The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Hot sun beating down
Burning my feet just walking around
Hot sun makin' me sweat
Gators getting close, hasn't got me yet
I can't dance
I can't talk
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 sittin' on the beach
Her dog's talking to me, but she's out of reach
Mhm, 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
Only thing about me is the way I walk
I can't dance
I can't sing
I'm just standing here sellin'
Oh, and checking everything is in place
You never know who's lookin' on
Young punk spillin' beer on my shoes
Fat guy's talkin' to me, tryin' to steal my blues
Thick smoke, see her smiling through
I never thought so much could happen just shootin' pool
But I can't dance
I can't talk
The only thing about me is the way that I walk
I can't dance
I can't sing
I'm just standing here sellin'
Oh, and checking everything is in place
You never know who's looking on
A perfect body with a perfect face
Mhm
No, 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 sellin' everything
No, I can't walk
No, I can't dance
No, no, no, I can't dance
No, I said, I can't sing
Burning my feet just walking around
Hot sun makin' me sweat
Gators getting close, hasn't got me yet
I can't dance
I can't talk
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 sittin' on the beach
Her dog's talking to me, but she's out of reach
Mhm, 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
Only thing about me is the way I walk
I can't dance
I can't sing
I'm just standing here sellin'
Oh, and checking everything is in place
You never know who's lookin' on
Young punk spillin' beer on my shoes
Fat guy's talkin' to me, tryin' to steal my blues
Thick smoke, see her smiling through
I never thought so much could happen just shootin' pool
But I can't dance
I can't talk
The only thing about me is the way that I walk
I can't dance
I can't sing
I'm just standing here sellin'
Oh, and checking everything is in place
You never know who's looking on
A perfect body with a perfect face
Mhm
No, 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 sellin' everything
No, I can't walk
No, I can't dance
No, no, no, I can't dance
No, I said, I can't sing
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
I Can't Dance Lyrics as written by Michael Rutherford Anthony Banks
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I was surprised to see that no one has yet mentioned the surface setting of the song, which is a man cruising a beach for scantily clad women, but having no luck since he has no substance past an initial swagger.
I came looking for this song because I couldn't figure out where he was going with "selling" at all, since in the surface version, unless he's a street vendor or a prostitute (neither of which really fits), I'd call what he's doing "posing." Thanks, XyzzyMagicat, for giving some background on the satire of the music industry.