Lose Yourself to Dance

Album: Random Access Memories (2013)
Charted: 49
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This ode to the dance floor was the result of Daft Punk's desire to create dance music with live drummers. The French duo told Le Nouvel Observateur that they are proud that Random Access Memories features strictly live drums, with the exception of one track.

    John Robinson Jr., a session musician who played drums on Michael Jackson's Off the Wall LP, provided most of the stick work for the set. The only other drummer to play on the album was Omar Hakim, who has hit the skins for Stevie Wonder.
  • The sturdy funk track features Pharrell Williams's trademark falsetto whilst Chic songwriter and axeman Nile Rodgers does the business on the guitar. The same duo also worked with Daft Punk on Random Access Memories' lead single, "Get Lucky."
  • Pharrell likened the track to David Bowie's classic mid-'80s cut with Mick Jagger,"Dancing In The Street." "'Lose Yourself To Dance' makes me feel like walking down the street in the middle of the night in London and it's 1984, 1985," he told Vibe magazine. "I don't hear '70s in that at all. For me, it doesn't sound at all like a Bowie record, but I feel like David Bowie would have loved that record. He could actually sing it."
  • Nile Rodgers didn't have to think twice about taking part in the song's Soul Train-esque music promo. "The Daft Punk video came about like this: 'Hey Nile, what are you doing?' 'I'm in Europe.' 'Can you get over here and do a music video?' 'Sure, OK, cool.' It was that simple," Rodgers told MTV News. "We had such a great time making the record that we bonded in such a way that's probably, you know, a lifelong bond. So doing the video was nothing. It was my pleasure and honor to do it."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine BandSongwriter Interviews

Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.