Down to the bus
Into the town
Our poor boy can't get around
Eight fifty-five
Down at the show
She leaves early
He'll never know
'Cause our poor boy
Believes in chance
He'll never get the modern dance

Under the door there's an eye on the place
He watches for the shadows race
Watch real close
Look real fast
He's in touch
It'll never last
'Cause our poor boy
Believes in chance
He'll never get the modern dance


Lyrics submitted by charrbin

Modern Dance Lyrics as written by David Thomas Allen Ravenstine

Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC

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The Modern Dance song meanings
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6 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    mandra mandra!

    phootag12on May 09, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Well, Cool song.

    JpnGhton April 09, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    He's saying "merdre merdre" ("merde" roughly means "shit" in the various romantic languages). "Merdre" is also the first line in the play "Ubu Roi," from which the band took their name.

    Palemovieon August 11, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I don't think it could be about anything other than sex. Of course, I am probably wrong.

    flavour countryon January 02, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    palemovie, you're half right- in Jarry's play Pere Ubu mispronounces "merdre" by actually sounding the "-re", giving you this untranslatable slang- sometimes it's translated as "shit-rrr". Making things even more confusing is Dave Thomas' lovable way of mumbling and garbling words- I've known French since childhood, and been a longtime Ubu fan, and it took me some work to figure out that he wasn't saying "mandra mandra"

    oh, and not to be a pedant, but the word for shit is different in other Romance languages.

    TheNipperon May 27, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Favorite version, titled or Untitled? The needling guitar in the untitled version seems to convey the proper paranoia, but lacks the "mandra Mandra" chorus.... I love both versions, just wish I could insert the guitar from Untitled into The Modern Dance.

    SnarkyYarbleson September 30, 2010   Link

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