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My Gen X Playlist: Dancing Queen – U2

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I enjoy musicals, but rarely search for them to plan an outing. This year, though, we decided to sign up for a mini package of musicals: Annie, Hamilton and Momma Mia! Of the three, I’ve only seen Momma Mia!. Who doesn’t love ABBA? Annie, I can go either way. I’m sure I’ll be pleasantly surprised. I am excited to see Hamilton. I’ve heard great things about it. If you’ve seen any of them, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

When we were kids, we played ABBA’s Greatest Hits all the time. Yeah, I know it’s disco, but we were under ten years old, plus it was the sign of the times. ABBA makes me think of Dancing Queen. Even less manly, I agree. But how can you not sing along? I still remember all the words. Apparently, there was confusion about some of the lyrics.

This came top of a 2014 poll conducted by Blinkbox concerning the most commonly misheard lyrics in Pop. 22% of the people polled admitted they had mistaken the lyric “See that girl, watch that scene, diggin’ the dancing queen” for, “See that girl, watch her scream, kicking the dancing queen.”

Songfacts

There are some great covers of this song. U2 covered it on their Zoo TV tour. Bono does a great job crooning the lyrics. I guess if Edge and Bono are both man enough to sing it, I shouldn’t worry about liking it myself. Toxic masculinity is a waist of energy, anyway.

I also saw this acoustic version of Dancing Queen on America’s Got Talent. It’s a sweet slowed down version by Debbii Dawson. Thought it would be another interesting version for the playlist. Enjoy.

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

Ooh
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh, see that girl
Watch that scene
Digging the dancing queen

Friday night and the lights are low
Looking out for a place to go
Where they play the right music
Getting in the swing
You come to look for a king
Anybody could be that guy
Night is young and the music's high
With a bit of rock music
Everything is fine
You're in the mood for a dance
And when you get the chance

You are the dancing queen
Young and sweet
Only seventeen
Dancing queen
Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh, see that girl
Watch that scene
Digging the dancing queen

You're a teaser, you turn 'em on
Leave 'em burning and then you're gone
Looking out for another
Anyone will do
You're in the mood for a dance
And when you get the chance

You are the dancing queen
Young and sweet
Only seventeen
Dancing queen
Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh, see that girl
Watch that scene
Digging the dancing queen
Digging the dancing queen

21 thoughts on “My Gen X Playlist: Dancing Queen – U2”

  1. “Who doesn’t love ABBA?” Me, unfortunately. Sometimes I feel like I’m a party of one…

    Being somewhat older, and very much set in my musical tastes, I lumped ABBA in with all things disco and despised. For some crazy reason, the only disco artist I gave a pass to was Donna Summer. I loved her voice and hey, she was from my home city of Boston.

    Now I’m stuck with this song in my head. I’ll have to listen to healthy doses of rock, New Wave, and post-punk to clear the airwaves. That said–great article. I always enjoy “misheard lyrics.” 🙂

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    1. Ah, I totally understand. I wasn’t much of a disco fan either. Somehow, ABBA stuck. I didn’t give it much thought over the years until the musical Mamma Mia came out. It’s nostalgic for me. It’s fun.

      I think it’s interesting how we become set with our musical tastes. I’m still stuck in the 80s new wave and 90s alternative rock genres.

      No worries about being in a party of one. Hope you get that loop out of your head!

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  5. Haha! I love that U2 covered ABBA in their home country. That must have been sweet for that audience in particular. I love all three of those musicals, but especially Hamilton. I saw it in London, New York and Boston. I guess I am a Hamilton super fan. I suggest you listen to the soundtrack (in order) a few times before going to the show. you’ll get so much more out of it!

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    1. Thanks for the feedback! I wasn’t quite sure about Annie at first, but it seemed fine within the package. I anticipate I’ll enjoy it. Thanks for the super fan advice on Hamilton! We are really looking forward to it. I’m curious, though. Did each performance of Hamilton have a different feel? We’ve seen Wicked a number of times and depending upon the performers, it felt different each time. It was interesting and enjoyable.

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      1. Seeing Hamilton on Broadway was just SO exciting because it’s set in NYC, plus Broadway is Broadway. It’s just the best. Boston was also great because I actually knew the woman who played Angelica and she was magnificent. London was a different vibe. The Brit actors weren’t quite as good at rapping and the audience wasn’t quite as enthusiastic. The King George scenes play a bit differently there!

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  6. Nice discovery, U2 and Dancing Queen!! No idea. 😀

    Of the three, I’ve only seen Hamilton, which is fantastic. What they’re able to do with that stage is exceptional. You’ll love it. Agree with Mary below that listening ahead of time is a good idea.

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  8. I know Dancing Queen is in my playlist . . . I try to keep most of the songs in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest in there just so I have a balanced take and some tunes that other people think are good. That song comes in at #171. Also, my sister and mother listened to ABBAs greatest hits about a hundred thousand times when we were growing up, and I can remember hearing it coming down the hall of my childhood home to this day.

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