Irene Cara – Flashdance…What A Feeling

“Flashdance… What a Feeling” is a song from the 1983 film Flashdance, written by Keith Forsey and sung by Irene Cara. Irene is best known for her role as Coco Hernandez in the 1980 musical film Fame, and for recording the film’s title song “Fame”. When writing the song, Irene Cara and Keith Forsey were shown the last scene of the film, in which Alex auditions, to have a sense of what the lyrics should be. She told Forsey that she thought the lyrics should describe the feeling of dance and credits him with coming up with the lyric that inspired the working title for the song, “Dancing for Your Life”. She explained how the song became “a metaphor about a dancer, how she’s in control of her body when she dances and how she can be in control of her life” and how that particular art form could represent any goal someone has. As a single, “Flashdance…What a Feeling” earned Cara the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, and a nomination for Record of the Year. Learn more about Irene Cara and Flashdance in Episode 14 of the SPD podcast.