Macayla Cook
Have you ever been standing in your room, all alone, not a roommate to be found? A glorious feeling, no? If you’re anything like me, you take that opportunity to pretend to be a rockstar and dance around like an idiot. I’m talking air guitar, singing into a makeup brush…the whole nine yards. However, sometimes, that excitement morphs into a pit in your stomach as you realize, you don’t know what song to pretend to sing. You’re looking for a bouncy beat to bop your brain to, but you just can’t decide on a tune. Have no fear, enclosed are ten of my go-to bedroom dance party songs that never fail to put me in a great mood. Utilize as you see fit, but be warned: side effects may include toe-tapping, finger-snapping, shoulder-shimmying, and general tomfoolery.
- “HOT TO GO!” – Chappell Roan
If you haven’t heard of Chappell Roan, then don’t feel bad. You’re not wrong, you’re just straight. I am, however, about to change your life with a little ditty I like to call “HOT TO GO!” This song sounds like it was designed in a lab for when you want to dance in your bedroom. It starts out with a bouncy synth, moves into a choreographed pre-chorus (for those of us who can’t dance, this is super exciting because we can stop just jumping for a minute and do some real choreo), and finally lets loose a simple-but-insanely-catchy chorus. You’ll be humming the hook for the next seven years, but you sure will be happy about it. Have the time of your life.
- “Waterloo” – ABBA
An all-time classic. Honestly, a lot of ABBA songs work really well for bedroom dance parties, but “Waterloo” might be my favorite (that or “Does Your Mother Know”). Maybe the only time I actually care about Napoleon is when I am listening to this song. Full disclosure, I do usually listen to the version of this song from Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, but that has nothing to do with flaws in ABBA’s original version and everything to do with my love for Lily James. Also, the “Waterloo” scene is my favorite scene in that movie, so I simply can’t resist the charm.
- “The Spins” – Mac Miller & Empire of the Sun
I don’t think I have ever met a person who doesn’t like this song. This song is a masterpiece by the late Mac Miller, featuring a gorgeous sample from Empire of the Sun’s “Half Mast.” At the end of the day, this song is a frat staple for a reason; once the sample kicks in, you just can’t deny the dopamine hit that this song provides. I genuinely don’t trust people who hate this song. Is it feminist? Ehhhh, but rappers gotta be rappers. We all respect and love women here, let us have some fun in the meantime.
- “Fly As Me” – Silk Sonic
Any Silk Sonic song is an immediate confidence boost, but this one just hits different. It’s a head-bobbing, hip-shimmying, problem-fixing soul groove that ends with the line “Silk Sonic, let me get the three-piece and a biscuit.” This is the type of song that makes deeply uncoordinated people like myself want to roller skate. Would I die? Probably, but I would also be swaggy as hell for about 20 seconds, and if I someday have as much swagger in me as Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak have in their little fingers, I will consider myself a success.
- “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)” – The 1975
I vividly remember the period of quarantine where this song hadn’t come out yet and my entire FYP on Tiktok was videos of The 1975 performing it at Reading and Leeds. I would check Instagram every single day, anxiously awaiting the day that the rat man who fronts this band would officially announce this masterpiece. Finally, April 23 arrived. It was here. It was everything I needed it to be. The saxophone player understood the assignment, and so did every horn player that touched this track. I dance like an idiot every time I hear it.
- “Another Man’s Jeans” – Ashe
This is another song that I think appeals to everyone I’ve ever met. My roommates like this song. My friends who only listen to showtunes like this song. Hell, my dad even likes this song. Ashe’s vocal technique on this song is so fun to listen to because she is so clearly having fun. Not only does this song have cowbell, it also has horns, and if there are two things I love, they’re cowbell and horns. I could listen to this bassline for the rest of my life, or I could listen to it for a few minutes while twirling around my room, and I tend to favor the second option.
- “See Through” – The Band CAMINO
I have never met a song by The Band CAMINO that I didn’t love, but this one is particularly near and dear to my heart. I have wanted to play it on my show for forever, but it isn’t FCC clean, so instead, I am writing this piece in a desparate ploy to get more people to listen to this. The Band CAMINO has mastered the art of the chorus, but this may be my favorite out of their entire discography, which is saying a lot considering the banger that is “Daphne Blue.” I think about these guitars every single day. This song is so good, I don’t know how to cope with it. It’s the sort of song that I need to physically consume, but I can’t, so I’ll just scream along in my car.
- “Foreverever” – Leanna Firestone
Ironically enough, I discovered this song a mere week after I turned 20, officially leaving my teenage years behind and making the lyric “I’ll be a teenage girl forever, I’ll never get my shit together” particularly realistic. However, the part of this song that I heard on Tiktok, playing over an edit of Nikolai from Shadow and Bone, was the second verse, where Leanna Firestone decided to write about me specifically. I mean, “Rome wasn’t built in a day, but if I were there, it probably would’ve been?” Me. “All I want is world peace and for everyone to like me all of the time?” Girl, me too! I scream-sing this whenever I’m home alone and galavant around my tiny apartment like I’ve never experienced hardship. It’s therapy for people who can’t afford therapy.
- “girlfriend” – Hemlocke Springs
Another song that even my dad likes. Hemlock Springs is still a budding artist, but the queer community adores her. “girlfriend” is weird, quirky, and so much fun that you have to hop along with the beat. You may recognize this song from when it went viral on Tiktok. I recognize this song from every gay person I know’s Instagram story at the end of 2022. We are not the same, but we both can enjoy this odd little indie project for what it is: a total banger.
- “Murder on the Dancefloor” – Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Maybe the most popular bedroom dance party song at the moment, due to Barry Keoghan breaking it down at the end of Saltburn. In reference to the title, I genuinely think that if somebody died while this song was playing at a club, people would continue to dance. That’s dark, but that’s also how catchy this song is, which makes it very dangerous. Please enjoy responsibly, clothing optional. Just shut your windows first, or your naked butt is going to be salt-burned into your neighbors’ brains forever, and we don’t want that.