What Is The Song In TurboTax's 'Dancer' Super Bowl 2023 Commercial?
Along with Super Bowl time, tax season is upon us. For the past several years, TurboTax has become surprisingly adept at combining the two. Or at least their ad agency has. Granted, their Super Bowl commercials aren't in the same iconic league as, say, the Budweiser frogs or Britney Spears singing for Pepsi. But they are quirky and memorable enough that when you start panicking on the afternoon of April 14, you are relieved to remember the service that landed Ted Lasso as a spokesperson.
Whether TurboTax's new Super Bowl commercial proves to be as memorable is unclear, but it's certainly quirky. Featuring a tracksuited dude wearing headphones, dancing in front of a fountain, it revolves around the slogan "don't do your taxes." A lovely sentiment, for sure.
But if the ad is going to stick in your head, it is probably going to be thanks to that song. The jaunty tune played on synthesizers, the quasi-authoritative baritone declaring "we can dance." You've heard it before. It is clearly not of this era, but there's a fair bet that it was an earworm in its own time just as much as it is now. What is that song?
That song is 'The Safety Dance' by Men Without Hats
The name of the song is "The Safety Dance," released in 1982 by the Canadian synth-pop band Men Without Hats. Formed in Montreal in 1977 by lead singer Ivan Doroschuk, Men Without Hats started out as a punk rock group, whose sound had gone in a more new wave direction by 1980.
Doroschuk wrote the song in reaction to being kicked out of discos, telling Time Out Sydney that "It originated when I was getting kicked out of clubs for pogoing — for hitting the dance floor whenever they played Blondie's 'Heart of Glass' or The B52's' 'Rock Lobster.'" Pogoing was seen as more dangerous than more conventional disco dancing.
Initially recorded as part of Men Without Hats' album "Rhythm of Youth," the song was remixed for its single version, and it slowly but surely gained steam on the charts. Helped along by its eccentric, medieval-themed music video, by the end of 1983, "The Safety Dance" had become a massive, worldwide hit.
Several acts have recorded their own versions of "The Safety Dance," including The Donnas and J Dilla. It was also included in an episode of "Glee." As for Men Without Hats, Doroschuk has reformed the group to record and tour a handful of times after their initial breakup in 1993. They are currently on tour promoting their 2022 album "Again, Part 2" (via SafetyDance.com).