This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Idle juvenile on the street, on the street
Who is kicking everything with his feet, with his feet
Fighting on the wrong side of the law, of the law
Don't kick, don't fight, don't sleep at night
It's shake a leg, shake a leg, shake a leg, shake it yeah
Keeping out of trouble with eyes in the back of my face
Kicking ass in the class and they tell me you're a damn disgrace
They tell me what they think but they stink and I really don't care
Got a mind of my own, move on, get out of my hair
Shake a leg, shake your head
Shake a leg, wake the dead
Shake a leg, get stuck in
Shake a leg, shake a leg yeah
Magazines, wet dreams, dirty women on machines for me
Big licks, skin flicks, tricky dick's are my chemistry
Goin' against the grain, trying to keep me sane with you
So stop your grinnin' and drop your linen for me
Shake a leg, shake your head
Shake a leg, wake the dead
Shake a leg, get stuck in
Shake a leg, shake a leg yeah shake it
Come on!
Idle juvenile on the street, on the street
Kicking everything with his feet, with his feet
Fighting on the wrong side of the law, of the law
Spitting and bitin' and kicking and fightin' for more
Shake a leg, shake your head
Shake a leg, wake the dead
Shake a leg, get stuck in
Shake a leg, we're in it to win
Shake a leg, shake your head
Shake a leg, wake the dead
Shake a leg, get stuck in
Shake a leg, shake a leg
Shake it!
Who is kicking everything with his feet, with his feet
Fighting on the wrong side of the law, of the law
Don't kick, don't fight, don't sleep at night
It's shake a leg, shake a leg, shake a leg, shake it yeah
Keeping out of trouble with eyes in the back of my face
Kicking ass in the class and they tell me you're a damn disgrace
They tell me what they think but they stink and I really don't care
Got a mind of my own, move on, get out of my hair
Shake a leg, shake your head
Shake a leg, wake the dead
Shake a leg, get stuck in
Shake a leg, shake a leg yeah
Magazines, wet dreams, dirty women on machines for me
Big licks, skin flicks, tricky dick's are my chemistry
Goin' against the grain, trying to keep me sane with you
So stop your grinnin' and drop your linen for me
Shake a leg, shake your head
Shake a leg, wake the dead
Shake a leg, get stuck in
Shake a leg, shake a leg yeah shake it
Come on!
Idle juvenile on the street, on the street
Kicking everything with his feet, with his feet
Fighting on the wrong side of the law, of the law
Spitting and bitin' and kicking and fightin' for more
Shake a leg, shake your head
Shake a leg, wake the dead
Shake a leg, get stuck in
Shake a leg, we're in it to win
Shake a leg, shake your head
Shake a leg, wake the dead
Shake a leg, get stuck in
Shake a leg, shake a leg
Shake it!
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
Shake A Leg Lyrics as written by Angus Mckinnon Young Brian Johnson
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I found it interesting that Bill Paxton says the line "Stop your grinning and drop your linen" in Aliens.
its basically about this guy who is just a hardass never obey anyone hes his own person and hes gonna do whatever the hell he wants lol
Basically I think this song is saying, "We're rockers; this is our lifestyle, and if you don't accept it we'll kick your ass". And to shake a leg.
So you can wake the dead :)
The message of this song is to people who judge AC/DC for their partying and risky lifestyle. Simply put, they're saying, "We're icons of rock and roll, were rich and famous - who the fuck are you to judge me?"
i LOVE this song! Angus Young fuckin rocks \m/ >_< \m/
This song is about being an individual within society and refusing to conform or give in to the high class pressure around you and what people think of you, especially those of status, it also deals with the concept of being rebellious and having your own attitude and not really caring about what other people think.
this is my fav track on the back in black album. I love the lyrics and attitudes. it has a much different flare than what bon did. of course it's not better than the bon songs it's just the start of acdc's new brand.
@hottea Back in Black is 95% Bon Scott and the boys material. He just never made it to the recording. Those lyrics are 100% Bon!! The only demo tapes made of Back in Black songs prior to recording are with Bon Scott.
I was a juvenile when this album was released. It was how we lived in the 1970's. I know this was 1980, jackass, but AC/DC was a part of my childhood beginning in 1977 at a Day on the Green in Oakland, CA. They were the opening act of 4 bands and I said, "who is AC/DC?" But after their act was over I couldn't wait to get back to a record store and get an album. I have been to many AC/DC shows since. But I digest.... As a juvenile and to this day of 57 years of age I don't give a FUCK about you or what you think. You don't like the shit I do you can lick the crease of my shithole.
That solo...