The Dance Monkey sensation

There is a new hit in town and it is what everybody is dancing to and singing along with. After almost a year since the song was released, Pinoys have hopped on the Dance Monkey bandwagon and are enjoying every bit of it. The singer and composer behind it is Toni Watson, who, for some reason, I still have to find out, calls herself Tones And I. She was busking on the streets and uploading covers on YouTube when she was discovered.

Thanks to Dance Monkey, Tones And I has become the biggest selling artist of the moment Down Under. That means nine times Platinum for the single which spent 24 weeks at No. 1 in Australia and which also topped the hit lists in 30 countries. She is also a multi-award winner having swept four trophies also for Dance Monkey at the ARIA Awards. This is the Australian version of the Grammys. 

Dance Monkey is not much of a song. The lyrics are trite, mostly repetitive and even nonsensical. And I admit I am finding it hard to connect the monkey to dancing. The best I can come up with is when somebody is being like a trained monkey who does everything he is commanded to do and that can be dancing. It goes…

“They say, oh my God, I see the way you shine/ Take your hands, my dear, and place them both in mine/ You know you stopped me dead while I was passing by/ And now I beg to see you dance just one more time/ Ooh I see you, see you, see you every time/ And oh my, I I I like your style/ You, you make me, make me wanna cry/ And now I beg to see you dance just one more time.

“So they say/ Dance for me/ Dance for me/ Dance for me oh oh oh/ I’ve never seen anybody do the things you do before/ They say move for me move me, move for me ay ay ay/ And when you’re done, I’ll make you do it all again.” Just like a monkey indeed.

The beat though is something else. It has a most irresistible  groove that is just right for today’s attention challenged audience. It is the sort that invites blasts on social media, that is ideal for TikTok and perfect for parents who adore watching their kids dance, even if only on self-made videos tiktoked on their hand phones.

Also helping along is the amusing music video. It shows Tones And I as a despondent elderly man named Mr. Tones in a home for seniors. Left alone by the caregiver, she or I should say he, goes off on her or his own to a golf course where she or he joins a game and has a dance party with other senior citizens. They all have fun to the music of Tones And I.

Though the tune is definitely musically better, what is now happening to Dance Monkey echoes the success of Old Town Road by Lil Nas X. Both made excellent use of social media. Users were already singing along and dancing to them before they entered conventional promo channels. The songs were viral sensations first and there was no stopping them from going straight to the top when they got to radio and TV and etc. Looks like the music business has a new and most effective way to promote its releases.

As for Tones and I, it is nice to know that Dance Monkey is not the only type of music that she does. Released a year ago, her debut EP The Kids Are Coming has garnered positive reactions. Aside from Dance Monkey, it has produced two more hits which are also big on social media. One is her first single, Johnny Run Away, which she uploaded on Unearthed, an artist discovery platform for indie talents. This was what led to interest in her second release, which happened to be Dance Monkey.

Her latest is Never Seen the Rain, a weighty, melancholy pop ballad that showcases her distinctive vocals. It is not as infectious as her breakthrough tune but it is proof that Tones And I has what it takes to be an artist to reckon with in the music business.  There is life for this girl after Dance Monkey.