Philly karaoke DJs say ‘Dancing On My Own’ has taken off because of the Phillies’ World Series run

In their off-key, beer-greased singalongs after big playoff wins, the Phillies have taken a Swedish pop star’s dance song about feeling lonely and turned it into the city’s collective anthem.

It’s been played in the stands of Citizens Bank Park and by the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center, belted out in bars and in the streets, and who knows, perhaps even from the top of a greased-up street pole?

» READ MORE: ‘Dancing On My Own’ gets a Philadelphia Orchestra remix

But if you need another way to measure the surge of Robyn’s 2010 classic “Dancing On My Own” or its various covers, just go to a local karaoke night.

Veteran karaoke DJ Sara Sherr was hosting one of her regular nights two weeks ago — in the heart of Red October — when she got her first request for the Tiësto remix of Calum Scott’s cover of the song.

That’s the official Phillies version, much to the chagrin of some Robyn purists. To Sherr, it was a testament to the team’s moment (and probably a better fit for the average drunk person’s vocal range).

“It was rare that people would ask for his version before the Phillies boosted the profile,” Sherr said. “I think that the Calum Scott version is probably easier to sing due to its lower key, and Robyn has a much higher voice, which can be more difficult for a lot of singers — not that it stopped them before.”

DJ Pat Pharari, who hosts at least three karaoke nights a week, said Robyn’s original synth-pop tune is a perennial standard, and now he sees arguments erupt over which version to play.

“It’s always been a banger, but it’s taken on a whole new meaning,” said Pharari. “People have definitely been singing it more, and there is a funny insistence on it must be the Robyn version.”

A colleague of his deejayed the first World Series game at a bar in Port Richmond, he said, and it was the first song that came on after the Phillies won: “Everyone went nuts.”

Down at Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar in South Philly, owner Luann Capozzoli said more regulars have been belting out both versions on the jukebox every night, as well as during the dive bar’s popular karaoke night.

“Our bartenders have also noted how the song is almost always followed by a ‘Let’s Go Phillies’ chant,” Capozzoli said. “The Phillies’ making it to the World Series has most certainly provided an atmosphere of camaraderie in the bar as well as in the city itself.”

It’s a bit harder to track the tune’s overall surge in popularity. Spotify, the world’s leading music streaming platform, did not respond to a request for the song’s play analytics over the last month.

But local listeners might have noticed the Spotify app catering to the Red October fever. Last week, many local Spotify users saw a pop-up ad — “Got Phillies pride? Blast it” — along with a link to the Tiësto remix.

(Is Spotify picking a clear side in the Robyn-vs.-Calum Scott debate? We didn’t hear back for comment, so that’s for you to decide.)

It’s not unusual for songs to have their moments. DJ Pharari said that he sees people perform Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer” to the tune of the Ghostbusters theme song after a Philly guy went viral doing it nearly three years ago. The Eagles’ fight song and the Action News Channel 6 theme also add to the local karaoke flare from time to time.

But as far as championship songs go, there aren’t too many parallels to “Dancing On My Own” in recent memory. Some called Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares” the anthem during the Eagles’ 2018 Super Bowl run. Pharari said he remembers people singing that too.

“But it wasn’t like [’Dancing On My Own’], where it was this big hit,” he said.