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Men Without Hats' "The Safety Dance" is obviously one of, if not the, greatest music videos of all time, and it depicts a Maypole-featuring celebration, on what is probably a May Day, as is today. So, let us celebrate this pinnacle of an art form, and a monumental achievement of Western civilization in general.
I wish my May 1sts were this awesome.
Geek trivia: the little person is Mike Edmonds, who played an Ewok and helped animate Jabba's tail in RotJ.
"Yub nub?"
Indisputable fact: Men Without Hats' Ivan Doroschuk is a total badass in the video, despite his lack of dancing, which, like rain on your wedding day, is deeply ironic.
Just how was he not cast as Aragorn?!
Here's what he's had to say about the video:
“I’ve always said that I was in the right place at the right time,” he continues. “When ‘Safety Dance’ came out, our record label really wanted us to make a video. MTV was starting out and probably only had three or four videos in rotation at the time. It was all so new, but it got us the recognition we wanted right away…. The new wave sound that we were championing was the perfect marriage between synth and prog. Looking back, it was the way we were all going to escape the disco scene.”
Judging by this shot, she has left her friends behind.
If so, you're not alone; a number of people have. Turns out she's Louise Cort, a Cosmopolitan UK editor. Here's a recent-ish picture of her blasting from the past.
(And yes, there is a literal music video version, and yes, it is great.)
All in all, it's a great song that remains thoroughly relevant today:
Discuss.
