Do Ya Do Ya Do Ya Do Ya Wanna Dance?

I don't need to hug or hold you tight
I just wanna dance with you all night
In this world there's nothing I would rather do
'Cause I'm happy just to dance with you
- The Beatles

Dance with me, I want to be your partner
Can't you see the music is just starting...
- Orleans

Dancin' in the moonlight
Everybody's feelin' warm and right
It's such a fine and natural sight
Everybody's dancin' in the moonlight
- King Harvest

She stares, and she watches. They’re more than just glancin’.
I swear those beotches are hot for my dancin'.
- local rap “artist” Mini K


I’m not a bad dancer. Some might say that I can really “slice a carpet".

I just love it when I’m on a dance floor and I spy a couple that have obviously spent some hard-earned cash on dance lessons from Arthur Murray or some other dance studio. You can almost see their mouths move as they count out the steps. They’re usually so stiff and expressionless; looking like a couple of androids programmed to dance by aliens from the planet Xargak in order to "blend in". (Hey, now I have a subject for the letter X)

Then there are the others who look like they’ve never heard a music beat let alone danced to one before. But at least they seem like they’re having fun most of the time.

Wah, wah, a-watusi...
-The Orlons

Ah the ‘60s. A time of innocence. A time of great music. A time of goofy dances. Remember these?:

The twist, the frug (that one sounds downright rude), the swim, the mashed potato, the pony, the hitchhike, the monkey, the jerk, the boogaloo, the skate, the philly.

The last three were mentioned in an Isley Brothers song famously covered in 1968 by the Human Beinz. This is going to be tough, but let’s see if I can remember the first few lines from that song:

No no no no no no no no no
No no no no no no no no
No no no no no no no no
No no no no no

Indeed. I may have left out a “no” or two, but that’s pretty well it. The song is about a guy who can dance the pants off of anyone else. I’m surprised he didn’t brag about his skills as a lyricist.

Mashed Potato, Ya a weem o wep a weem o wep,
Mashed Potato, ya, ya, ya, ya,
It's the latest, aw baby,
It's the greatest, come on honey,
Ya, ya ya, ya,
- Dee Dee Sharp

Wait a minute! Weren’t those weem o weps taken from The Lion Sleeps Tonight?

I don’t think you’re going to find any deep messages within the words of a dance song.

Keep on dancin' and a-prancin' (ah)
Keep on dancin' and a-prancin' (ah)
Keep on dancin' and a-prancin' (ah)
- The Gentrys

But I do like songs about dancing. So I’ll put one on now and shake my booty on my way to my next blog entry.

I think I'll do the Xargakian shuffle.