When Daddy Starts to Dance

The first time it happened was in the supermart 
Dad was picking out eggs, I was sitting in the cart 
You ain’t nothing but a hound dog came on the radio 
He dropped those eggs and away he goes

And daddy starts to dance doing the swim 
everybody starts looking at him 
daddy starts to dance doing the jerk 
I want to hide my face right under my shirt  when daddy starts to dance

ever since then again and again 
at the zoo or at my school in front of my friends 
he does the mashed potato or the bugaloo 
he walks right up and watusis with you …chorus

he says he started dancing in 1965 
back when dinosaurs were still alive 
then he caught disco fever in his high school 
My dad’s still convinced he’s cool…chorus with swim and pony…he doesn’t know me.

One night I looked through our window at a pudgy silhouette 
It was my dad, doing a pirouette 
He went to third position, he did a plie 
He was an Elvis imitator, doing ballet 
now daddy starts to dance, he’s doing Swan Lake 
I say, “Daddy those tights are a big mistake.”
Daddy starts to dance, he’s up on his toes 
I can’t stop laughing cause his belly button shows.

Just last night we went walking in the dark 
some rock and roll band was playing in the park 
I knew what was coming, I wondered what to do 
but when daddy started dancing, I did too

when dad started to dance, doing the twist 
I just find that I can not resist 
daddy starts to dance, it’s the shing a ling 
I’m dancing too, sometimes I even sing   when daddy starts to dance

© Stuart Stotts and Tom Pease 1995