This song has no right to be so enduring. Too many aspects of “Groove Is in the Heart” are plainly absurd—the slide whistle, the vocal tics and rap breakdown, the cheesy samples—for it to have been anything more than a lower entry on Novelty Song Lists or a sheepishly released B-side. “We’re going to dance / We’re going to dance / We’re going to dance / And have some fun” intones the intro. This sounds far too much like organized fun—which is anything but fun, let alone cool. The mix, all random sounds bouncing around, is too busy—it could only have been compiled by an obsessive nerd. Minimalism is cool; clutter ain’t.

Nevertheless, seventeen years after its release, Deee-Lite’s song remains an infectious dancefloor filler. Kids nowadays may not know the song by name, and are even unlikelier to know anything about its progenitors, but the slinky bass line and soberly insistent tambourine are guaranteed to tickle their ears and get their hips twitching. Lady Miss Kier’s dynamic vocal—all sass in the verse and sonorous in the chorus—will inspire impassioned copycats. The song’s exhausted shutdown will lead to appreciative cheering and perhaps even pleas for a repeat spin.

Its appeal? It’s a dance song for the dorky masses. Groove may be in the heart, but cool ain’t nearly as ubiquitous. Being a music fan is often an exercise in social maneuvering. “Groove Is in the Heart” flipped a nerdish finger to this hegemony. You didn’t need to move in the right circles to enjoy this song, you just needed to be in the dance circle. I’ve seen the song work its magic: my college dormitory adopted it as its party anthem even developing a goofy dance routine (incorporating such choreographic classics as the pot stirring and the sprinkler). From the cool clique to the freaks, the song united the community.

In the years since “Groove Is in the Heart,” grunge crashed through and sold its soul, dance music went overground, Girl Power fizzed, hip-hop hit the clubs, Britney jailbait nymphettes completed a 7-10 split in musical demographics, and guitars returned to turn the clock back thirty years. However, no matter how much the songs changed, the audiences stayed the same. Amidst this musical upheaval, jocks stayed jocks and dorks were dorks. You can’t fight society. However, “Groove Is in the Heart” cleared a path to the dancefloor for all social strata. With its joyful spirit, it may very well be the greatest single of all time.

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