Lonely Safety Dancers (Conan Gray x Men Without Hats)

Talk about a perfect match.

I wonder if Conan Gray intentionally interpolated the Men Without Hats song for his hit song “Lonely Dancers.” It’s highly possible, as the entire Found Heaven album pays homage to 80s synth-pop.

Over the summer, I fell absolutely in love with Conan Gray’s music, and the Found Heaven album is one of my favorites (Superache is my top pick). When I first heard Lonely Dancers, I was instantly reminded of the classic 1982 track The Safety Dance by Men Without Hats. It wasn’t until the very end of August that I decided to make this mashup, because I wasn’t sure if I should. But now I know never to doubt myself again, because this one works as well as I knew it would.

This mashup is special for two reasons. The first is that it’s another 80’s-inspired song mashed with an actual 80’s song, which I haven’t done since You Can’t Fight Love. The second reason is that this is the first time I have altered the keys of BOTH songs to fit them together. Lonely Dancers is one pitch higher than Safety Dance. So what I did was I lowered the key of Lonely Dancers by one semitone, and I raised the key of Safety Dance by one semitone, so both keys could meet in the middle.

Picking a release date for this one was easy. I wondered what Conan Gray’s birthday was, and I saw that it was December 5th (two days after the infamous Heather day). I saw that December 5th fell on a Friday this year, so I knew that would be perfect. So, if you’re reading this, happy birthday Conan! I hope you specifically enjoy this mashup! (The rest of you can enjoy it too, of course.)