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Abigail Jaquish

Professor Leonard

English 1201.2V7

2 March 2022

Two “Dancing on My Own” Videos

In 2016, music writer and singer Calum Scott released his album Only Human,

containing the song “Dancing on My Own.” As the title states, Scott’s intention for the song was

to express his loneliness while watching his loved one leave. Two years later, cover artist Daryl

Ong created a cover for the same song, adding his own style and interpretations to the song and

leaving a contrasting gap between his version and the original version of “Dancing on My Own.”

Both videos provide significantly different aspects visually and emotionally due to the way they

are presented. These differences include target audience, camera angles, video lighting and

character roles.

In the beginning lyrics of the song, Scott starts off by lamenting the loss of his love to a

new man. The emotion that flows from his voice as he sings compliments the melancholy lyrics

and helps to meaningfully draw out each word, providing the listener with an easy-going

listening experience. The lyrics throughout his song help to show his true emotions of loneliness

and helplessness from losing his love, and as he reaches the chorus “I’m giving it my all, but I’m

not the guy you’re taking home…”, the climax of the song is clearly hit, leaving the viewer and

listener with a few moments to digest these impactful words before Scott moves to the second

verse. Although his intentions were to send a message to his significant other, Scott’s target

audience goes beyond that, reaching those who have also gone through similar experiences.
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Through musically expressing his own experiences in love, Scott enables himself to become a

relatable artist for many people.

Scott’s aesthetic is clearly shown throughout the entirety of this song, as the cool lighting

and artsy, simplistic settings for the music video provide a melancholic overcast to accompany

his lyrics. Instead of giving his viewers a story-based music video, Calum Scott takes a different

approach. His video consists of many people dressed in the same basic manner, all standing the

same way with their gaze fixed on one key location. The camera does not necessarily keep its

focus on Scott like many music artists would have preferred, but instead scans across the crowd

of people, capturing their still gazes. Occasionally, we see the camera focus on a boy and girl

who seem to be playing the main roles in the music video. The video plays out this way through

the whole song, highlighting the Scott during certain lyrics and helping to prove the painful

loneliness he feels.

In contrast, Ong covers the song in a completely different way. By providing characters

and setting a stage for the video, Ong creates a story for his fans and other viewers to follow

along with as he sings through the song. His own interpretation of the piece gives viewers a

different outlook on the song and how the lyrics impact listeners as well. Ong put more emphasis

on telling a story not only with the lyrics, but also with the visuals, creating a nice contrast to the

original music video by Calum Scott.

Set in a cafe, the video begins featuring Ong as he sits alone sipping coffee. The camera

zooms out to show his love on a date with her new man, unknown to her that Ong is sitting just

across the way. Although the cafe provides the viewer with a cheery background, it is soon

strongly overcast by the melancholy facial expressions of Ong and the sad tone his voice adopts
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for the song. The consistency of the camera changing its focus between Ong and the main girl

creates a piece of videography that is simple and easy to follow along with. Ong does well in

creating a video that sends the message clearly and in a straight-forward manner to its audience.

Just as the two versions contrast in scenery, camera angles and videography, they also strongly

contrast in who their target audiences are. The cool, artistic rendition by Calum Scott seems to

appeal to an older audience and to viewers more experienced in heartbreak and unforgettable

love. His choices in how he delivers the lyrics and displays the video visuals are related to on a

greater scale by the older audience, unlike the audience for Ong’s rendition. Ong’s cover version

reaches out towards a younger and more inexperienced audience of people. Though he sings the

same lyrics as Scott, the emotion in his voice carries a lighter tune and comes across as someone

who is sad, but still hopeful of a second chance in this love he has lost. Many people in the

younger generation would be able to relate to this “young love” feeling, unlike how Calum’s

deliverance of the song is heavy and more pain-filled by the heartbreak spoken of in the song.

Both versions prove that the way a song is sung, as well as presented, can greatly affect both how

the target audience receives it, and what the takeaway from the song and its video visuals are.

Both versions do well in placing a lot of emphasis on Pathos and working to touch the

viewers emotionally. By utilizing their unique vocals, alongside their chosen visuals for their

individual music videos, the use of Pathos is presented very clearly to the target audiences in

both Scott’s and Ong’s renditions. However, because Calum Scott was the original creator of the

song, he also holds the rhetorical appeal, Ethos, more so than Daryl Ong does in his cover video.

Singing his song in a more authoritative manner, Scott makes his lyrics seem more real and

personal to the audience. His deliverance of the song makes for both an emotional and relatable
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experience for its viewers and provides a piece of music for those going through similar

situations. Likewise, Daryl Ong provides a cover that offers the audience the opportunity for a

few short moments of relatability to one of life’s many grievances through the passage of music.

In the end, the two music videos, though they make the same claim and deliver the same lyrics,

cater to different audiences because of the contrast of presentation and style. Each artist conveys

their own feelings and emotions throughout their own renditions, making use of their own

strengths and influences over different target audiences. Appreciation can be shown to both

versions of “Dancing on My Own”, despite what target audience one might better fit into.
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Works Cited

Ong, Daryl. “Dancing on My Own - Calum Scott - Cover by Daryl Ong.” YouTube, 17 Aug. 2018,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2ZKq_Z9-mE&ab_channel=DarylOngOfficial. Accessed
20 Feb. 2022.

Scott, Calum. “Dancing on My Own (Official channel Video).” YouTube, 14 June 2016,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=q31tGyBJhRY&ab_ =CalumScottVEVO. Accessed 20 Feb.

2022.