This is a review of Dancer on The Water by Brothertiger. The songwriter and singer is Brothertiger (John Jagos). The producers are Brothertiger and Jon Markson. This song was released on march 18, 2021 and it appears on the self titled album.
Brothertiger is an electronic artist whose creations are influenced by 80’s and 90’s electronic music. His career started back in 2009 in Ohio. He was influenced by bands like M83 and Animal collective. This song in particular falls under the genres of chill-wave and synth-pop.
Lyrics
This song tells a story of longing for a tranquil space. The song opens with the chorus. The chorus represents the singer's dream of being by the ocean. He uses the lyrics “Dancer on the water” to evoke a graceful and effortless surfer. The line “Cool ocean blue carries you” describes the calm quality of the “dancer”. After daydreaming of the ocean, the singer becomes optimistic, which is made clear with the line “sun up above shining through”.
He then goes on to tell us why he daydreams of the ocean. The lyrics “I Drift through the streets all alone at night” clue us in to the singer not finding what he is looking for in the city. The lyrics “escape from you the streets so grey” symbolize how dull and lackluster the city is. The singer goes on to say “cus I’m not a city boy anyway”, which means city life is not for him.
With the lyrics “I’m through. I’ll try to remember you” the author is saying he is over this brief fantasy. He ends the song by singing “one more sullen sky and watch as the boats go by.” This lyric describes the end of his fantasy.
Chords
This song has 4 chords: E♭ -> D♭ -> Fₘ⁷ -> B♭ₘ⁷. The song is in the key of D-flat. (Song BPM)
This key brings the emotional quality of grief (Song BPM). I don't think this matches the tone of the song. I think there are notes of grief in it, but the song mostly sounds like relief from grief in the form of a daydream. The opening line "dancer on the water" is in the key of E-flat major, which evokes love or devotion. The second line "moving like you do is in D-flat major, which brings the emotion of grief. The third line "cool ocean blue carries you" is F minor 7th chord, which has the emotional quality of melancholy. The fourth line is b-flat minor 7th chord, carries the emotion of cheerful love. So, the chord progression carries the listener through mixed emotions.
Texture
This Song incorporates many “nostalgic” sounds from various 90’s rack mount synths (SAYS WHO?) The intro is the sound of a soft drink filling up -- an interesting and non-musical sound-nugget that is there purely for texture. Next, a bright synth flute sound appears. The texture of this instrument is airy. The harmonica that comes in afterward has a metallic texture. To round out the overall sound, a chime interment plays at the tail end of the verse -- this adds a bright, shimmering element of texture.
Range
This song has mid-range vocals throughout. The vocals smoothly roll up and down similar to gentle waves.
Melody
In this song, the primary melody is both sung (in the chorus) and performed on the harmonica. The melody ends with a long, sustained-but-dwindling note reminiscent of a sigh. This contributes to the daydream-like and wistful emotional characteristics of the song. I think it is particularly interesting that the melody carries over from the singer's voice to an instrument. It's almost like his voice is just one of the instruments playing the melody.
Critical Response
The music blog Glamglare shared an opinion of Dancer on The Water: "[it is an] irresistible blend of 80s pop sensibilities and his own highly appealing craftsmanship and style." BroadwayWorld wrote: "Armed with a wacky new vocabulary of sounds, Jagos wrote 'Dancer on the Water,' an elegant, up-tempo coastal fantasy with lustrous synths and pan flute flourishes." So, these critics clearly appreciated the song, like I do.
“Brothertiger – Dancer on the Water.” Genius, genius.com/Brothertiger-dancer-on-the-water-lyrics. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.
“Song Pick: Brothertiger - Dancer on the Water (Video).” Glamglare, 22 Mar. 2021, wp.glamglare.com/music/2021/03/22/song-pick-brothertiger-dancer-on-the-water-video/.
“Brothertiger Hometown, Biography.” Last.Fm, www.last.fm/music/Brothertiger/+wiki. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.
“BPM and Key for Dancer on the Water by Brothertiger: Tempo for Dancer on the Water.” SongBPM, songbpm.com/@brothertiger/dancer-on-the-water-yr0jiAVHyr. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.
“Dancer on the Water by Brothertiger.” SonicHits, sonichits.com/video/Brothertiger/Dancer_on_the_Water. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.
Major, Michael. “Brothertiger Announces New Self-Titled Album.” BroadwayWorld.Com, www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmusic/article/Brothertiger-Announces-New-Self-Titled-Album-20221005. Accessed 24 Feb. 2024.
I can't believe this song is from 2021! It's so '90s and so very, very chill. I find it simultaneously hilarious and enjoyable (especially the music video; I felt like I was time traveling -- down to the "pan flute flourishes," lol). This seems like a great song to play while doing something creative, since it's relaxing but not boring. I'm not sure I really feel "grief" from any part of the song exactly -- definitely nostalgia, though, with longing and memories of happier places and times. I feel like the strength of the happy memories keeps any part from feeling precisely "sad," despite any possible sadness in the lyrics, because the melody and more upbeat instrumentation tend to transport the listener into the escape of the memory, rather than dwelling on the less happy present -- but that's just how I interpret the song. Thanks for sharing it!
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