Cover Me, Jane Willow: Dancing in the Dark

I told myself I’d lay low with the “Dancing in the Dark” covers for a bit, but I love this new one too much to keep it on the shelf.

Jane Willow is a Dutch-turned-Irish folk artist with wonderful original music featured on her web site.

Jane is working on her debut album, but like many artists, when the 2020 pandemic forced her from the stage, she started a weekly streaming series of acoustic performances. One of the very first songs she performed in that series was a lonely, frustrated cover of “Dancing in the Dark.”

Bruce’s song of disconnection resonated with Jane long after she released that video. Now, a year later, she’s released a new studio cover of “Dancing in the Dark” as a single in a new arrangement–still lonely, but this time with a note of hope and optimism and a video performance by Fred Astaire from Royal Wedding that will surely bring a smile to your face.

“This song helped me make sense of the endless lockdown,” Jane wrote in a Facebook post. “Ireland has had one of the longest and strictest lockdowns in Europe. And I will never forget these lockdowns and the sense of loneliness and disconnectedness I felt. But I also felt connected with the world through my YouTube channel, through these live videos I do. So this song, I suppose is my thank you to those that have watched these videos and reached out in some way.”

Jane’s single is available for purchase at Bandcamp. If you like it, consider purchasing it here.