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Kinsey Blain

Dr. Ryan Myers

English 1201

12th February 2020

Dancing On My Own

In the music industry, songs are always being covered and remade. Many of the most

popular songs have been remade and shaped into what they are today. Whether it be by another

artist or the original artist, songs are always changing. One song that has been remade is

“Dancing On My Own” by Robyn. Calum Scott’s version of “Dancing On My Own” changes the

meaning of the song without lyrically changing it. In Robyn’s version, the song is about being

over your ex and doing just fine on your own. Calum Scott’s version is about still trying to get

over your ex.

Robyn wrote and released the song “Dancing On My Own” in 2010. The music video

was released on Youtube on May 28th, 2010. Calum Scott covered the song and released a music

video to his own version six years later, on June 14th, 2016. The songs are lyrically the same,

with the exception of a few little pronouns. The main difference between the two versions is the

pace of the song. Calum’s version is much slower and more calm than Robyn’s version. Robyn’s

version is loud and has more of a disco feeling to it, whereas Calum’s version has a sad

atmosphere around it.

The auto tune and instruments in each song majorly affects them. In Robyn’s version, the

autotune is the main thing that one notices. Immediately as the song starts, the listener is drawn

to it and it is extremely noticeable. In Calum’s version it is more of an acoustic song with

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minimal instruments that are noticeable. His version is mainly vocals which is appealing to some

when listening to the song his way.

Robyn’s song “Dancing On My Own” is a post-breakup song. In the music video, Robyn

is the main character. She is in a club watching her ex with another girl. Throughout the video

she is dancing by herself, hence the title. In the video, whenever you hear the lyrics, “I keep

dancing on my own…” the camera pans to her having a good time by herself. This song makes

the claim that you can have a good time on your own and don’t necessarily need someone else to

have fun.

In Calum’s version, he is the main character watching an ex with someone else. They are

in a room with everyone wearing the same thing and looking alike. Everyone in the video is

staring emotionless ahead except for him, his ex, and the person his ex is with. This video is

about him not being fully over his ex and still emotional about it. The story being told is

sometimes it takes a while to get over someone, and you can be upset about it. The claim this

video makes is that it is okay to be upset about a break up and it can take time to fully get over

someone and that’s okay.

Throughout the videos, one can see how the claims are being supported. In both of the

videos, the claims are supported by the things going on. The claims are being supported by the

lyrics and the way that the lyrics are acted out throughout the videos. The evidence in these

videos is the first-hand experiences that are going on. Once someone watch the videos, it is clear

the claims being made.

These two versions both use pathos. In Robyn’s version, pathos is used through the lyrics

and how the video is presented. In Calum’s version, the pathos are stronger and make the

audience feel the words more. His vocals and emotion he puts behind each word he sings makes
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the viewer and listeners feel the emotions as he sings. The video uses pathos in other ways too.

The way that the setting is set up, the atmosphere, and the filter on the video go well with the

words and emotions that he sings about. For these reasons, Calum does a better job with getting

the claim across.

The audiences vary for each video. The main audience for Robyn’s video is people who

are going through a break up and need a song that makes them stronger. The audience for

Calum’s version is teenagers, or anyone going through a tough time that's looking for a good, sad

song. Even though the lyrics are the same, the way each artist presents the song appeals to the

different audiences.

The visual appeals and the ways each song are presented make it almost like a different

song. Calum did a good job of taking a song that is already well made and adding his own

personal touches to make it even better. Even though it is the same song, one of the versions is

disco and electric and the other one is more calm and relaxed. If you watched both music videos

without sound, it would be very difficult to know it is the same song, just two different versions.
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Works Cited

Calum Scott. “Calum Scott- Dancing On My Own.” Youtube.com, 14 June 2016,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=q31tGyBJhRY. Accessed on 05 February 2020.

Robyn . “Robyn - Dancing On My Own.” YouTube, 28 May 2010,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcNo07Xp8aQ. Accessed on 05 February 2020.