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Maren Morris aims to “celebrate independence” with her newly-debuted cover of Billy Idol’s timeless anthem, “Dancing With Myself.” Morris said she opted to release her version of the classic hit because she’s always found it “beautifully melancholic,” and serves as a snapshot into her current stage of life.
Morris filmed the “Dancing With Myself” video at a Music City mainstay, Grimey’s Records, located in East Nashville, Tennessee. The award-winning singer-songwriter shared in a statement on her Instagram story on Singles Awareness Day on Thursday (February 15) that the iconic record shop served as the perfect setting where she “worked out stagnant grief and newfound hope… Nothing scares me anymore.” Read her full message to her fans here:
“Lately, I’ve wondered if we ever truly get to be a ‘new’ version of ourselves. It seems too flighty a concept to me for some reason. Getting to say you’re a new person feels more like a lobotomy than self-growth (but then again, I’m a textbook over thinker). I buy more into the theory that we’re a blank page slowly getting colored in, and by the end of our lives, the page is fully finished. I have endured a lot of change this past year, but I still feel like I’m the same me, just more colored in. I’m weightless, unbound and glowing in my new hues.
“At the turn of the new year, I decided to cover one of my longtime favorite songs by Billy Idol, ‘Dancing With Myself,’ because it’s always been a beautifully melancholic anthem to me. It also captures where I’m at right now; a little blue but a lot relieved. Dancing through my feelings and shaking off the expired layers that no longer strengthen me.
“We filmed the music video at Grimey’s Records in East Nashville (a city staple if you didn’t know), and it felt like the perfect backdrop for this moment: me getting to reclaim. My town, surrounded by my favorite artist’s works, dancing up and down the vinyl aisles like I’m starring in High Fidelity. I think it was the first time I truly gave zero f***s while filming. I felt safe and worked out my stagnant grief and newfound hope with each take. It was a cathartic color I hadn’t seen in myself yet. Nothing scares me anymore.
“For any lonely hearts right now, I hope you can bop to my version of this song and realize that YOU are your longest relationship in this life, and you deserve happiness. I also hope this song keeps you fed while I focus on songwriting. I will say, what I’ve been writing these last several months has surprised the hell out of me and is igniting a pilot line in me I didn’t realize had been burned out for so long.
“I appreciate your patience and support while I process my new life surroundings in the songwriting crucible. It’ll be ready when it’s ready! I love and miss you all so much.”
Morris, who recently finalized her divorce from fellow singer-songwriter Ryan Hurd, teased her version of “Dancing With Myself” with a sneak peek on her Instagram story on Wednesday (February 14). She hinted that she would debut “something better than a valentine.”
“Dancing With Myself” is Morris’ latest music release since her two-track collection, The Bridge, in September 2023. “The Tree” and “Get The Hell Out Of Here” arrived as Morris worked “nonstop” on her next full-length project, though she “realized these two songs deserved a moment on their own - a story in their own right, written a day apart from each other - a tender duo and bridge to my next album.”
Listen to Morris’ version of “Dancing With Myself” here: