“Hate Dancin’” is a straightforward and effective song about someone’s distaste for dancing — which is turned on its head after a night at a club where they dance with a woman. Their attitude changes and they are freed to enjoy themselves. The song was the first taste of Changes, and remains one of the most popular tracks from the album.
In a press release for Changes, Stu briefly explained its inspiration: “I started writing a song about how I hate dancing, but then I realized that I love dancing.”
Like all songs on Changes, “Hate Dancin’” incorporates elements of the opener “Change.” Here the chord change is taken from Stu’s verses. The song was performed by Stu (vocals/Wurlitzer/organ/bass/synthesizer/guitar), Cavs (drums), Ambrose (vocals/percussion) and Joey (synthesizer). It was released as the second track of Changes on October 28th, 2022 and received a limited edition 7” single release on Lucky Rainbow vinyl in December of 2022 for the St Kilda Record Fair.
On October 17th, 2022, “Hate Dancin’” received a music video shot, directed and edited by John Angus Stewart. It consists of the band dancing and acting goofy in slow-motion.
When talking about the dancing in the video in an interview for KCRW, Lucas said “we were having lots of fun with that. We created the specific conditions that allowed us all to get there, to love dancing.”
“Hate Dancin’” was first played on 2023-06-07 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and only played one more time in 2023 (on 2023-06-12).