until Leo from Frog Leap and Bea and everyone covered it, which was AWESOME!
It is all over tiktok, I never knew she is the girl
First I met his son was on tiktok I think this NYT doc. does not give the enough credit to the chinesse App. last time I Heard the song was on a table dance.
I went to Paris back in January and this song was EVERYWHERE
Tones i am so proud of you! Thank you for being a true Artist! And also a big respect to those People, Who supported you through hard times!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this & you Tones - WOW whadda a song . . . what a singer/talent!!!
This makes me smile all over! Best to you sister - Live and Love your Dream Coming to Fruition
I never imagined I would see afl on New York Times. well done.
Been seeing so many auditions with this song. Looked up what the song is about. Cool. She's great! She works hard. Happy for her. I hear the song on the radio here. Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹