A dance remake of Journey’s 1981 classic? However did this end up on my iPod shuffle? Well, cast your mind back to 2008…

It seems like a long time ago now, doesn’t it? Five years, a financial crisis, a messy Arab Spring, a drone program, a dysfunctional Congress, and…

OK, let’s forget all that and just go back to 2008 for a moment — specifically, November 4th, 2008, Election Night in the U.S.A.. “Our long international nightmare is ending,” texted one friend to me, and then another. Meanwhile, across the U.S., they were dancing in the streets:

And in Seattle, what were they were dancing in the streets to? “Don’t Stop Believin'” – George Lamond dance version, courtesy of some speakers from a local gay club. Listen to the celebration of urban life in the chorus: “Streetlights, people, oh-oh-OH!”. This video from election night is an astounding expression of pure collective joy — dance beat kicks in at about :37:

Here’s the original, in case you can’t remember what it sounds like without a dance beat:

In those few hours of optimism in 2008, I’m not sure anyone knew that the chorus was a prescient plea to Democrat voters.