Me and my friend Ed were talking on the train ride home last night about being friends with exes and trying to maintain that relationship after they’ve started seeing someone else. Not easy. Especially if you are still single. The whole “oh, I wasn’t good enough for you…who is this other asshole?” thought process comes into play. There’s a little bit of anger and a lot of sadness, and…add a ridiculously danceable electro beat, and you now have Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own”.

To me, the lyrics of “Dancing On My Own” are this intriguing mix of internal emotional collapse and external steely resolve. The narrator is clearly devastated-the image of someone at a club or a party, dancing alone while everyone else is coupled up is almost heartbreaking (it’s also a situation I’ve either been in or pictured myself in numerous times). I don’t know, though. I still see something cathartic and triumphant in putting on the screwface and doing your best Rosie Perez titty pop through the tears.

That’s kinda why I like songs that are sad lyrically but upbeat musically.

It’s like “I Will Survive”, but not corny.

Make sure you go for the version of “Dancing On My Own” that appears on Body Talk Pt. 1 as opposed to the single version (that appears on the Body Talk compilation). Subtle differences in the mix, but I think the original version is a little drier in production and it just feels more insistent and less polished.