MercyMe – Happy Dance

MercyMe became active in 1994, quickly gaining attention in 2001 for their hit song I Can Only Imagine, which was intended to be Amy Grant’s rebound song.  They released a mammoth 18 albums, including The Worship Project (1999), All That Is Within Me (2007), and LIFER (2017).  They received numerous awards for their work, including 1 Billboard, 8 Dove, 1 ASCAP, 2 American Music, and 10 mentions on the Billboard magazine Decade (2000–2009).

Check out my reviews of I Can Only Imagine and Even If.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Mercyme-happy-dance-lyrics.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.

1. What message does the song communicate?

MercyMe sees his audience, full of fear and trembling.  Rather than cowering, we should use our energy to express our love for the Lord, that He bore our sins and granted us abundant joy.  Perhaps we should consider doing our own happy dance?  Especially introverts like me who are more like Spock than Michael Winslow.

While the majority of these lyrics may be interpreted as a human lover, it is the mention of trading sin and explicitly naming the Lord as the One who saves that makes it more difficult to conclude.

This song contains a basic format.

Score: 9/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

The entire song agrees with Scripture.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-6: This comes from the idiom “shake in your boots”, which means to be afraid.  MercyMe breaks down this idiom, citing that the shaking isn’t the problem, but the fear.  As Christians, we boast about the joy that we have in Jesus but often fail to express it in behavior.  MercyMe challenges us to express our joy in action.  Psalm 149:1-9 and Psalm 150:1-6 are good examples of how we might go about accomplishing this task.

[Chorus]

Lines 1-3: The reason why we live is that God took our sins and gave us life.  This is often referred to as the “great exchange” (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter 2:24).

Lines 4 and 5: See commentary on Verse 1, particularly, the last few sentences.

Line 6: Repeats line 5.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1-3: Idiomatically references the person who is not moving, granting them permission to loosen up and dance.

Line 4: Dancing is an outward expression of the Holy Spirit who moves and lives in us (Acts 6:5, Romans 8:9-11, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 6:16-19, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 5:18, and 2 Timothy 1:14).

Lines 5 and 6: See commentary on Verse 1, particularly, the last few sentences.

[Bridge]

Lines 1-4: See commentary on Verse 1, particularly, the last few sentences.  This also clarifies the unknown object of our affection.  It is the Lord.

Lines 5-8: Repeats lines 1-4.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

The word “Lord” lends to a religious conclusion, perhaps even Christian if they understood “sin” to be lawbreaking and not merely error (though I have my doubts on that).  Still, they will understand that MercyMe calls his audience to dance.

Score: 7/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God as the One who bore our sins, expressed through dance.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

MercyMe’s Happy Dance is happy.  The artist wants us to dance for God because He paid for our lawbreaking, bringing Him glory.  Unbelievers will think this song religious, where its adherents dance for their god.

This doesn’t seem appropriate for corporate worship.

Final Score: 9/10

Artist Info

Track: Happy Dance (listen to the song)

Artist: MercyMe

Album: LIFER

Genre: Pop

Release Year: 2017

Duration: 2:51

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