Shut Up and Dance modified
Marc Cohen’s “
Walking in Memphis” by adding “
rave” or “
raving” at every opportunity, rendering the lyrics senseless (i.e. “I put on my raving shoes and boarded a plane”). Cohen sued
SUAD and the work (titled "
Raving, I'm Raving") was
withdrawn (a pity) though
Scooter, a
German hardcore techno group had no
shame and covered SUAD’s
corruption as "I'm Raving" in 1996. The SUAD version was released in 1992 on Rough Trade while the more broadly distributed Scooter cover did not appear until 1996 on the Club Tools (Edel) label. (credit to
sakke for the SUAD release info). Scooter's lyrics are slightly different than those of the
SUAD original.
Undoubtedly the nadir of mid-90’s techno, Scooter’s “I’m Raving” (more commonly known as “that raving shoes song”) was a hit in Europe (peaking at #33 on the charts in 1996). The most offensive feature of Scooter’s version is the backing bagpipe track playing “Scotland the Brave”. I’m not kidding.
The lyrics are:
Put on my raving shoes and I boarded a plane
Touched down in the land where the skies were blue
In the middle of the pouring rain
Everybody was happy
Energy shining down on me
Yeah, I've got a first class ticket,
Feel as good as a boy can be
I'm raving, I'm raving
I'm raving 'til the sweat has fallen down off me
I'm raving, I'm raving
But do I really feel the way I feel?
Yes!
Come on!
Yeah!
Put on my raving shoes,
And I boarded a plane
Touched down in the land
Where the skies were blue
In the middle of the pouring rain.
Everybody was happy,
Energy shining down on me
Yeah, I've got a first class ticket,
Feel as good as a boy can be.
I'm raving, I'm raving
I'm raving 'til the sweat drops have fallen down off me
I'm raving, I'm raving
But do I really feel the way I feel?
Yes!
Wicked! (x3)
Give it up now! (x3)
Yeah!
I'm raving, I'm raving
I'm raving ‘til the sweat drops fall down off me
I'm raving, I'm raving
But do I really feel the way I feel? (x2)
I hear this track
in the wild more often than I would like: twice at
Raindance, and some lesser-known rave events in
London (one DJ was creative enough to flip between the Scooter and SUAD versions without the audience noticing). I've also heard it grace the decks in
Mannheim,
Germany, and though I have not personally heard it in the US I understand it made its way across the pond. Scooter’s work is the sort of thing that pigeonholes the rave scene (their cover of
Billy Idol's “
Rebel Yell” similarly must be heard to be believed), but then one doesn't mind it at all when
rolling through a mad night.