Song Lyric Sunday: Measured with a Thermometer

“Dance Around In Your Bones” was one of those songs that I grew up singing- my grandparents probably taught it to me and it probably appealed to me because I was an imaginative little kid with a dark streak running through my imagination a mile wide.

All I can tell you about the history of the song is that the songwriters have an impressive body of work and you’ve probably heard more of their music then you realize.

So what is it about this song that caught my fancy over 50 years ago?

I would have to say that what appealed to me was the idea of dancing skeletons and ice cream cones and peeling of your skin to boot.

Still, I wondered then and I wonder now what exactly the writers were thinking when they created this little gem- but I don’t mind if I never find out.

Sometimes the fun is in the wondering, don’t you think?

amm

https://youtu.be/T_sg4YLiHxs

Words by Edgar Leslie

Music by Walter Donaldson

When you hear sweet syncopation
And the music softly moans
T ain’t no sin to take off your skin
And dance around in your bones

When it gets too hot for comfort
And you can’t get an ice cream cone
‘T ain’t no sin to take off your skin
And dance around in your bones

Just like those bamboo babies
Down in the South Sea tropic zone
T’ ain’t no sin to take off your skin
And dance around in your bones

When you hear sweet syncopation, and the music softly moans
‘t ain’t no sin to take off your skin, and dance around in your bones

When it gets too hot for comfort, and you can’t get an ice cream cone
‘t ain’t no sin to take off your skin, and dance around in your bones

Just like those bamboo babies, down in the South Sea tropic zone
‘t ain’t no sin to take off your skin, and dance around in your bones