Magic Dance is the most well known and best loved song from Labyrinth and for good reason.  This song is just pure fun.  I went to see Labyrinth at the movie theatre recently, and this was the song that had the crowd singing along.  In the movie, the song takes place in a scene where Bowie (as Jareth, the Goblin King) and his goblin minions are just hanging out in the castle with the baby they’ve kidnapped.  Jareth, growing bored with waiting for Sarah to give up on the labyrinth and give in to him, decides to have a little fun.  And what does a little fun look like in a Bowie-with-puppets movie?  Well, breaking into a song and dance number, of course.

Magic Dance begins with a call and response between Bowie and the goblins.  The exchange goes like this:

Bowie: You remind me of the babe.

Goblins: What babe?

Bowie: The babe with the power.

Goblins: What power?

Bowie: The power of voodoo.

Goblins: Who do?

Bowie: You do.

Goblins: Do what?

Bowie: Remind me of the babe.

Then Bowie proceeds to sing and prance around the room.  There’s something about the way he bounces around in this scene, frolicking with goblin puppets, that makes me feel absolutely giddy, and I can’t help but giggle a little bit every time I watch it.

I have a great memory from my adolescence associated with this song.  When I was 16 years old I went to Paris on a school trip.  My very good friend, Kurt, was on the trip, also.  We were a special kind of nerdy.  I think that’s why we got along so well.  Anyway, I can’t remember why or how, but for some reason we started singing Magic Dance, commencing with the call and response prelude of the song.  There was another student in our group, Matt, who was infinitely cooler than Kurt and I.  He was our friend, but he did not act silly and goofy like Kurt and I did regularly.  He was an athlete.  Just as Kurt and I were about to end our back and forth and launch into the song, Matt chimed in with the last line, quite boisterously, “Remind me of the babe!”  We all burst into laughter, and Kurt and I kind of cheered, so excited to have Matt join us on the dork side for just a moment.  For me, that memory speaks to the universality of this song, which is just playful enough to be appreciated by people of all ages and all walks of life.

 

Watch and listen

Lyrics