Schrödinger's Foxtrot
By Aaron Wulff
Jason Mraz wrote “I’m Yours” in fifteen minutes, thought it was a nursery rhyme, and uploaded it to Myspace. His fans did the rest. It spent 76 weeks on the Billboard chart. Seventy-six. That’s not a hit, that’s a downright musical squatter.
Mraz has said the “I’m yours” wasn’t even aimed at a person. It was a prayer to the universe. Which means every couple that’s slow-danced to this at their wedding has been serenading their God by accident. Whoops, sorry babe!
The song’s DNA is reggae-lite, a breezy shuffle that Mraz himself called his “happy little hippie song.” It feels like it was recorded on a beach by people who’ve never had a bad day. If relentless optimism is your thing, you’re home.
Now the part that matters.
Nobody can agree what dance goes with this song, which makes it kind of amusing.
Ask the internet and you’ll get: East Coast Swing, Foxtrot, Cha-Cha, Rumba, Salsa, Jive.
One dance forum thread is titled “Reggae meets Cha-Cha???” and that’s with three question marks.
A bride on WeddingBee was told to learn Balboa, which is a real dance and not a type of salami.
Dancing With the Stars did a Foxtrot to it with Steve-O, who scored a 15 out of 30, proving that the song is danceable, but Steve-O is not.
Ok, so they’re all hearing something real. The shuffle feel is a Rorschach test. It’s got the lilt that says Cha-Cha, the bounce that says Swing, the smoothness that says Rumba, the glide that says Foxtrot. It’s doing all of them at once, which means, for me, it’s really doing none of them.
But let’s not be hasty, because this is a fun song. It has an infectious beat and lyrics that remind us to be more carefree, to celebrate life, and to bra-bop-mm, da-bap-bop-mm-day, do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do, do-do-do, mm-mm-mm-mm (hey, hey).
So what are we to do with a song that feels like everything and commits to nothing?
Go ahead and pick a lane.
Foxtrot? Sure. Swing? Why not? Modified Rumba? Give it a try. In this case, a song with this many options could result in finding a step you love (or result in an early divorce). Just know you’ll need an instructor who can be creative and might need to make some modifications.
The song doesn’t build to a climax, it just stays pleasant, so you can bail whenever. Just don’t try to go the full four minutes.
We know it’s not going to get a high score, but it’s been at eleven million weddings, so the tribe has spoken. Fun trumps utility. A-soo-da-ba-ba-ba-ba-bum…
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