1/20/2016 , , , ,
The Rolling Stones Songs - Harlem Shuffle
The Rolling Stones - Harlem Shuffle


The Rolling Stones - Harlem Shuffle Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Dirty Work
Released: 1986

Harlem Shuffle Lyrics


You move it to the left, yeah
You go for yourself
You move it to the right
Yeah if it takes all night

Now take it kinda slow
With a whole lot of soul
Don't move it too fast
Just make it last

You scratch just like a monkey
Yeah you do real cool
You slide it to the limbo
Yeah how low can you go?

Now come on baby
Don't fall down on me now
Just move it right here
To the Harlem Shuffle
Yeah yeah yeah to the Harlem shuffle
Yeah yeah yeah to the Harlem shuffle

Hitch hitch hike baby
Across the floor
Whoa whoa whoa
I can't stand it no more

Now come on baby
Now get into your slide
Just ride ride ride
Little pony, ride!

Yeah yeah yeah do the Harlem shuffle
Yeah yeah yeah do the Harlem shuffle
Do the Monkey shine
Yeah yeah yeah shake a tail feather baby
Yeah yeah yeah shake a tail feather baby

Yeah yeah yeah do the Harlem shuffle
Yeah yeah yeah do the Harlem shuffle
Yeah like your mother told you how
Yeah yeah yeah do the Harlem shuffle
Yeah yeah yeah do the Harlem shuffle

Writer/s: ROBERT RELF, EARL NELSON
Publisher: BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Harlem Shuffle Song Chart
  • The Harlem Shuffle is a dance that was popular in the '50s and '60s originating in Harlem ballrooms. Harlem is a section of New York City with a large black population. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)
  • This was originally recorded by the R&B duo Bob and Earl in 1969. Their version, which was produced by Barry White, hit #7 in the UK. Keith Richards wanted to record this for quite a while. He would put the original version on demo tapes for Mick Jagger. The Bob and Earl version was sampled on the House Of Pain hit "Jump Around."
  • With the exception of the live cut "Going To A Go-Go," this was the first cover song The Stones released as a single since The Valentinos' "It's All Over Now" in 1964. Bobby Womack, the author and lead singer, sang backup on this and other songs on Dirty Work.
  • Backup singers included Womack, Tom Waits, Don Covay, and Patti Scialfa, who would later marry Bruce Springsteen.
  • Keith Richards said of this song in 1986: "I've been trying to get Harlem Shuffle on an album, without actually telling Mick, for 5 or 6 years. I thought that was a natural number for him to sing - it was made for him. I've been giving him cassettes with Harlem Shuffle stuffed in the middle somewhere for a long time, but I never got any real response. One night we were in the studio and Woody and I started plunking away at it. We were amazed at how simple the song was - about 2 chords. The band was just warming up on it, jamming, when Mick walked in and started singing. We realized, YEAH. And we did it in 2 takes. So it paid off eventually, though it cost me a fortune in cassettes."
  • Two extended versions were released as 12-inch singles, the "London Mix" and "NY Mix."
  • The video was one of the first to combine live action with animation. It opens with a cartoon featuring some cats going to a club, where the Rolling Stones are playing. The cartoon cats show up throughout the video. Ralph Bakshi and John Kricfalusi did the animation. Both artists pioneered adult animation and specialized in cats: Bakshi worked on Fritz the Cat, which was the first cartoon movie to get an X rating, and Kricfalusi drew for the raunchy cartoon Ren and Stimpy.