We Don't Have to Dance
| "We Don't Have to Dance" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Andy Black | ||||
| from the album The Shadow Side | ||||
| Released | March 18, 2016 | |||
| Format | ||||
| Length | 3:14 | |||
| Label | Lava, Republic[1] | |||
| Writer(s) | Andy Biersack, Patrick Stump, Quinn Allman[2] | |||
| Producer(s) | Ricky Reed,[3] John Feldmann[4] | |||
| Andy Black singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"We Don't Have to Dance" is a song by American singer Andy Black. It was released as the first single from his upcoming 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[3] and John Feldmann.[4] The song is described as a "upbeat, dance-able" song and Black's "departure" from the musical style of Black Veil Brides.[5] Black described the song as "poppier than his work with Black Veil Brides".[4] The song's lyrics are about social anxiety,[2] loathing social events and hatred of small talk.[1] The song was written by Black, as well as 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.”[5]
Release
On March 9, 2016, a 15-second teaser for "We Don't Have to Dance" was was released.[6] 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.[7] The song was released as the first single to the album on March 18,[8][1] alongside a music video released three days later.[9][10] The song was announced as the official theme song for WWE pay-per-view event Payback on April 18.[11]
Music video
The music video of the song was released on March 21, 2016 and was directed by Patrick Fogarty.[12][9] The video is in black and white and is described as "eerie" with "vintage horror film aesthetic".[5]
Chart performance
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Alternative Digital Songs (Billboard)[3] | 16 |
| US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[13] | 23 |
| US Rock Digital Songs (Billboard)[14] | 16 |
References
- 1 2 3 "Black Veil Brides Frontman's Andy Black Project To Release 'The Shadow Side' Album In May". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- 1 2 3 "Andy Black has posted a behind the song video". RockSound. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- 1 2 3 "Black Veil Brides' Andy Black Debuts on Rock Charts With 'We Don't Have to Dance'". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- 1 2 3 "Andy Black Reveals ‘We Don’t Have To Dance’ Video". Loudwire. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- 1 2 3 "Black Veil Brides’ Andy Black Debuts Solo Video, ‘We Don’t Have To Dance’". radio.com. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ↑ "Andy Black Releases Teaser For New Single, We Don't Have To Dance". Kerrang!. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ↑ "Andy Black confirms debut solo album title and release date". Kerrang!. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ↑ "Andy Black streams new single, We Don't Have To Dance". Kerrang!. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- 1 2 Gracie, Bianca. "Black Veil Brides' Andy Biersack says 'We Don't Have To Dance' in new video". Fuse. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ↑ "Andy Black posts We Don't Have To Dance video". Kerrang!. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ↑ Thomas, Jeremy. "WWE News: Natalya Set For ESPN This Week, Total Bellas Premiere Set, Payback Theme Song". 411mania.com. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ↑ Andy Black – We Don’t Have To Dance (Official). 21 March 2016 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "We Don't Have To Dance – Hot Rock Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ↑ "We Don't Have To Dance – Rock Digital Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2016.