Blogocentric Formulations

Shutting up and dancing with Walk the Moon

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Song: "Shut Up + Dance"
Artist: Walk the Moon
Album: Talking is Hard

I think it's appropriate that the last song I'm using for this Soundtrackers challenge is the song that I'm currently listening to on repeat, having only discovered it yesterday. Walk the Moon is an alternative rock band from Cincinnati and are relatively new on the scene; they formed in 2008 and went through a variety of lineup changes before lead singer Nicholas Petricca finally settled in with current members Kevin Ray, Sean Waugaman, and Eli Maiman in 2010. They had mild success with songs like "Anna Sun" off their self-released first album and "Tightrope" from their self-titled sophomore effort, but their third album Talking is Hard is where they really caught on, when this single was released in September of 2014 ahead of the December 2014 release of the album. The song got them on the charts in several countries and they seem poised to really blow up from here.

Even if you've heard the song before, I highly recommend checking out their music video below. The song is an upbeat throwback to the 80s, and the video does a flawless job of infusing a lot of 80s goodness into the video. It's fun, entertaining, and fits perfectly with the carefree fun of the song itself. While this song can largely be applied to dancing and having a good time with a girl in general, this song really reminds me of when I first started dating my wife. I was a very introverted, contemplative kind of person, and she was more inclined to just jump into something and not always worry about all the details. It wasn't uncommon for her to tell me the situational equivalent of "shut up and dance" or, more broadly, "stop overthinking and just enjoy the moment."

After being married for seven years (and together for going on fifteen years), it's easy to fall into routines and forget some of the stuff that happened early on in your relationship. In fact, our roles have kind of switched over the years. It's usually me being the one saying, "Hey, let's just have fun," and her being the one to want to plan out all our activities ahead of time. And I wouldn't change how our relationship has grown and developed and matured over the years for anything... but when something comes along that reminds you of those early years, I think it has a special meaning and it's important to hold onto that.