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,
You do that crab dance, a raving one man stance
And i'll play my guitar, backed by bass and drums
This was a secret that I couldn't keep, but
Just go round the corner and dance on your own
We will come join ya when we think we've learnt it
But if we take ages just come back and teach us
I promise it wont be
a one man party
I promise i wont cry
I'll learn it before it comes to that
See, I know a lad that can do the ole crab dance
and when i attempt it, it is called the crap dance
i know a lad that can do the ole crab dance
with a bottle of beer, hes anyones crab
one, two, three, four
Buy a stake in this, invest as you witness
as this is a trademark so throw in your notes
Cancel my plans that I made with the stripper
This is called dancing! Result: that 'en trance' thing
This was a secret that I couldn't keep, but
Just go round the corner and dance on your own
We will come join ya when we think we've learnt it
But if we take ages just come back and teach us
I promise it wont be
a one man party
I promise i wont cry
I'll learn it before it comes to that
See, I know a lad that can do the ole crab dance
and when i attempt it, it is called the crap dance
i know a lad that can do the ole crab dance
with a bottle of beer, hes anyones crab
one, two, three, four
And i'll play my guitar, backed by bass and drums
This was a secret that I couldn't keep, but
Just go round the corner and dance on your own
We will come join ya when we think we've learnt it
But if we take ages just come back and teach us
I promise it wont be
a one man party
I promise i wont cry
I'll learn it before it comes to that
See, I know a lad that can do the ole crab dance
and when i attempt it, it is called the crap dance
i know a lad that can do the ole crab dance
with a bottle of beer, hes anyones crab
one, two, three, four
Buy a stake in this, invest as you witness
as this is a trademark so throw in your notes
Cancel my plans that I made with the stripper
This is called dancing! Result: that 'en trance' thing
This was a secret that I couldn't keep, but
Just go round the corner and dance on your own
We will come join ya when we think we've learnt it
But if we take ages just come back and teach us
I promise it wont be
a one man party
I promise i wont cry
I'll learn it before it comes to that
See, I know a lad that can do the ole crab dance
and when i attempt it, it is called the crap dance
i know a lad that can do the ole crab dance
with a bottle of beer, hes anyones crab
one, two, three, four
Lyrics submitted by heteroface
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