Tonight you are cordially invited to Wang Chung. "But how," you may ask, "does one Wang Chung?" The band was originally called Huang Chung, which means "yellow bell" in Chinese. To them, it signified a manifestation of perfect pitch. Nick Feldman says, "Wang Chung is the feeling, not the word. It represents an abstract, an escape from pragmatic, complex ideas. Wang Chung means whatever you want it to mean. Have fun with it. That's the whole idea of the line 'Everybody Wang Chung Tonight.' It can mean a tribal dance, a Viennese waltz, a party in New York, or whatever."
Jack Hues and Nick Feldman conceived the song as an ironic ballad; but producer and co-writer Peter Wolf convinced them to turn it into an uptempo pop song. Hues recalls: "Most of the time we write separately, but 'EverybodyHave Fun Tonight' is actually quite a collaborative song. When we came up with the original line, I then went away and wrote with a 'Hey Jude' style ballad around it, trying to be ironic. And then when we got in the studio with Peter Wolf, he was like, 'This is an amazing dance hit, you rock the tempo, you've got to really deliver what the title suggests.' The original demo we recorded in Nick's flat in London around Christmas time I think one Monday, because it had all these sort of like sleigh bells and stuff on it. And I just wanted it to have that kind of weird Disney-esque sort of atmosphere. But things obviously change as people hear the songs and see certain potentials in it. And after 'To Live and Die in LA' we did have a choice facing us, which is, Okay you can do more movies, you can be sort of arty if you want, but you won't necessarily get support for that. Or you can go and have a hit record, which is what the label always wants from you. And we pretty consciously chose to have a proper hit record and sort of establish ourselves."
It became their biggest hit, peaking at number two in the US and Canada, turned their name into a verb, and made it a household word. Hues explains: "It was delivering a song that's essentially very upbeat and intentionally amusing. We weren't super serious about 'this is an amazing song that's gonna change your life.' It is just sort of like, get out there, have a great time, don't worry too much. I remember when we did the video with Kevin Godley and Lol Crème, they thought I should be singing straight to camera in a very intense way and very serious way with this pretty lighthearted song. And I think that really works in that video... It was actually banned in the UK, because some BBC guys said that that particular frame rate could cause epileptic seizures in people."
I'll drive a million miles
To be with you tonight
So if you're feeling low
Turn up your radio
The words we use are strong
They make reality
But now the music's on
Oh baby dance with me yeah.
Rip it up
Move down
Rip it up
Move it down to the ground
Rip it up
Cool down
Rip it up
And get the feeling not the word.
Ev'rybody have fun tonight
Ev'rybody have fun tonight
Ev'rybody Wang Chung tonight
Ev'rybody have fun tonight
Ev'rybody Wang Chung tonight
Ev'rybody have fun.
Deep in the world tonight
Our hearts beat safe and sound
I'll hold you so close
Just let yourself go down.
Rip it up
Move down
Rip it up
Move it down to the ground
Rip it up
Cool down
Rip it up
Get out what's inside of you
Ev'rybody have fun tonight
Ev'rybody have fun tonight
Ev'rybody Wang Chung tonight
Ev'rybody have fun tonight
Ev'rybody have fun tonight
Ev'rybody Wang Chung tonight
Ev'rybody have fun.
On the edge of oblivion
All the world is Babylon
And all the love and ev'ryone
A ship of fools sailing on
(Ev'rybody)
Ev'rybody have fun tonight
(Ev'rybody)
Ev'rybody have fun tonight.
Across the nation
Around the world
Ev'rybody have fun tonight
A celebration so spread the word.
Ev'rybody have fun tonight
Ev'rybody have fun tonight
Ev'rybody Wang Chung tonight
Ev'rybody have fun tonight
Ev'rybody Wang Chung tonight
Ev'rybody have fun tonight
Ev'rybody have fun.
Ev'rybody
Ev'ryone.
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