I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Oh they danced on the ceiling
And they danced on the wall
At the Gandy Dancer's ball
Hey! swing around, swing around,
Swing around the Jimmy John
Swing around, swing around
The Jimmy, Jimmy John
Swing around, swing around
Swing around the Jimmy John
Swing the pretty girl round
The Jimmy, Jimmy John
The Gandy Dancer is a railroad man
And his work is never done
With his pick and his shovel and his willing hands
He makes the railroad run
There's Macanaw Mack and Toledo Jack
And the boys from Idaho
And the Frisco kid and Saginaw Sid
And good old Cotton-eyed Joe
Oh they danced on the ceiling
And they danced on the wall
At the Gandy Dancer's ball
Hey! swing around, swing around,
Swing around the Jimmy John
Swing around, swing around
The Jimmy, Jimmy John
Swing around, swing around
Swing around the Jimmy John
Swing the pretty girl round
The Jimmy, Jimmy John
The boys will gather at the great affair
The Gandy Dancer's ball
A-kissin' their ladies with perfumed hair
And prancin' round the hall
They got the biggest band in all the land
And the rhythm rocks the room
And they holler out with a mighty shout
When the big bass drum goes boom
Oh they danced on the ceiling
And they danced on the wall
At the Gandy Dancer's ball
Hey! swing around, swing around,
Swing around the Jimmy John
Swing around, swing around
The Jimmy, Jimmy John
Swing around, swing around
Swing around the Jimmy John
Swing the pretty girl round
The Jimmy, Jimmy John
The railroads bring 'em to the great affair
The Gandy Dancer's ball
An' every line is represented there
The big ones and the small
There's the M-K-T and the old SP
And the Lehigh Valley too
The C-N-J and the Santa Fe
The Southern and the Soo.
Oh they danced on the ceiling
And they danced on the wall
At the Gandy Dancer's ball
Hey! swing around, swing around,
Swing around the Jimmy John
Swing around, swing around
The Jimmy, Jimmy John
Swing around, swing around
Swing around the Jimmy John
Swing the pretty girl round
The Jimmy, Jimmy John
They danced all day
And they danced all night
They all danced till the broad daylight
At the Gandy Dancer's ball
(swing around, swing around
Swing around, swing around
The Jimmy John)
And they danced on the wall
At the Gandy Dancer's ball
Hey! swing around, swing around,
Swing around the Jimmy John
Swing around, swing around
The Jimmy, Jimmy John
Swing around, swing around
Swing around the Jimmy John
Swing the pretty girl round
The Jimmy, Jimmy John
The Gandy Dancer is a railroad man
And his work is never done
With his pick and his shovel and his willing hands
He makes the railroad run
There's Macanaw Mack and Toledo Jack
And the boys from Idaho
And the Frisco kid and Saginaw Sid
And good old Cotton-eyed Joe
Oh they danced on the ceiling
And they danced on the wall
At the Gandy Dancer's ball
Hey! swing around, swing around,
Swing around the Jimmy John
Swing around, swing around
The Jimmy, Jimmy John
Swing around, swing around
Swing around the Jimmy John
Swing the pretty girl round
The Jimmy, Jimmy John
The boys will gather at the great affair
The Gandy Dancer's ball
A-kissin' their ladies with perfumed hair
And prancin' round the hall
They got the biggest band in all the land
And the rhythm rocks the room
And they holler out with a mighty shout
When the big bass drum goes boom
Oh they danced on the ceiling
And they danced on the wall
At the Gandy Dancer's ball
Hey! swing around, swing around,
Swing around the Jimmy John
Swing around, swing around
The Jimmy, Jimmy John
Swing around, swing around
Swing around the Jimmy John
Swing the pretty girl round
The Jimmy, Jimmy John
The railroads bring 'em to the great affair
The Gandy Dancer's ball
An' every line is represented there
The big ones and the small
There's the M-K-T and the old SP
And the Lehigh Valley too
The C-N-J and the Santa Fe
The Southern and the Soo.
Oh they danced on the ceiling
And they danced on the wall
At the Gandy Dancer's ball
Hey! swing around, swing around,
Swing around the Jimmy John
Swing around, swing around
The Jimmy, Jimmy John
Swing around, swing around
Swing around the Jimmy John
Swing the pretty girl round
The Jimmy, Jimmy John
They danced all day
And they danced all night
They all danced till the broad daylight
At the Gandy Dancer's ball
(swing around, swing around
Swing around, swing around
The Jimmy John)
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
The Gandy Dancer's Ball Lyrics as written by Paul Mason Howard Paul Weston
Lyrics © HANOVER MUSIC CORPORATION
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.