SHINee’s Taemin Reveals The True Meaning Of His New Album Title, “Never Gonna Dance Again”
When SHINee‘s Taemin revealed he’d be releasing an album called Never Gonna Dance Again, many Shawols immediately thought back to the lyrics of George Michael‘s 1984 song, “Careless Whisper”. However, in a new interview for Forbes, the star vocalist revealed the real meaning behind the title.
Never Gonna Dance Again is Taemin’s latest three-part comeback series. He released the Never Gonna Dance Again: Prologue single, “2 Kids”, in August this year.
Then, the album Never Gonna Dance Again: Act 1 dropped in September, along with title track “Criminal”.
The final part, Never Gonna Dance Again: Act 2, is expected to release later this year. But, fans have been discussing the series title since it was revealed back in July. Many presumed it was a reference to George Michael’s 1984 hit, “Careless Whisper”, which features the memorable lyrics, “I’m never gonna dance again, guilty feet have got no rhythm“.
As such, some fans even expected one of the songs on Act 1 to sample “Careless Whisper”. However, when the album dropped, there was no connection between the two at all, leaving Shawols perplexed. Thankfully, Taemin has finally explained why he chose the title in a new interview for Forbes.
When the interviewer said she was worried Never Gonna Dance Again meant that Taemin was readying to retire, Taemin explained that the title is somewhat “ironic“. It all relates to his career as an idol.
Taemin admitted that over the years, many people have expected bigger and better performances from him. In response to that, his rebellious side came to the thought, “I’m never gonna dance again“. But instead of rebelling against dancing altogether, Taemin’s line of thinking for the album was “rebelling against [the expectations]“.
[I’m] trying to say, “I’m never gonna dance again in this style that people expect me to.”
— Taemin
In that way, Taemin says Never Gonna Dance Again represents the deeper meaning of him “starting over” and resetting his career. Thankfully, that means fans have so much to look forward to in the future. As the final part of the series releases, Taemin revealed he hopes Never Gonna Dance Again reconstructs “the way people [him] me as an artist personally”.
