"We Don't Have to Dance"
Single by Andy Black
from the album The Shadow Side
ReleasedMarch 18, 2016
GenreRock
Length3:14
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Ricky Reed
  • [4] John Feldmann[5]
Andy Black singles chronology
"They Don't Need to Understand"
(2014)		 "We Don't Have to Dance"
(2016)		 "Ribcage"
(2016)

"We Don't Have to Dance" is a song by American singer Andy Black. It was released as the first single from his debut studio album, The Shadow Side, on March 18, 2016. The music video for the song directed by Patrick Fogarty was also released three days later. It charted on multiple Billboard charts, peaking number 23 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart.

Writing and composition

"We Don't Have to Dance" was produced by Ricky Reed[4] and John Feldmann.[5] The song is described as a "upbeat, dance-able" song and Black's "departure" from the musical style of Black Veil Brides.[6] Black described the song as "poppier than his work with Black Veil Brides".[5] The song's lyrics are about social anxiety,[2] loathing social events and hatred of small talk.[1] The song was written by Black and his team of writers in collaboration with Fall Out Boy vocalist Patrick Stump and former The Used guitarist Quinn Allman.[2] On writing with Stump, Black said that it was "very simple in that we just sat and talked about things that we mutually hated for like a half an hour and then we just put them in a list and that is the lyrics to the song.”[6]

Release

On March 9, 2016, a 15-second teaser for "We Don't Have to Dance" was released.[7] A week later, the title for Black's debut album was confirmed to be titled as The Shadow Side and would be released on May 6.[8] The song was released as the first single to the album on March 18,[1][9] alongside a music video released three days later.[10][11] The song was the official theme song for WWE pay-per-view event Payback[12] and is included in the video game WWE 2K17.[13] At the 2017 Alternative Press Music Awards, it was named "Song of the Year".[14]

Music video

The music video of the song was released on March 21, 2016 and was directed by Patrick Fogarty.[10][15] The video is in black and white and is described as "eerie" with "vintage horror film aesthetic".[6]

Chart performance

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[16] 11
US Alternative Digital Songs (Billboard)[4] 16
US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[17] 23
US Rock Digital Songs (Billboard)[18] 16

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Black Veil Brides Frontman's Andy Black Project To Release 'The Shadow Side' Album In May". Blabbermouth.net. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Andy Black has posted a behind the song video". RockSound. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  3. ↑ "We Don't Have to Dance - Andy Black". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 "Black Veil Brides' Andy Black Debuts on Rock Charts With 'We Don't Have to Dance'". Billboard. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 "Andy Black Reveals 'We Don't Have To Dance' Video". Loudwire. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 "Black Veil Brides' Andy Black Debuts Solo Video, 'We Don't Have To Dance'". radio.com. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  7. ↑ "Andy Black Releases Teaser For New Single, We Don't Have To Dance". Kerrang!. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  8. ↑ "Andy Black confirms debut solo album title and release date". Kerrang!. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  9. ↑ "Andy Black streams new single, We Don't Have To Dance". Kerrang!. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  10. 1 2 Gracie, Bianca. "Black Veil Brides' Andy Biersack says 'We Don't Have To Dance' in new video". Fuse. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  11. ↑ "Andy Black posts We Don't Have To Dance video". Kerrang!. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  12. ↑ Thomas, Jeremy. "WWE News: Natalya Set For ESPN This Week, Total Bellas Premiere Set, Payback Theme Song". 411mania.com. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  13. ↑ Artus, Matthew (August 8, 2016). "Puff Daddy to provide in-game soundtrack for WWE 2K17". WWE. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  14. ↑ "And the winners of the 2017 APMAs are... - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. 2017-07-17. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  15. ↑ Andy Black – We Don’t Have To Dance (Official). 21 March 2016 – via YouTube.
  16. ↑ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  17. ↑ "We Don't Have To Dance – Hot Rock Songs". Billboard. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  18. ↑ "We Don't Have To Dance – Rock Digital Songs". Billboard. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
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