"Dancing Queen" is a
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
song by South Korean girl group
Girls' Generation
Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piece e ...
. It was released on December 21, 2012, as the
lead single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
Release ...
from their fourth Korean studio album, ''
I Got a Boy
''I Got a Boy'' (stylized in all caps) is the fourth Korean studio album (sixth overall) by South Korean girl group Girls' Generation. It was released for digital download on January 1, 2013, by S.M. Entertainment, and was made available for ...
'' (2013). Recorded in 2008, the song was initially scheduled to be released as the title track for the group's second studio album. Nevertheless, the plan was withdrawn, and "
Gee" and the
titular EP was released instead as their first extended play.
"Dancing Queen" is a remake of the 2008 single "
Mercy
Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French ''merci'', from Medieval Latin ''merced-'', ''merces'', from Latin, "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merxi'' "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, relig ...
" by
Duffy. It is the first Korean material released by the group after a fourteen-month hiatus from the South Korean music scene to focus on the Japanese music market with their 2012 album ''
Girls & Peace''. The song received generally positive reviews from
music critics
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
, who favored its "
funky pop" production as opposed to the group's signature
electropop
Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a r ...
styles. Commercially, the single peaked atop the
Gaon Digital Chart
The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based o ...
and at number two on the
Korea K-Pop Hot 100
The K-pop Hot 100 is a music singles chart in South Korea, launched by ''Billboard'' in conjunction with ''Billboard'' Korea () on August 25, 2011. It is the second Asian ''Billboard'' chart after the Japan Hot 100. The chart used the same multime ...
, and has sold over 500,000 digital units.
Live performances
Girls' Generation performed "Dancing Queen" and "I Got a Boy" live on
M! Countdown
''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet. The show features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. It is broadcast from CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul.
...
on January 3, 2013." The group also performed it on their MBC comeback special,
Girls' Generation's Romantic Fantasy.
Commercial reception
"Dancing Queen" sold 139,344 copies after its first day of sales and went on to reach number eleven on the
''Gaon'' Singles Chart in its first week.
It also debuted at number two on
K-Pop Hot 100
The K-pop Hot 100 is a music singles chart in South Korea, launched by '' Billboard'' in conjunction with ''Billboard'' Korea () on August 25, 2011. It is the second Asian ''Billboard'' chart after the Japan Hot 100. The chart used the same multim ...
.
It has sold over 1,010,545 copies.
Music video
Background

The music video was released on December 21, 2012, at 10 a.m.
KST via Korean music site
Naver
Naver (Hangul: 네이버) is a South Korean online platform operated by the Naver Corporation. It was launched in 1999 as the first web portal in South Korea to develop and use its own search engine. It was also the world's first operator to i ...
. Most of the video was originally filmed in 2008, while being bookended with scenes from the music video for "I Got A Boy".
The outfits and the concept featured in the music video were instead reworked into what would become "Gee".
A screenshot of the music video was leaked in 2011 along with the audio of the
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
version of "Boomerang," which was later officially released in Japanese on their second Japanese album ''Girls & Peace'' (2012).
Synopsis
The music video, with a running time of 4 minutes, 23 seconds, has a time machine plot. The video begins with the members in a pink doll-like room.
Yoona
Im Yoon-ah (; born May 30, 1990), known mononymously as Yoona, is a South Korean singer and actress. After training for five years, she debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation (and later its subgroup Girls' Generation-Oh!GG) in Augu ...
opens up a present to find a small device. The group quickly gathers around and finds out it is a time machine which brings them back to the year 2008 from 2013. The room transforms into a retro-style diner.
Tiffany
Tiffany may refer to:
People
* Tiffany (given name), list of people with this name
* Tiffany (surname), list of people with this surname
Known mononymously as "Tiffany":
* Tiffany Darwish, (born 1971), an American singer, songwriter, actress kn ...
turns on a jukebox with
Jessica while they sing the intro. The first verse mainly focuses on the diner. While in the diner, the video transitions from each member's line in a pan-order around the diner. The second verse is focused on the white set, wearing white shirts and jeans (which would be reused in "Gee"). During the bridge, the members throw a party while dancing in groups of three while Tiffany approaches a DJ telling him to play a song. The video cuts back to the center of the diner where the group is dancing with customers and diner staff. Confetti is thrown during the final chorus while the party continues with a final pose in the T-shirt and jean costumes. At the end of the song, the time machine moves forward to 2013 as the words "Ayo GG" spoken by
Sooyoung
Choi Soo-young (; born February 10, 1990), professionally known as Sooyoung, is a South Korean singer, actress and songwriter. She was a member of the short-lived Korean-Japanese singing duo Route 0 during 2002 in Japan. After returning to Sou ...
are heard, leading into the teaser for "I Got a Boy". The first part of the teaser is met with audio using mid rock-synths and breaks down into dubstep as Tiffany says, "Ayo stop, let me put it down another way". At the end of the video, the "I Got a Boy" symbol was used with "2013.01.01 comeback" seen below it.
Credits
Credits are adapted from ''I Got a Boy'' liner notes.
Studio
* SM Concert Hall Studio –
recording
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, r ...
,
mixing,
digital editing
Digital media is any communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronics device. ' ...
* Studio-T – strings recording
* Sonic Korea –
mastering
Personnel
*
SM Entertainment
SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company ha ...
– executive producer
*
Lee Soo-man
Lee Soo-man (, born 18 June 1952) is a South Korean business executive and record producer who is best known for being the founder of SM Entertainment, a multinational South Korean entertainment company based in Seoul. He has also been referre ...
– producer
*
Girls' Generation
Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piece e ...
– vocals
**
Taeyeon
Kim Tae-yeon (; born March 9, 1989), known mononymously as Taeyeon, is a South Korean singer. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and on ...
–
background vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...
**
Jessica – lyrics, background vocals
**
Tiffany
Tiffany may refer to:
People
* Tiffany (given name), list of people with this name
* Tiffany (surname), list of people with this surname
Known mononymously as "Tiffany":
* Tiffany Darwish, (born 1971), an American singer, songwriter, actress kn ...
– lyrics, background vocals
**
Seohyun
Seo Ju-hyun (; born June 28, 1991), known professionally as Seohyun, is a South Korean singer, actress and songwriter. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation (and later its subgroup Girls' Generation-TTS) in August 2007, which ...
– background vocals
**
Sunny – background vocals
* Yoon Hyo-sang – lyrics
*
Stephen Andrew Booker –
composition
Composition or Compositions may refer to:
Arts and literature
* Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography
*Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...
*
Aimee Ann Duffy – composition
*
Kenzie –
arrangement
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...
, vocal directing
* Kim Jeong-bae – guitar
* Yong – strings
* Shim Sang-won – strings conducting and arrangement
* Oh Seung-geun – strings recording
* Nam Koong-jin – recording, mixing, digital editing
* Jeon Hoon – mastering
Charts
Year-end charts
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Girls' Generation songs
Soul songs
Korean-language songs
2012 singles
SM Entertainment singles
Songs written by Steve Booker (producer)
Gaon Digital Chart number-one singles