For all intents and purposes, I was plagued with being white from birth. Of course this presumes that the old standby stereotype of white boys is true - that we all lack rhythm, soul, and step. It's amazing to me how much these things can seep into your being and one can create their identity around them.
Like Genesis suggested, I can't dance, I can't sing. Perhaps this is because we come from English decent. Maybe what we can do well is brew a spot of tea from tap water, dead leaves and sugar cubes. I held on to the everyone is watching me mentality of a middle-schooler every time I hit the dance floor for too many years. I never thought I could dance because I knew few steps and was hexed with my dull pallid flesh. Even though I could always feel the music pulsating through my every fiber, buzzing my libido, and sparking looseness in my movements, I would second guess my abilities to express these things with my body in public. Self-expression was created for us to demonstrate how we see fit. Turning our structure inside-out and presenting what's hiding within is not for others to dictate and decide how to redesign.
I think first and foremost the dance is between you and the music. I don't only mean the literal music, but where your heart, outlook, and overall attitude lay within your life. I dance more confidently than I did when I was encumbered with depression and overtaxed by bad choices. It's clear why people of a certain age are far more likely to slam dance than others. It's the movement that expresses the emotional state better.
I will dance to nearly anything, unabashedly. I prefer songs I know, because I often like to keep one step ahead of the beat, perhaps in ode to Willie Nelson's singing style or merely my own feelings of connection and co-creation of the experience. There's no one song that represents my favorite song to dance to and I find the prospect nearly impossible, but from my best gauge everything I like about dancing can be found in The B-52's "Dance This Mess Around". It bridges together all of the pleasure at all costs freedom of the seventies with a splash of "Beach Blanket Bingo", a New Wave sound that would prevail throughout the best of the eighties, a tinge of youthful sexual want, and a surprisingly unsettling, moody guitar and keyboard line flowing underneath all of the quirk.
Dance This Mess Around - The B-52's
Remember when you held my hand
Remember when you were my man
Walk talk in the name of love
Before you break my heart
Dance it over
Roll it over in your mind
Why don't you dance with me
I'm not no Limburger...
Just a Limburger
Dance this mess around
Dance this mess around, 'round, 'round
Everybody goes to parties
They dance this mess around
They do all sixteen dances
They do the Shu-ga-loo
Do the Shy Tuna
Do the Camel Walk
Do the Hip-o-crit
Ah-Hippy Hippy forward Hippy Hippy
Hippy Hippy Hippy Shake, Hippy Shake
Oh-it's time to do 'em right
Hey now, doesn't that make you feel a whole lot better?
Huh?
I say, doesn't that make you feel a whole lot better
What you say?
I'm just askin'
Shake-Bake-Shake-Bake
Everybody goes to parties
They dance this mess around
They do all sixteen dances
Do the Coo-ca-choo
Do the Aqua-velva
Do the Dirty Dog
Do the Escalator
Ah-Hippy Hippy forward Hippy Hippy
Hippy Hippy Hippy Shake, Hippy Shake
It's time to do 'em right
Hey! Fred, now doesn't that make you feel a whole lot better now?
Huh?
Say, doesn't that make you feel a whole lot better?
What you say?
I'm just askin'
Yeah, yeah, yeah...
Stop!
Dance on over
Yeah, yeah, yeah...
Dance, dance, dance this mess around
Dance this mess around
Shake, shake-a-bake shake
Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
Dance this mess around
Yeah, yeah, yeah........
No comments:
Post a Comment