“Dare” (also stylised as “挑戦 (DARE)”) was released on August 29, 2005 as the second single from Demon Days. It features guest vocals from iconic Manchester rock band Happy Mondays‘ own Shaun Ryder.

In the overall narrative of Demon Days, “Dare” takes place after the general depression spanning from “Feel Good Inc” to “White Light”. Importantly, it is sung by Noodle rather than 2-D. This is likely meant to convey the sense of a second perspective.

Noodle’s lines tells 2-D that if he is so distraught over the current state of the world, he should take action because all he does is whine about it.

The song’s title supposedly came about due to Ryder’s thick Mancunian accent. He was unable to say the phrase “It’s There”, which was the song’s original title, so it was simply changed to “DARE.”

The music video mainly features Noodle, who has Shaun Ryder’s head in her closet hooked up with wires and tubes. Noodle flicks a switch and she dances around her room as the music plays.

I’m not sure if the rest of the band mind that I’m the star of this video…But whatever! I mean, I saw way too much of Murdoc showing off in the “Feel Good Inc.” video. And I thought that the boys misbehaved badly in it. As I said, it’s my song, you know? I wrote it! So, I can choose who’s going in the video and how it’s going to be made. In fact, when we started shooting the video, I didn’t actually tell any of the band that we had begun. You can see 2-D listening through the floorboards unaware of what is happening and Russel is on the toilet with the newspaper also wondering what the noise is.
- Noodle