Dance Monkey Tones and I

Dance Monkey is a song by Australian singer Tones and I, released on 10 May 2019 as the second single (first in the US) from Tones and I’s debut EP The Kids Are Coming. The song was produced and mixed by Konstantin Kersting. Upon release, Tones and I said the song is about the expectations that are placed on musical performers.

Dance Monkey Tones and I topped the official singles charts in over 30 countries. It peaked within the top ten in many other countries, including the United States, at number four, where it also became the first top-five hit solely written by a woman in over eight years.

Upon reaching its tenth week at the top of the Australian Singles Chart, “Dance Monkey” broke the record for the most weeks at number one on the chart by an Australian act, previously held by Justice Crew’s 2014 song “Que Sera”.

With its sixteenth week at number one, in November, it broke the record for the most weeks at number one in Australia’s ARIA chart history (1983–present), previously held by Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” (2017). Dance Monkey Tones and I also holds the record for the longest time at number one across Australian singles charts, with 24 weeks (including 21 consecutive weeks from August to late December 2019).

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, Tones and I was nominated for eight awards, winning four. Tones won ARIA Award for Best Female Artist and Breakthrough Artist while “Dance Monkey” won Best Pop Release and The Kids Are Coming EP won Best Independent Release.

At the APRA Music Awards of 2020, Dance Monkey Tones and I was nominated for Song of the Year, Most Performed Australian Work of the Year and Most Performed Pop Work of the Year.In the United Kingdom, “Dance Monkey” broke the record for the most weeks spent at the top of the UK Singles Chart by a female artist when it remained at the top of the chart for an eleventh week. The previous record of ten weeks was held jointly by Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You” in 1992–1993 and “Umbrella” by Rihanna and Jay-Z in 2007.

Dance Monkey Tones and I made her debut on US television on 18 November 2019 with a performance of the song on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. On 10 December 2019, Tones appeared as a guest performer again in the US on The Voice. The following week, “Dance Monkey” entered the US Billboard Hot 100 top ten for the first time, at number nine. It has since peaked at number four on the chart.

Dance Monkey Tones and I Lyrics

When interviewed by DJ Smallzy in July 2019 on Australian radio station Nova FM, Tones explained that the song’s lyrics are about the relationship she had with her audience when she was busking on the streets of Australia:

“I wrote this song when I was busking, and about the pressure that I felt to always be entertaining people on the street. And if they didn’t like it, when they looked at their phones they could just click something else; … we are all so used to being entertained at the click of a button.”

“So when you’re [busking] on the street, .. to command [your] attention, people would be like: ‘again! again!’ .. ‘more! more!’ .. or they would just leave. So if you replace [the lyric]: ‘dance for me, dance for me’ with ‘sing for me, sing for me,’ it’s pretty literal,” she said.

Dance Monkey Tones and I Music video

The music video was produced by Visible Studios, directed by Liam Kelly and Nick Kozakis and released on 24 June 2019. The video follows “Mr. Tones” (Tones and I), an elderly man who sneaks out of his home to have a dance party at a golf course with other senior citizens. As of May 8, 2020, the video has over 971 million views on YouTube. The music video was filmed at Eynesbury Golf Club, Victoria, Australia.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Spotify.

• Toni Watson – vocals, composer
• Konstantin Kersting – mixer, producer
• Andrei Eremin – mastering