"I didn't say we're going in a bus to a party, I said we're going to a party in a bus."
— Jeperson, Diogenes Club
A song sequence that frequently appears in Bollywood films. Inspired by his beautiful surroundings, or by a beautiful love interest, the character sings a rousing anthem to demonstrate either his patriotism or his love, while defying the laws of gravity.
The vehicle needn't be a bus; it could be any vehicle. Trains are a popular alternative. Sub-Trope of Crowd Song.
Has nothing to do with missing cast members.
Examples:
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Advertising
- A commercial used in the movie theaters from ATT shows a genre switch commercial where a bus is about to fall from a cliff, but in the more frantic moment, someone begin to sing "Everybody get off the bus", and the rest of the passengers literally goes to this trope escaping successfully from the bus while a complete musical number is done. You can see it here
Films — Live-Action
- At The Circus (Marx Brothers): Groucho sings "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" in a train car.
- Austin Powers: The title character dances with Miss Kensington on a double-decker bus as Burt Bacharach plays the piano.
- Cuban Fury: Bruce practices his routine on top of public transport during his Training Montage.
- Dil Se..: In the "Chaiyya Chaiyya" opening song, the characters dance on top of a moving train.
- Hairspray (2007) features a musical number sung and danced in part on a school bus.
- It Happened One Night: To pass the time, several bus passengers pull out guitars for a rendition of "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze." The whole bus joins in to sing the chorus (including Ellie after the second verse).
- A Hard Day's Night: The Beatles sing "I Should Have Known Better" in a baggage car on a train.
- La La Land: "Another Day of Sun" has several drivers in a traffic jam dancing and/or showing off their talents on top of their cars and trucks.
- Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi: Surinder dances on top of a little yellow car while singing his signature song, "Haule Haule".
- Salaam-E-Ishq: The characters and some back dancers gather on the top of a vehicle during the song "Dil Kya Kare".
- Star Spangled Rhythm: There's a cartoonish sequence in which Betty Hutton sings "I'm Doin' It For Defense" while struggling to stay on a jeep.
- Taxi 3: The film's artistic opening sequence features, amongst other crazy stuff, naked women dancing on top of giant rollerskates.
- Teen Wolf: Scott and his buddy Stiles occasionally go "surfing" by driving around town with one of them dancing on the roof of a van to a Beach Boys song. Stiles does it in the first act, and Scott does it later as a wolf, even doing handstands on the moving vehicle.
Live-Action TV
- Strictly Come Dancing: The 2024 series opened with a reference to the music video for "We Like to Party" (listed below) with the professional dancers having a party on a bus being driven by returning pro Aljaž Škorjanec, who had been absent from the pro lineup for 2 years (which may double as a Visual Pun).
Music
- "Blaydon Races": This Geordie folk song is about a group of people traveling by bus to see the Blaydon races. One verse talks about the people on the bus singing and dancing.
- Björk: The music video of "Big Time Sensuality" depicts Bjork singing and dancing in the bed of a truck slowly driving through New York City.
- Confessions on a Dance Floor: In the music video for "Hung Up", the Black crew from the bus stop scene keeps dancing in front of the other passengers in a subway train, to the latter's shock. Then, a busty Black woman appears, shows some dance moves, then struts out.
- Friday: Rebecca and her unnamed friends dance on the car despite it moving quickly.
- Pussycat Dolls:
- "Wait a Minute" begins with the Dolls dancing atop a subway train.
- In "When I Grow Up", the group dancing on the roofs of cars.
- Psy: "Gangnam Style" has a few clips of bus dancing in which the singer does his signature move accompanied by back dancers.
- Sincere Engineer: "Bottle Lightning Twice"'s music video shows Deanna singing and dancing in an empty subway car, interspersed with her practicing boxing.
- Vengaboys:
- The video for their hit song, "We Like to Party" shows the band going around and picking up guests. This became a defining trait of the group and their reputation.
- The video for "We're Going to Ibiza" shows the band in animated form dancing on the same bus that is now CGI.
- Their Signature Song "We Like to Party!"—also known for its usage in a Six Flags commercial—has a couple of verses about the Vengabus, a party bus that attracts people like flies to the honey.
"The Vengabus is coming,
and everybody's jumping..." - Zdob și Zdub & the Adhavov Brothers: In the music video of "Trenulețul" (translation: "The Train"), Moldova's 2022 Eurovision Song Contest entry, the musicians perform the song on top of the titular train between Chisinau and Bucharest.
Theatre
- Bells Are Ringing: "Hello, Hello There" builds into a big dance number on a subway car, involving acrobats.
Video Games
- Rock Band:
- The opening video of the original game features a generic band performing on top of a car - appropriately, to the song "Highway Star."
- Rock Band 2 has two bands playing on top of cars.
- Lego Rock Band has the generic Lego band playing on top of a series of vehicles, including a plane.
Web Video
- Achievement Hunter: In "Things to Do in Fortnite - FOR Etnite Golf", Alfredo does his victory dance on top of the golf cart as it's driving around.
- Where the hell is Matt?: While it's not on a moving vehicle, Matt dancing on top of a rock wedged precariously between two cliffs is still a gravity-defying stunt done for much of the same purposes.
Western Animation
- The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius: In "Holly Jolly Jimmy", there's a Fantasy Sequence where Hugh and Judy dance atop a giant floating pie.
