I’m angrier than a Maytag repairman because this week’s pick is one of my favorite songs and it didn’t become more successful than it was. I mean, it was successful, just not to the level that it should have been.
This week’s pick is Better Off Alone, by Alice Deejay, a Dutch group. The song can trace its roots back to 1997, but didn’t become a big hit until 2000. The song was a huge hit all around the world, especially here in the United States, where it is a Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hit.
The video is very well shot and is well choreographed, just like all of Alice Deejay’s other videos. The song has always meant something for me, because way back in 2002, when I was still a Mormon (I am no longer), I absolutely refused to get married. I’d already been married and divorced, and I wasn’t keen to have another divorce on my record.
I was forced into the church’s Young Single Adults (YSA) program, where basically, they tried to get all of us in a room and get married. I wasn’t having it. An elderly grandmother type person cornered me in the hall one Sunday and asked, “You think you’re better off alone, don’t you?” I answered that I was and excused myself.
A couple of days later, I heard this song on the radio and it instantly struck a chord. Of course, a year and a half later, I was married, but the fact remains that for a couple of years, this song defined my life.
Overall, the video is bright and energetic, just like the song. It’s the type of video that you would probably want to see over and over again.