This Pennsylvania teacher made a Phillies remix of ‘Dancing on My Own’ for classrooms
Created by teacher TikToker "Teach with Mr. C," the remix swaps a tale of heartbreak with riffs on the players’ names and has been viewed upwards of 870,000 times on TikTok and Instagram.
How to get your children to understand the gospel of the 2023 Phillies, who are two wins away from winning the National League Championship Series?
Start with a sing-along.
Sean Connolly — better known across social media as Teach With Mr. C — started recording educational remixes of throwbacks and top-40 hits to help grade school learners conquer arithmetic in March.
Connolly’s take on Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” to help students count by eights and Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” to teach counting by nines have been viewed millions of times. His latest classroom hit is a Phillies-fied version of Calum Scott’s cover of “Dancing on My Own” that swaps a tale of heartbreak with riffs on the players’ names.
» READ MORE: Aaron Nola, Phillies bats overpower D’backs to move within two wins of a return to the World Series
“We’re taking October with Harper and Schwarber, oohhh,” the song begins, referring to first baseman Bryce Harper and home run slugger Kyle Schwarber.
“Rojas is giving it his all, with day care from Marsh, Stott and Bohm. Trea deserves a standing O! Phillies gonna bring it home,” the cover ends, fitting in references to Brandon Marsh, Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm, and Trea Turner, who actually received a standing ovation from beleaguered Phils fans earlier in the season as encouragement after a frustrating batting slump and an especially poor offensive performance in a tough loss to the Miami Marlins.
A video of Connolly’s 4-year-old son, Liam, following along to the lyrics in Phillies gear has been viewed 871,000 times since it was posted to TikTok and Instagram on Oct. 12, the day after the Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 10-2 to advance to the NLCS.
@teachwithmrc The Phillies song is Dancing On My Own by Callum Scott so here is a Phillies Player Version! #phillies #mlb #redoctober #philly #philadelphiaphillies #phillytiktok #phillysports #bryceharper #mlbplayoffs #mlbbtiktok #dancingonmyown @Phillies ♬ original sound - TeachwithMrC
Connolly told The Inquirer that he wrote the song in 45 minutes after the Phils swept the Marlins in the wild-card series, taking care to “match the syllables and rhythm exactly.” He then contracted a singer on the freelancer platform Fiverr to record the cover.
“He’s from England, so he didn’t even know the player’s names,” said Connolly, 37, a learning support and gifted teacher at a school in Bethlehem that he declined to name out of privacy concerns.
“Dancing on My Own” — which was originally released by Swedish pop star Robyn in 2010 — went from a gay club mainstay to the Phillies’ anthem during the team’s journey to the World Series in 2022 after catcher Garrett Stubbs sneaked Scott’s cover into the clubhouse’s victory playlist. It was blasted over speakers in Rittenhouse Square Park twice daily, and Scott has even offered to perform the song for the team.
» READ MORE: How did ‘Dancing On My Own’ become the Phillies playoff anthem? It starts with a backup Red Sox catcher.
Connolly grew up in Levittown, Bucks County, as a lifelong Phillies fan, with the team’s 1993 World Series loss ingrained in his head, even after the Phils ended a yearslong drought with a World Series win in 2008. Now, Connolly watches the games with Liam, who he says “doesn’t quite understand what’s going on” but uses the Phils’ good fortune to delay bedtime.
“They sucked for so long, but now when the Phillies are in the playoffs, it is so fun,” Connolly said. “I don’t feel stressed when I watch them, like I do when I watch the 76ers.”
An old hat at being a TikTok-famous teacher, Connolly said he wasn’t surprised by the support the song has received.
“Love this!! Hate the actual song, just don’t understand where it gives hype,” one TikToker commented. “But I love hearing it, bc that means we’re winning!”
“You gotta love these guys and I’m a Yankees fan,” wrote another.
» READ MORE: This is a kinder, gentler era of Philly sports fandom. Here’s how it came about.
Connolly is, however, heartened by the way teachers across the region have taken interest in the song.
“They want to use it in their classrooms,” he said. Connolly uploads most of his songs and teaching tips for free to YouTube.
When the Phils make it to the World Series, Connolly said, he plans to release an extended cut of his version of “Dancing on My Own” — this time, with shout-outs to the pitchers.