Got to keep on going like it ain't the end
Got to change like your life is depending on it
It's a long time coming and we're taking it in
What a wild ruse

See the cold moon hanging like the pennant above
Too many ice cream socials with the promise ring love
Had to shoot all the targets at the carnival 'cause
You needed hard proof

I read God is dead, I shed some tears for him
But I swear on his grave I'll never do it again
And I screamed when I realized what was happening
That I had good news

I'll grieve
What I have lost
Forgive the firing squad
How imperfect life can be
Now all I can do
Is just dance on through

See the Coast Guard coming
Save the drowning men
Out by Catalina Island, they abandoned ship
All the news trucks piled up with starts and fits
Coming from Point Dume

It's the last ditch effort
Makes no sense to try
Put more gas on the tires
Put more wood on the fire
Warm your hands up, 'cause we'll probably be here a while
If you want the honest truth

Don't turn
Your cheek away
Please don't resuscitate
Make an example out of me
'Cause all I can do
Is just dance on through
And sing

Got a diamond cold heart
And I've got it in spades
With the Walkman fading like an audio slave
It's a self-induced seizure like a kid at a rave
Smeared in Day-Glo paint

And all the popular prophets
Want to take me to task
Well it's just your opinion
So I'd rather not ask
But I got me a cane
And I'm spinning it fast
As the band plays

Don't read
My worried mind
That smoking gun
Passing through time
I'm yours
You can decide
What fate I'll have
On the firing line
'Cause now all I can do
Is just dance on through
And sing

With every note there is
With every note there was
Each passing chord
There was only love

With every step there is
With every step that was
Spinning around
There was only love
Only love, only love
It was a slow dance for us
There was only love


Lyrics submitted by drunk.kid.catholic

Dance and Sing Lyrics as written by Nathaniel Walcott Conor Oberst

Lyrics © SC PUBLISHING DBA SECRETLY CANADIAN PUB., Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

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Sing, Sing, Sing song meanings
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8 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    I taped this song when it was one Craig Kilborne (sp?) and i watch it all the time. i like it alot..

    Squirleyon October 10, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this is quite the song. i also taped it when it was on craig kilborn. i went to see the "monsters of folk" on oct. 15 at berkeley. this song was one of the many performed and it was even better. it's a great song. i think it's about life these days.

    smashingkiton December 06, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Very good song. Saw it live last month, beautifully done.

    sugarinmyteaon February 26, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    'At the Bottom of Everything'

    sambo28on April 01, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Best part.... "1, 2, 666"

    drewdropon April 10, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is called "The Bottom of Everything"! Not "Sing, Sing, SIng"...

    she_speakson May 26, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    when he played it on the Late Late Show he says it is called "Sing, Sing, Sing"

    youtube.com/watch

    HomerunHenryon August 15, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I may be wrong up I know in "At the Bottom of Everything" is says "We must hang up in the belfry where the bats and moonlight laugh."

    abbybeeon December 22, 2008   Link

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