by Erin Halfelven
The music seems to stagger from chord to chord, discovering a melody almost by accident. The musicians saw at their fiddles and beat their tambourines; the harmonica laughs and the banjo chuckles and the caller starts the chant.
Jodie can't dance,
Jodie can't dance,
He's got buck teeth
And two left feet
The boy don't stand a chance.
A tall boy in sloppy coveralls and a straw hat takes the dance floor. He moves awkwardly, his heavy boots hit the floor in syncopation. The crowd cheers and claps, stomping out the rhythm.
The boy from Possum Holler,
He stutters when he talks,
He's got no social graces,
Can't chew his gum and walk.
Pretty girls make him swaller
And lord he cannot dance
Just stands there making faces
Cause he hasn't got a chance.
An accordion tries a polka then a two step but the boy is off the beat. It's almost painfully funny to watch as the band changes tempo and time and the dancing boy seems barely able to keep moving without falling into someone or tripping himself.
Jodie can't dance
Jodie can't dance
So stomp your feet
To make the beat
And give the boy a chance.
So Jodie went to the city
To get hisself some help
Thought he'd take some lessons
And learn those dance steps.
Horns come in like city traffic and cymbals clash and a saxophone wails.
The doctor said twas a pity
He never knew what hit him
But after an operation
She finally got the rhythm.
The straw hat flies off to the side and long carrot-colored braids fall free. The crowd laughs and cheers. The heavy work boots are kicked aside and a lovely girl wiggles free of the coveralls. She grins at the crowd and in her Daisy Mae cut-off jeans and knotted shirt, she moves quickly and surely with the music.
Jodie can dance!
Jodie can dance!
Get on your feet!
Take up the beat
And everybody dance!
The music celebrates her and everyone joins her on the dance floor. She twirls with the boys and with the girls.
Now Jodie dances ever'day
'Cause the doctor saved her life
And maybe if you're lucky, gents,
She might become your wife.
The ladies don't know what to say
They know she is one of 'em
'Cause ever since her accident
Jodie's looking for some lovin'.
The red-haired dancer ends up with the handsomest man on the dance floor...
Jodie can dance!
Jodie can dance!
Now ain't she sweet?
She can't be beat,
That feller don't stand a chance!
'Cause Jodie --
Can dance!
Want to comment but don't want to open an account?
Anyone can log in as Guest Reader -- password topshelf to leave a comment.
Comments
I Don't Get It
Did the doctor assassinate Jodie to fix it so the other Jodie could win the dance contest like Nancy K. did to that poor girl from the Pacific Northwest? What was her name, that nice girl with the funny, funny boyfriend?
Were the work boots magic and was Jodie really Jodie all along, but under some kind of "can't dance" spell.
Does this story refer to a dance universe I haven't read.
Is the entire intent of this story to vex me . . . and did you have help writing it from John or Scott? (Are they out to get me???????????)
It's too bad there isn't a "can't dance" holiday or you could have been a contendah. If you had named Jodie -- "Billie" -- you could've said the story was about Billie Holiday, or if you had named the doc "Doc Halliday" maybe you could have snuck it in on a technicality.
Sounds a little goofus to me. Was Jodie born in I-O-Way.
I went to the doc today and he had me dance . . . some dance called the lobotomy. So far things have been pretty much okay.
This is all giving me a migrate headache.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Jodie can't Dance
Erin that was definately CUTE!
I don't know what angela was on at the time, but I got it.
Jodie went to the big city and didn't know to look out for other cars. So ended up in a car accident that totally took care of a few problems and the doctors did the best they could do.
I do so hope Angela was having us on.
Hugs
Joni
Different minds perceive even
Different minds perceive events similarly.
What I saw was "Jodie" being part of the band performing - providing a visual interest to the song.
I don't know a lot about music, but isn't this an "interlude", symbolizing the car wreck?
> Horns come in like city traffic and cymbals clash and a saxophone wails.
"Jodie" was a girl, dressed and acting like a gangley boy. She sheds the disguise at the appropriate moment in the song:
> The straw hat flies off to the side and long carrot-colored braids fall free. The crowd laughs and cheers. The heavy work boots are kicked aside and a lovely girl wiggles free of the coveralls. She grins at the crowd and in her Daisy Mae cut-off jeans and knotted shirt, she moves quickly and surely with the music.
Best Wishes,
Deni
A little explanation but only a little
I was in a Mexican restaurant at lunch, listening to a Norteno (like Mexican Zydeco) song about a country boy who went to the city to find love. The music had a staggery style and the first line above occurred to me. By the time I got home, I had to type up the story to get the song out of my head. :)
- Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
SRS in the City! ...
... But how the doc gave HER the coordination HE lacked, I don't know. We can blame it on those pesky new female hormones; in TG fiction, just about everything else is. :-)
There once was a country boy klutz;
In the city HE loses his nuts.
Hormones replace
Clumsy with grace.
At home on the dancefloor SHE struts!
Very cute, Erin!
"All the world really is a stage, darlings, so strut your stuff, have fun, and give the public a good show!" Miss Jezzi Belle at the end of each show
BE a lady!
Having Us On?
There once was a boy named Jodie
His fault was in moving his bodie
A bus hit him aft
Lost both jollies and shaft
Once was a stud, now a hottie.
And you thought you knew how to pronounce Jodie . . . not the way we say it in I-O-Way.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
All I can say is....
Been Dazed and Confused for so
long it's not true.
Wanted a woman, never bargained for you.
Lots of people talk and few of them know,
soul of a woman was created below
You hurt and abuse tellin' all of your lies.
Run around sweet baby, Lord how they hypnotize.
Sweet little baby, I don't know where you've been.
Gonna love you baby, here I come again.
Every day I work so hard,
bringin' home my hard earned pay
Try to love you baby, but you push me away.
Don't know where you're goin',
only know just where you've been,
Sweet little baby, I want you again.
Been dazed and confused for so long, it's not true.
Wanted a woman, never bargained for you.
Take it easy baby, let them say what they will.
Will your tongue wag so much
when I send you the bill?
LED ZEPPELIN I
©1969 SuperHype Music Inc. ASCAP
"Be excellent to each other,
And PARTY ON DUDES. & DUDETTS"
Bill and Ted had it correct.
When will you?
When I retired from teaching, ...
... my last act was to give a speech to the graduating class at the graduation ceremony. I summed up my career to them by saying, "It's been a most excellent adventure, and I can't think of a better way to end it than to pass on to you the advice given me by those two renowned philopsophers, Bill and Ted: 'Be excellenty to each othner and party on dudes!'." I got a standing ovation. Nice to know someone else knows about and appreciates Bill and Ted. I showed the movie to my history classes at the beginning of the year every year after it came out.
"All the world really is a stage, darlings, so strut your stuff, have fun, and give the public a good show!" Miss Jezzi Belle at the end of each show
BE a lady!