Genesis Songs - I Can't Dance Lyrics

Genesis - I Can't Dance

Genesis - I Can't Dance Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: We Can't Dance
Released: 1991

I Can't Dance Lyrics

Hot sun beating down
Burning my feet just walking around.

Hot sun making me sweat
'Gators getting close, hasn't got me yet

I can't dance, I can't talk.
The only thing about me is the way I walk.
I can't dance, I can't sing
I'm just standing here selling everything.

Blue jeans sitting on the beach,
Her dog's talking to me, but she's out of reach.

She's got a body under that shirt,
But all she wants to do is rub my face in the dirt.

Cause, I can't dance, I can't talk.
The only thing about me is the way I walk.
No, I can't dance, I can't sing
I'm just standing here selling.

And checking everything is in place,
You never know who's looking on.

Young punk spilling beer on my shoes,
Fat guy's talking to me trying to steal my blues.

Thick smoke, see her smiling through.
I never thought so much could happen just shooting pool.

But I can't dance, I can't talk.
The only thing about me is the way I walk.
I can't dance, I can't sing
I'm just standing here selling

And checking everything is in place
You never know who's looking on
A perfect body with a perfect face
Writer/s: RUTHERFORD, MICHAEL/COLLINS, PHIL/BANKS, TONY
Publisher: EMI Music Publishing, IMAGEM U.S. LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

I Can't Dance Song Chart

Genesis wrote this song in the studio in one session. "Once we started we kept going 'til we finished it," Phil Collins said in the documentary Genesis: Sum of the Parts. "It didn't take a ridiculous time to write."

The lyrics are made up of bits that Phil Collins improvised in the studio. When they started working on it, they decided to just write spontaneously to keep from over-thinking it. This explains the rather disjointed story about a guy who can't dance and is "just standing here selling."

Helmed by their go-to director Jim Yukich, the video created a lasting image thanks to the "silly walk" the three band members did. This walk was something Phil Collins did from time to time - he got the idea for it when he attended drama school and noticed that the worst dancers would always lead with the hand and foot on the same side. There is a twist ending in the video when at the end, Phil Collins does some Michael Jackson dance moves and an impressive little tap routine.

In our interview with Tony Banks , he explained that having a lead singer who was comfortable in front of the camera made the music videos much easier to create. "It gave us a chance to explore some quite fun ideas," he said. "When the lyric had an obvious way to go - with something like "I Can't Dance" or "No Son of Mine" - you could do it and express it quite well."