Why Aren’t There More Covers Of Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own”?

Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” is one of the greatest songs, pop or otherwise, of the decade. It’s got a synth line that could cut through diamonds, one great big glitter-streaked hook and enough pathos to bring an entire disco to tears. It’s got a tremendous video, in which Robyn does in fact dance on her own but musters the impact of a millions-strong troupe of backup dancers. It’s already had one iconic pop-culture moment, soundtracking a dance party in one episode of the HBO show Girls –and that moment was iconic because 33% of the show’s viewership had done the same. It’s every bit as hooky as “Call Me Maybe,” every bit as wistful as “Somebody That I Used to Know” and every bit as massive as “Rolling in the Deep,” to cite a few of the past few years’ indelible songs.

Yet all those songs have one thing Robyn’s song does not: enough covers to fill a flash drive with MP3s. Carly Rae Jepsen and Gotye’s hits are at the point where multiple people are sounding the viral call for the songs’ viral death, and if “Rolling in the Deep” escaped such meta-commentary, it’s only because nobody’d thought of it yet.

It’s not a complete surprise that the world’s not bursting with as many Robyn covers as Carly Rae. Yes, “Dancing on My Own” is as classic and immediate and stellar as any of those songs, but it lacks something all three of them have: mass ubiquity. Yes, Robyn might be an Internet and indie darling, and she even burst those bubbles enough to open for Katy Perry, but Carly Rae, Gotye and Adele’s singles all hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 and stayed there for weeks, while Robyn’s song didn’t chart anywhere in the U.S. outside the dance charts. (It hit No. 8 in the UK, though, and charted modestly elsewhere.) Even more minor yet oft-covered hits like “Marvin’s Room,” still benefited from cracking the Top 40–and in Drake’s case, from a long hip-hop tradition of sampling instrumentals.

That said, it’s still a little shocking that Cher Lloyd’s recent (and excellent) acoustic cover of “Dancing on My Own” wasn’t just the only one we’d heard of–it’s the only one we could find, after doing research. Wikipedia comes up empty, when most other song’s entries get spammed within days with fourth-tier bands editing in their own remakes. YouTube turns up the same karaoke videos that materialize for every hit, but nothing especially groundbreaking we saw. As for major artists? It’s a lot of almost, maybe, sorta. You’d think Katy or someone would take her turn at such a great song, but–well, we’ll just show you what we found.

ARTIST NO, SONG YES: “FLEET FOXES”

You can just imagine a Fleet Foxes cover of “Dancing on My Own,” right? Harmonies everywhere, sweetly sung everything, a sense of either deep reverence or deep irony, depending on who you ask and what albums they have on their hard drive. And it’s exactly the kind of buzzy cover they’d hypothetically go for.

The key word, though, is “hypothetically”; these aren’t the Foxes but imitators, part of the blog series “Fleet Foxes Sing.” The cover’s well-done, yes, but it’s a) one of lots of hits, and b) not the Foxes, so no good for this rundown. The band did come around to the idea of covering Robyn–just not “Dancing,” but the newer, shinier “Call Your Girlfriend.” Alas.

ARTIST YES, SONG NO: PIXIE LOTT

Pixie Lott covering “Dancing on My Own” is also plausible, albeit a lot less exciting. She’s a pop artist. She looks like what Robyn might’ve looked like if her Max Martin-produced albums came out to compete with Britney and Christina. She’s yet to release a breakout single, or for that matter a great single, but that’s why you’d borrow Robyn’s.

Pixie Lott did not in fact borrow Robyn’s. She just used the same title for her own single, a heavy, labored ballad with strings and guest raps and emoting. All well and good and likely to continue Lott’s streak of neither breaking out nor being great, but this is like Justin Bieber’s single being called “As Long As You Love Me“–the history overcomes it from the start.

The most interesting thing about Pixie Lott’s song is probably that G-Dragon and T.O.P. from Big Bang are on it, which means K-pop’s now sufficiently established outside South Korea that they’re getting actual guest features. Good for them; wish the occasion were better.

ARTIST YES, SONG YES, AND YET: THE DUKE SPIRIT

Finally, an actual cover of the actual “Dancing on My Own by an actual band! Yes, it’s live, and yes, it’s part of a commissioned series (Billboard’s Mashup Mondays), but still–the Duke Spirit qualify on all these counts, and their cover’s more than acoustic and well-sung and British-accented enough for its purposes.

That said, when was the last time you put on a Duke Spirit album?

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