Dance Hall Drug

Album: Boys Like Girls (2006)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Singer/Guitarist Martin Johnson discussed the motivation behind this song about precocious adolescents: "So many kids are growing up too fast. 13 year olds are giving each other hand jobs in the back of the bus, 14 year olds are already drinking and partying, and kids spend more time worried about growing up and being cool than they do actually growing up and being a kid. This song is basically a lyrical preaching to a 16 year old girl who is stuck wishing she was older, tempted by older guys, sex, grown up situations and drugs. The 'Dance Hall Drug' metaphor is like what ecstasy does to your brain. It gives you a false sense of happiness and reality. In her case, her false sense of happiness is an older, tempting guy, who she doesn't have to give her body up to be happy."

Comments: 2

  • Hannah from Carmel, InI love this song! it is really catchy and this isn't speaking to a girl-it is talking to EVERY girl out there who may be tempted by these things as well. i mean.... seriously. My mom thinks I have a bad tasted in music???????? these kids ROCK!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU GIRLSLIKEBOYS!!!!!!!!
  • Caitlin from Jersey City, NjI love this song!
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Donnie Iris (Ah! Leah!, The Rapper)

Donnie Iris (Ah! Leah!, The Rapper)Songwriter Interviews

Before "Rap" was a form of music, it was something guys did to pick up girls in nightclubs. Donnie talks about "The Rapper" and reveals the identity of Leah.

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.

In The Cards

In The CardsSong Writing

Songwriters have used cards and card games to make sense of heartache, togetherness, and even Gonorrhea.

Dan Reed

Dan ReedSongwriter Interviews

Dan cracked the Top 40 with "Ritual," then went to India and spent 2 hours with the Dalai Lama.

Ed Roland of Collective Soul

Ed Roland of Collective SoulSongwriter Interviews

The stories behind "Shine," "December," "The World I Know" and other Collective Soul hits.

Country Song Titles

Country Song TitlesFact or Fiction

Country songs with titles so bizarre they can't possibly be real... or can they?