Dancin' Fool

Lyrics

I don't know much about dancin'
That's why I got this song
One of my legs is shorter than the other
'N both my feet's too long
'Course now right along with 'em
I got no natural rhythm
But I go dancin' every night
Hopin' one day I might get it right
I'm a dancin' fool
(Dancin' fool)
I'm a
Dancin' fool
I'm a
Dancin' fool
(Dancin' fool)
I'm a
Dancin' fool
I hear that beat; I jump outa my seat
But I can't compete, 'cause I'm a
Dancin' fool
(Dancin' fool)
I'm a
Dancin' fool

The disco folks all dressed up
Like they's fit to kill
I walk on in 'n see 'em there
Gonna give them all a thrill
When they see me comin'
They all steps aside
They has a fit while I commit
My social suicide, I'm a
Dancin' fool
(Dancin' fool)
I'm a
Dancin' fool
I'm a
Dancin' fool
(Dancin' fool)
I'm a
Dancin' fool
The beat goes on
And I'm so wrong
The beat goes on
And I'm so wrong
The beat goes on
And I'm so wrong
The beat goes on 'n I'm so wrong
The beat goes on 'n I'm so wrong
The beat goes on 'n I'm so wrong
The beat goes on 'n I'm so wrong
I may be totally wrong, but I'm a
Dancin' fool,
I may be totally wrong, but I'm a
Dancin' fool
Yowsa, yowsa, yowsa

I got it all together now
With my very own disco clothes, hey!
My shirt's half open, t'show you my chain
'N the spoon for up my nose
I am really somethin'
That's what you'd probably say
So smoke your little smoke
Drink your little drink
While I dance the night away, I'm a
Dancin' fool, I'm a
Dancin' fool, I'm a
Dancin' fool, I'm a
Dancin' fool, HE'S A
DANCIN' FOOL

I may be totally wrong but I'm a
I may be totally wrong but I'm a
I may be totally wrong but I'm a
I may be totally wrong but I'm a
FOOL-uh!

Hey darlin' . . . can I buy ya a coupla drinks?
(Ki-ni-shinai!)
Lookin' for Mister Goodbar? Here he is . . .
Wait a minute . . . I've got it . . . you're an Italian!
(Ki-ni-shinai!)
Hah?
Yer Jewish?
Oh, love your nails . . .
(Ki-ni-shinai!)
You must be a Libra . . .
Your place or mine?

O'Hearn:
Heh heh heh ye-yes!

Records On Which This Song Has Appeared

Singles

• Dancin' Fool (06:21) (disco mix) / Baby Snakes (01:51) - Frank Zappa (1979)
• Dancin' Fool (03:44) / Baby Snakes (01:51) - Frank Zappa (1979)
• Dancin' Fool (03:44) / Dancin' Fool (03:44) - Frank Zappa (1979)
• Bobby Brown Goes Down (02:50) / I Have Been In You (03:34) / Dancin' Fool (03:44) - Frank Zappa (1995)

Zappa Albums

• Sheik Yerbouti, same take on
  • Strictly Commercial
• Saarbrücken 1978
• Anyway The Wind Blows
• At The Circus
• You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 5
• Buffalo
• What's New In Loreley?
• Hammersmith Odeon (The Album)
• Chicago '78
• Halloween 77

Videos

• Saturday Night Live, NBC, October 21st 1978

Notes About This Song

• "Dancin' Fool" was one of the nominees for the inaugural Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance at the 1980 ceremony, losing to Bob Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody." This was Zappa's first Grammy nomination, and one of two he received that year, the other one was for Rat Tomago.

CC Clues In This Song

• "One of my legs is shorter than the other and both of my feet are too long." Zappa's legs weren't the same size anymore due to his accident in 1971 when he was pushed off stage by a deranged fan and landed in an orchestra pit. In Zomby Woof a similar line went: "My right foot's bigger than my other foot is".
• Features a variation of the famous line "What's a girl like you doin' in a place like this?". The entire final monologue would be reused in Stick It Out.
• Refers to a nose: "And the spoon right up my nose."
• Parodies Disco, of course