You can dance
Ev’ry dance with the guy
Who gives you the eye
Let him hold you tight
You can smile
Ev’ry smile for the man who held your hand
‘Neath the pale moonlight
But don’t forget who’s taking you home
And in whose arms you’re gonna be
So darlin’, save the last dance for me, mmmm
I just heard an anecdote about the lyrics to this song, which I remember as having been a hit for The Drifters in 1960, that I thought I’d pass along. The lyrics were written by the blues singer Jerome Solon Felder, better known as Doc Pomus. In addition to Save The Last Dance For Me he wrote the lyrics for A Teenager in Love, This Magic Moment, and Viva Las Vegas, just to name a few of his great hits.
Felder had polio as a boy, could walk only with crutches, and, later in life, was confined to a wheelchair.
He wrote the lyrics to Save the Last Dance on the back of a napkin, while watching his new bride dance on their wedding day. He’d just started using a wheelchair.
I appreciate the shared anecdote. My father contracted polio as a kid; he hasn’t needed a wheelchair, just a leg brace and occasionally a back brace. But I do remember one of the few stories my parents shared (since polio was something my dad wouldn’t mention or acknowledge). My mom had always wanted to go to the Grand Canyon, which is where they went for their honeymoon, but the trip was cut shorter than expected when they learned my dad wouldn’t be allowed to go down into the canyon on a mule; they headed on to Las Vegas instead. My dad taught me that life ain’t always fair, not much use complaining about it, though it can be enjoyable to complain about politicians.
See, Bound by Love and Disability, and Keeping a Vow Until the End.
Wallace Stevens, Re-Statement of Romance/i>.
Gracious, gentlemen, y’all are heating the place up.