Coup De Stereo -- Come Home "Safety Dance," All Is Forgiven

We are all fallible. Remember that.

A week back, I wrote about the old synth-pop hit "Safety Dance." I may even have said that the song is "basically retarded."

Then, I returned to my ancestral home of San Diego, CA. The family ventured from Imperial Beach up north to the luxurious city of La Jolla for a seaside picnic. Towards the end of the day, I was standing on a cliff with my 11-year old nephew watching his older brother body surf over treacherous rocks. Yes, I was much too cowardly to go in and tempt death on those rocks. This timid nature helps explain my chosen profession of rock critic. We are a meek, bespectacled bunch.

In general,  I don't know what you do when confronted with a relative defying death amidst a setting sun. Cry for help? Pray? Perhaps conquor by demons and dive in and drag the child out of the sea and suggest a game of cards instead? 

That day, I discovered what I would do. It turns out, in times of crisis, I start to sing "We can dance if we want to/ We can leave your friends behind..." -- Yes,  the opening lyrics to "Safety Dance."

I have no idea why I broke into robo-song, but here is the beautiful part. My nephew didn't miss a beat, he picked it up with "Cause your friends don't dance/And if they don't dance/Well, they're no friends of mine."

I looked at him and asked how in the world he knew the song. He told me EVERYBODY knows "Safety Dance."

Later that night, they broke out their laptop and should me a video of Jimmy Carlin shredding to the Men Without Hats robo-classic. Then, the two boys fired Rhapsody up and put "Safety Dance" on "repeat" while my baby boy laughed and popped-and-locked to it for about 15 minutes (and by "pop-and-lock" what I really mean is that he kicked his legs around in an insane Riverdance style frenzy).

So, thank you Men Without Hats!

You and your "Safety Dance" are helping to bridge generations and to unite families.