Life Lessons From “You Better Ask Me To Dance”

Okay, so I was watching the TV Show the X Factor tonight when this couple came out together and did a singing/rap song that a girl and guy in a group called Second Hand High wrote themselves.  The son was called “You Better Ask Me To Dance”.  When they first started singing the song my daughter and I were like “are they serious or is this a joke?” We continued listening for a few more minutes and suddenly we found ourselves starting to bop our heads to the beat….a few more seconds and we started dancing a little bit…a few more seconds and we were up on our feet dancing around the living room.  The camera on the screen panned around and suddenly the live audience who had been watching with the same look of “are they serious” in the beginning of the song began jumping out of their seats and dancing too. Next thing you know Kelly Rowland, one of the celebrity judges on the show, jumped out of her seat and began dancing around the judges table as well.

Sadly, the judges said they weren’t good enough to go on in the competition, however, we found ourselves rewinding their performance to watch it again and the second time there was no holding back our dance moves!  And an hour later, after the show was over, we found ourselves still singing the chorus of the song…it was dang catchy!

So why the heck would I share this story in my blog?  I will tell you why, because this story illustrates two great life lessons:

1.   It was the perfect reminder that we shouldn’t rush too quickly into passing judgment about something.  When that song first started I thought it was horrendous and a total joke.  I looked at the performers as two people without any music talent at all.  And truth be told, the performers singing the song were definitely not very good at singing it.  But those same two performers are the ones who wrote the song and the music for it and the fact is that the lyrics and the music were seriously AWESOME!  It was an incredibly catchy song with a great dance beat, and writing that took a true talent.  So my initial judgment was dead wrong. Those two people had a great talent in writing the song, even if they weren’t fantastic at performing it.

2.   The lesson for those performers is that they should stop trying to be violins and appreciate that they are amazing pianos!  What I mean by that is that these two people had obvious talent in writing music and lyrics.  But instead of recognizing that this is their talent, they were trying to force being seen as singers and performers – but they clearly don’t have that talent. These two people could have an amazing career as songwriters, writing number one hits that could be sung by singers with singing talent.  However, as long as they try to hold their songs for themselves, they will never be able to be as successful in their careers.

In life the smartest thing you can do in your pursuit of success is to recognize what your true God given talents are and then grow those and be grateful for those.  Don’t overlook your natural talents trying to force a talent that just isn’t your true gift. If you are a piano, be the best piano ever.  And if you are a violin, be the best violin ever.  Don’t waste your time trying to be something you’re not.  Instead spend your time becoming the best you can be, and be grateful and content with the talents you have been given.

So yeah, fairly deep thoughts from a simple X Factor episode, but as you know I write what I am feeling each day and today this was what struck me most, so this is what I am sharing.  For any of you who want to watch the performance I referenced on X-Factor, here is a link to the you-tube performance.  But before you click on it, just remember lesson number 1 above and don’t be too quick to rush to judgment…by the end of the song you will be dancing too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-QZJe1d4Gc

Have a great day!
~Amy

 

8 Comments

  • 2nd Hand High says:

    Hey Great Blog!
    I just read it and i would def have to agree with your point of not passing judgment.However most people dont realize that It was our FIRST (literally ever) performance in front of a crowd. I do agree with the point of being the best you can be and recognizing your talent and sticking with it. But i think the really important thing that ive learned from this experience is to follow your heart and take that brave leap of faith in yourself. In fact i HAVE sold music before to other artists and you never heard of me until now:-). I am def not the strongest rapper in the world, but i knew that win or loose, we liked our song and if just one person in the world liked it and related to it then we were doing a positive thing in the world. I feel like that song was something that me and Breanna put a lot of love into and had a lot of fun making, so we wanted to do it ourselves and prove to ourselves that we could do it. I didn’t know if people were going to hate it or love it, i just had to try. In the future we intend to write music for Artists and for other things, but we also would like to be able to express ourselves in our own way…and im sure the longer we practice the better we will be. I try to turn my weaknesses into strengths rather than just focusing on what comes easily to me and sometimes the results are ugly lol, but i am happier that we tried and failed ourselves than if someone else took our song and made it on the show. IDK the post was really deep haha i just thought it deserved a response:-) thanks again for the Love I appreciate the fact that you and your fam liked the song:-) Look for for music BY annnd PRODUCED by 2nd Hand High.

    • Amy Rees Anderson says:

      Total respect for your efforts! And I seriously loved the song – it was so catchy that we still find ourselves singing and dancing to it! Keep up the good work – you have a true talent for songwriting!

    • Felipe Lopes says:

      I am from Brazil and really would like to say you guys are so amazing! We do know that on this kind of TV Show “(You Better) Ask Me To Dance” is not the kind of music the judges are looking for. But, who cares about it? You guys rock and this song is really amanzing. I am awaiting for you guys to produce the music video as soon as possible. On my smartphone and Last.fm account you can see that I got it stuck on repeat.

      And you guys get famous, please do not forget to include Brazil on the list!

      Never give up on your dreams!!!

  • Talita Gomes says:

    Hey, I’m from Brazil too and I have only one thing to say: (You Better) Ask Me To Dance is my cell ringtone! 🙂

    Yolo!

  • Jonelle says:

    Thanks in support of sharing such a nice opinion, piece of
    writing is good, thats why i have read it entirely

  • Abbey says:

    This is my first time go to see at here and i am genuinely pleassant
    to read everthing at single place.

  • Napoleon says:

    Hello there, just became aware of your blog through Google, and found that it is truly informative.
    I am going to watch out for brussels. I will
    appreciate if you continue this in future. Numerous
    people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!

  • Lilly says:

    Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve visited this web site
    before but after looking at a few of the posts I realized it’s new to me.
    Anyways, I’m certainly happy I found it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back regularly!

Leave a Reply to Talita Gomes Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.