A Lush Cover of ‘Safety Dance’ on Mountain Dulcimer

Musician Sam Edelston (previously) performed a truly surprising but rather lush cover of the 1983 Men Without Hats song “Safety Dance” on a tabletop mountain dulcimer. Edelston had just become familiar with the song and thought it was appropriate for current times, even though the original song was written about overeager club bouncers.

I somehow missed this song when it was a hit and, in a bit of a time warp, learned about it through one of my kids in just the past few years. …I’ll admit, with the title, I thought it might be appropriate for this pandemic moment we’re living in, but, no, it’s “a protest against bouncers prohibiting dancers from pogoing to 1980s new wave music in clubs.” Though I considered updating the lyrics, I decided it’s just too much fun to play as an instrumental.

Here’s the original video for the song from 1983.