"Flashdance... What a Feeling" is a song from the 1983 film Flashdance with music by Giorgio Moroder and lyrics by Keith Forsey and the song's performer, Irene Cara. Moroder had been asked to score the film, and Cara and Forsey wrote most of the lyrics after they were shown the last scene from it in which the main character dances at an audition for a group of judges. They felt that the dancer's ambition to succeed could act as a metaphor for achieving any dream a person has and wrote lyrics that described what it feels like when music inspires someone to dance. The song wound up being used for the scene they watched as well as during the opening credits as the main character is shown working as a welder.
Their collaboration was the first single to be released from the soundtrack album and received positive reviews. Because Flashdance was going to be released in mid-April of that year, Casablanca Records made the single available in March as a way of marketing the film to the target audience. The unexpected success at the box office resulted in stores across the US selling out of both the single and its parent album just days after Flashdance was in theaters. The song spent six weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts around the world. It was awarded Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of one million copies and won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song and earned Cara the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
In the years since its release, the song has been discussed because of its use in the film. The lyrics told the story of the main character as a way of bringing the audience into the film during the opening credits and then symbolizing her achievement of her goal in the audition at the end. The fact that the song continues as the main character celebrates her achievement with her love interest after leaving the audition has been seen as justification for a reinterpretation of the lyrics, which at first indicated that "having it all" included independence but finally pointed to the loss of independence for the sake of a romantic relationship.
The success of the song made it clear to Cara that she was not receiving royalties that were stipulated in her recording contract, and she took legal action against her label in order to be compensated. The backlash that she claims she suffered in retaliation for filing a lawsuit left her feeling shut out of the entertainment industry as she struggled to find work. Although she began receiving royalties for the recordings she made for them, the label and its owner declared bankruptcy and claimed that they were unable to pay her the $1.5 million settlement she was awarded by a Los Angeles Superior Court.
Last Updated: August 31, 2021
