After playing piano in Cuby and the Blizzards and several other bands since 1964, Brood started his own group, Herman Brood & His Wild Romance, in 1977. The band had their first hit single, Saturday Night, in 1978. But even more than his music, it was his outspoken statements in the press about sex and drug use that brought Herman Brood into the public arena in the Netherlands. In the early 1980s he was romantically involved with the German artist Nina Hagen, with whom he appeared in the film Cha Cha. Brood relished the media attention and became the most famous hard drug user in the Netherlands. "It is usual that an artist uses drugs, but tells everybody he doesn't", he once said in an interview. "I admit that it scared me that my popularity could make people start using drugs." In the 1990s he took up painting and became as successful as a painter as he was as a musician.
With the band 'Herman Brood & his Wild Romance' he made his best known album 'Shpritsz' (a play on the German word for injection needle), containing anti-drug use songs like 'Dope Sucks', but also 'Saturday Night'. Brood swore off most drugs, reducing his drug use to alcohol and a daily shot of speed.
As a result of an impressive TV-show together with the 'modern saint' Salvation Army's major Alida Bosshardt makes Herman Brood also beloved to people who never appreciated or even heard his music.
When in 2001, he found out that he had only a few months left to live, Herman took matters into his own hands and, depressed by the failure of his drug rehabilitation program, committed suicide on July 11 by jumping from the roof of the Hilton Hotel at the age of 54.
Dance On
Herman Brood Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
and all your friends have split
all your lovers have gone
from this - to a life of bliss
I don't deserve to die stinkin' like this
I don't deserve to die stinkin' like this
I dance on
Though she's gone
I dance on
When everything around you turns to shit
and all your friends have split
all your lovers have gone from this
to a life of bliss
I don't deserve to die stinkin' like this
I don't deserve to die stinkin' like this
Though she's gone
I dance on
Though she's gone
I dance on
(guitar solo)
I don't deserve to die stinkin' like this
I don't deserve to die stinkin' like this
Though she's gone
I dance on
Though she's gone
I dance on (I dance on)
Got to dance on
gonna dance on - (dance - dance yeah)
never mind that she's gone
got to dance on (I dance on)
I dance on (I dance on)
gonna dance on (I dance on)
(I dance on)
I dance on (I dance on) I dance on
got to dance on (I dance on)
gonna dance on (I dance on) on
gonna dance on (I dance on) gonna dance on
I dance on
The lyrics of the song "Dance On" by Herman Brood seem to talk about a person's perseverance amidst hardships. The first few lines of the song paint a bleak picture of the singer's life. Everything around him seems to be going wrong, and he feels left alone, deserted by all his friends and lovers. The repetition of the lines creates a sense of despair, like the singer is stuck in a never-ending cycle of sadness and pain.
However, in the face of all this, the person doesn't lose hope. He doesn't want to die "stinkin' like this," and he finds solace in dancing. The chorus of the song, "Though she's gone, I dance on," seems to highlight this fact. It could be interpreted in many ways - maybe the "she" in question is a significant other who left, or maybe it's a metaphor for something else altogether. Regardless, the singer is not letting the fact that whatever or whoever is gone, get in the way of his joy.
The guitar solo in the middle of the song adds to the overall feeling of liberation and freedom of expression. The repetition of lines like "I dance on/I dance on" and "gonna dance on" feels like a plea to oneself to keep going, despite whatever the circumstances might be. The song ends on a hopeful note, with the singer's determination to keep dancing.
Line by Line Meaning
When everything around you turns to shit
When life gets really bad and nothing seems to be going well
and all your friends have split
And your friends have left you alone
all your lovers have gone from this
All your romantic partners have left you behind
to a life of bliss
To live a life of happiness without you
I don't deserve to die stinkin' like this
I don't deserve to die in such a terrible state
Though she's gone
Even though the person he loves has left
I dance on
He continues to dance and enjoy life
Got to dance on
He knows he has to keep dancing
never mind that she's gone
He doesn't care that she left
gonna dance on
He will continue dancing
Contributed by Juliana W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.