Dance the Night Away

“She hit the floor, next thing you know!”

The mass of students in the distance yells along with the song. Your rib cage is rattling along with the bass while the vibrations from your dancing peers’ jumping subtly shakes you. Lines of eager teens wait to scan their tickets, and you can’t help but excitedly stand with them, ready to join your friends. As you head down the grand staircase, you can’t help but smile and run to join the group. After all, it’s the night of the homecoming dance.

It’s a dance, so naturally, music is vital to the success of it. If the music isn’t “hype” as one student put it, less people will stick around. To prove this point, Addie Winans (‘28) said the best part of the dance is “…when you hear a song that you just have to dance to, so you run back on the dance floor with your friends.” According to the students I asked here at Wayzata, there are several songs to take note of that are just too good to go without.

Starting with the classics, Low by Flo Rida (feat. T-Pain) is the most popular of all the go-to dance songs, followed closely by Yeah! by Usher (feat. Lil Jon & Ludacris). Also high-ranking in the poll was Starships by Nicki Minaj and Fireball by Pitbull (feat. John Ryan). For many of us, songs like Cheap Thrills by Sia (feat. Sean Paul) and Counting Stars by OneRepublic are throwbacks to middle school or maybe even the Kidz Bop days of elementary school — We can effortlessly sing along word for word… well, at least for the chorus. There are also certain dances that are equally well-known. These cult classics are the Cupid Shuffle (Cupid) and the Cha Cha Slide (DJ Casper). Probably because of their easy-to-follow steps, they have remained popular since their respective releases over 20 years ago.

But, it’s not only the classics that fit the vibe students want this year. Newer songs like HOT TO GO! and Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan as well as FE!N were also highly popularized in the past two years or so for school dances. From the TikTok trend of spelling out “HOT TO GO” in time to the lyrics along with the yelling of “FEIN!!” while jumping to the beat have become second nature to many high school dance-goers. Other popular songs include Von dutch (Charli xcx), Levitating (Dua Lipa), and as several students mentioned, any hits of Tate McRae, sombr, Pitbull, or Sabrina Carpenter. That being said, there are likely songs that were released this summer that will be making a debut of sorts on Saturday night.

While most songs have a certain degree of disagreement amongst teens about whether or not they are good for a dance, one causes more debate than others. This is, of course, Ed Sheeran’s 2017 hit, Perfect. Consistently used for the slow-dance, it has caused a bit of controversy. Some people argue that it’s overplayed with one student saying it’s “way, wayyyy too overplayed. I will leave if it gets played.” Another student told me, “I think it’s a great song to slow dance to because it’s just a chill song, and it’s Ed Sheeran, so it’s perfect (pun intended), no matter the context.”

Another aspect of the debate is whether or not it is strictly romantic. “Honestly, [it’s] so iconic, it could be romantic and platonic as I love doing this with my best friend,” Nora Xu (‘28) explained. To the same question, Zach Stay (‘26) said, “It can be platonic, but I’d be surprised if someone does it platonically.” No matter what your take is on it, you will likely hear it play at some point during the night if you are at this year’s homecoming dance. After all, Ed Sheeran’s Perfect certainly is a high-school-dance classic.

However, music doesn’t solely impact the dance — it’s a major part of the homecoming game as well. When asked about their favorite musical parts of the game, the marching band playing, the crowd singing Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond), and the cheer team’s routines are decidedly fan-favorites. Ava Knoll (28) mentioned loving the halftime show that the band does: “They’re so good! And, it’s fun to watch.” From the perspective of The Wayzata Marching Machine, trumpet-player Dominick Fusaro (‘28) explained, “It makes all the hard work worth it.”
“I think it’s really fun to play music with friends and have a way to talk to them. On the field we just march on, play, and march right off, but in the stands we can connect, help each other with music, and generally act more like a community.” — Trumpet-player Henock Ahouelete (‘26) on his appreciation for playing the marching band pep-tunes.

When it comes to crowd interactions, Hailey Marshall (‘27), a cheerleader, was sure to express her excitement and pride for the team. In her words, “[The team] put a lot of hard work in behind the scenes that nobody really gets to see until the night of homecoming!” Of course, there are times where everyone gets involved, both those watching and participating in the game. Namely, when the Sweet Caroline sing-along begins. “It’s one song that gets everyone involved during the game. Last year the crowd was wild,” student council senator Easton Wendell explained. All that said, there is sure to be good music to enjoy on Friday night.