Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must've seen her dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand

Jesus freaks out in the street
Handing tickets out for God
Turning back, she just laughs
The boulevard is not that bad
Piano man, he makes his stand
In the auditorium
Looking on, she sings the songs
The words she knows, the tune she hums

But oh, how it feels so real
Lying here with no one near
Only you, and you can hear me
When I say softly, slowly

Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today

Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must've seen her dancing in the sand
Now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand

Oh, how it feels so real
Lying here with no one near
Only you, and you can hear me
When I say softly, slowly

Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today


Lyrics submitted by wherewulf

Tiny Dancer Lyrics as written by Elton John Bernie Taupin

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Tiny Dancer song meanings
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  • +7
    General Comment

    "Tiny Dancer" is a sexual fantasy. The narrator loves TD, but she is not his girlfriend or wife, as the narrator refers to the music man and the piano man in 3rd person, not 1st person. The narrator loves TD for two reasons: first, he loves her because she is a "ballerina," not literally, but metaphorically in the sense that she loves life and lives naturally and effortlessly, with no trace of awkwardness or worry. second, he loves her because she is a pagan, not burdened by the onerous demands of Jesus freaks or other religious zealots. The narrator's love for TD is more intense due to the fact that he feels inferior to her and therefore cannot really possess her (probably the narrator is awkward, worried, and burdened by life and religion). Thus the only way to possess TD is through fantasy. "And now she's in me, always with me" means that he has grabbed hold of her spirit, but not her body. When the narrator says, "but oh how it feels so real, lying here with no one near, only you," the implication is that it is not real, and she is not really lying there. TD is the narrator's ideal, but their relationship in consummated in masturbation.

    Be careful to explain meanings of songs by reference to real life events. Journalism is the means of communicating real life events whereas art is the means of communicating the artist's own reality according to his values. A real life event may trigger the making of art, but that does not mean the event is the art itself, far from it. The art is contained in the actual words, nothing more and nothing less.

    mark2marieon July 23, 2010   Link

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