“Flashdance, What a Feeling!” by Irene Cara

Tuesday, May 6th 2008 by Shanel Yang         Email this article to a friend

“Flashdance, What a Feeling!” came out in 1983 and Irene Cara, who co-wrote and performed it, won numerous awards for it: 1983 Academy Award for Best Song; 1984 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance; 1984 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song; American Music Awards for Best R&B (”Rhythm and Blues”) Female Artist and Best Pop Single of the Year.

This is an energetic, powerful, encouraging song about reaching out for your dreams and making them come true. No wonder it was such a huge success!

It is a great feeling to take positive steps toward your future. And, singing along with your favorite songs is probably one of the easiest and most fun ways to reach your goal of learning English. I hope you are enjoying learning the meaning and usage of the words in all of the songs in this Pop Music English series.

First, when there’s nothing, but a slow glowing dream,
That your fear seems to hide deep inside your mind.
All alone, I have cried silent tears full of pride
In a world made of steel, made of stone.

What a feeling! (I am music now!)
Being’s believin’! (I am rhythm now!)
Pictures come alive. You can dance right through your life.
What a feeling! (I can really have it all!)
What a feeling! (Pictures come alive when I call!)
I can have it all! (I can really have it all!)
Have it all! (Pictures come alive when I call!)
(All, all, all, all! What a feeling!)
I can have it all! (Being’s believin’!)
Bein’s believin’! (Take your passion! Make it happen!)
Make it happen! (What a feeling!)
What a feeling!

EXPLANATION OF PHRASES

1. “First, when there’s nothing, but a slow glowing dream, that your fear seems to hide deep inside your mind.”

This is actually a sentence fragment. However, lyrics often ignore grammar rules. This fragment probably means something like “Your success begins with a small but bright idea in your mind that you may be afraid to express even to yourself.”

2. “All alone, I have cried silent tears full of pride in a world made of steel, made of stone.”

This is a beautiful and completely grammatical sentence. “Silent tears” may be meant literally to mean “soundless tears” or may be meant figuratively to mean something like “crying internally but not actually shedding any tears.” The latter interpretation seems more likely, especially since the tears were “full of pride.” “World made of steel, made of stone” is a metaphor for the tough, cold, unyielding world that is perhaps making it difficult for her to make her dreams come true.

3. “Where I hear the music, close my eyes, feel the rhythm wrap around—take a hold of—my heart.”

“Where” is used here as an adverb to mean “whenever.” To say that the rhythm, or the beat of the music, “wraps around and takes a hold of” her heart means the music “inspires her,” “influences her,” or, even, “controls her” desires and actions.

4. “What a feeling! Bein’s believin’!”

“What a feeling!” usually means “What a [wonderful/incredible/bizarre/terrible] feeling!” You can put any strong adjective in the brackets. However, in the context of this song, it probably means “What a wonderful or amazingly great feeling!” “Bein’s” is a conjuction of “being is.” “Bein’s believing” probably means “you can be whatever you believe you can be.”

5. “I can have it all.”

Usually, the expression “having it all” means “having riches, fame, and fortune.” When this expression is used by a woman, it can also mean “having a successful career and a happy family life including a husband and children.”

6. “Now, I’m dancin’ for my life.”

Doing anything “for your life” can be slang for doing it “to save your life.” In the context of the movie this song was written for, this could mean several things. It could have the very literal meaning of “I am practicing hard to perform a test dance in front of strangers, that if successfully executed, will free me from an unhappy future life and let me fulfill my dream and do what I want for the rest of my life, which is to dance ballet.” But, since “dancing” is also a slang word that can mean “doing a lot of difficult, yet tedious and repetitive work,” this sentence might also simply mean “I am working hard every day just to keep my present life.”

7. “Take your passion. And, make it happen.”

“Your passion,” here, is used to mean “your most desired goal.” “Make it happen” means “take action to turn your dream into reality.”

8. “Pictures come alive. You can dance right through your life.”

The first sentence is easier to understand in the context of the following sentence. “Pictures” can mean “images, visions, or scenes in your head or mind,” in this context, of probably your most desired goal. “To come alive” figuratively means “to become vivid or easy to visualize or imagine.” “You can dance right through your life” probably means “you can continue experiencing this wonderful feeling for the rest of your life if you continue working on turning your dreams into reality.”

CONCLUSION

We began our lessons in Pop Music English words and usage by studying the lyrics of three popular songs from from the 1960s: “Yesterday” and “Hey Jude” by the Beatles and “Oh, Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison. Then, from the the 1970s, we studied the following three pop hits: “Love Will Keep Us Together” by Captain and Tennille, “Dancing Queen” by Abba, and “Emotion” by Samantha Sang.

After this “Flashdance” lesson from the 1980s, we will continue with “True” by Spandau Ballet and “Holiday” by Madonna. Finally, we will complete this series with the following songs from the 1990s to 2000s: “Vogue” by Madonna; “Get the Party Started” by Pink; and “Pump It” by the Black Eyed Peas.

[For more “Pop Music English,” click here.]

[For “Schoolhouse Rock” videos, click here.]

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