Charlotte Martin – The Dance

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  My Interpretation:'Inside my mouth I can hear all the voices say
  Do not lean over the ledge'
  
  Ok so basically she's talking about how everyone always told her to be careful.
  
  'I shouldn't look down and I shouldn't have found
  That your lips I still taste in my head'
  
  She's remembering the night she made the mistake that changed everything.
  
  'Raising my glass to the head of the class
  As she powers out steps one through ten'
  
  This I think is the night of the mistake, at a graduation, prom or something like that?
  
  'I think I'll be fine if I'm covered in wine
  Nice to hate you and love you again'
  
  This she talks about getting ready to see her mistake again, and she'll be okay if she's drunk.
  
  'And see you again
  And see you again'
  
  Even though she's angry/scared/sad to see him again, she's still longing for him.
  
  'Weary and worn little monster is born
  Tell me lies and I'll justify them'
  
  Ok, so her mistake was that she had a one night stand and got pregnant. The man didn't want anything romantic, but decided to stick around.
  
  'Desperate today and it's making me pay
  For that night for that kiss for your bed'
  
  She's thinking back to that one night and she feels sad and longing.
  
  'Whoever dared to love someone out there
  I don't need a balloon and a pin'
  
  She's turned very pessimistic with love, and doesn't need a slap back into reality.
  
  
  'The name of the game is outrunning the blame
  So I hate you and love you we're friends'
  
  Even though he did take responsibility for the kid, it affected her life the most. She hates him and loves him because she's in love with him and wants to be a family, but he just wants to be friends.
  
  'Guess we'll be friends
  I guess we'll be friends'
  
  She doesn't want to be friends.
  
  'Oh why (why) can't (can't) you take me in your arms now?
  Why (why) can't (can't) you take me?
  Why (why) can't (can't) you take me in your arms now?
  Why (why) can't (can't) you take me?'
  
  She's attached to him and doesn't understand why things have to be like this and she doesn't understand why they can't be a couple.
  
  'Better stop crying hello and goodbye-ing
  Go on through me slip right through my hands'
  
  This, I feel like, is singing about the kid. It's the father's turn to have it and she now pretty much feels like she has nothing when her child is at her dad's, the man that she loves.
  
  
  'You get your time and the other half's mine
  It's okay this love weighs fifty men
  It's okay this love weighs fifty men
  It's okay this love weighs fifty men'
  
  I think this part she's singing about the joint custody to the dad but she's okay with it because she buries herself into other men to not feel so alone.
  
  'Oh why (why) can't (can't) you take me in your arms now?
  Why (why) can't (can't) you take me?
  Why (why) can't (can't) you take me in your arms now?
  Why (why) can't (can't) you take me?
  Why (why) can't (can't) you take me in your arms now?
  Why can't you take me?'
  
  Again she's so desperate for him.
  
  'Amen
  Amen
  Amen
  Amen'
  
  The end.

  Flag saveme22on March 25, 2013   Link

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  General Comment:Charlotte said when this album came out that this song was inspired, I presume in part, by the book, "The Dance of the Dissident Daughter" by Sue Monk Kidd. Certainly puts an interesting angle on things.

  Flag antisainton May 29, 2011   Link

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  My Interpretation:This is one awesome bit o' music!
  
  When I hear this song I think of a girl in a superhero story.
  
  The girl dislikes the hero's alter ego as she thinks he's immature, irresponsible and cowardly since he doesn't seem to stick up for himself. On the other side, she's fallen in love with his super hero identity. This song follows her discovery of the true that the two are one in the same. The typical and obligatory complications ensue.

  Flag PhoenixSouvenir75on January 04, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:To me, this song is about a one night stand. Being at a party, having a few drinks, spending the night. Next day, she realizes she has an weird obsessive attachment to this guy who she will probably never see again. She wants to see him, she wants to mean something to him, but he's simply not there. He does not want to see her again, she was just a one night stand.

  Flag erinnxosmileon November 08, 2010   Link

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  Memory:I remember the first time I heard this song. Studio G was performing it at a competition. They had on prom dresses and through out the song made themselves seem like they had been stood up when they were supposed to be picked up from a certain place. They were stomping around emotionally to the african drum beats.
  It was the most amazing thing I ever seen.
  That song still rings in my mind constantly.
  Its beautiful.

  Flag meelsxon June 01, 2010   Link

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  My Opinion:simply stunning.

  Flag SawyerSpaldingon March 01, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:i'm pretty sure on top of everything else written about the song, she wound up getting pregnant from the intimate encounter they shared, which is much of the reason she is so attached and wondering why the one she was with left.
  
  Weary and worn
  Little monster is born
  Tell me lies and I'll justify them
  I'm desperate today and it's making me pay
  For that night, for that kiss, for your bed
  
  little monster is born.. self-explanatory, "desperate today and it's making me pay for that night, for that kiss, for your bed." she is feeling the pressures of being a single mom, and blames it on the night that they ended up taking things to another, more sexual, level.
  
  :) and the title could mean that she feels like it will never stop. dancing is constant motion, movements, feelings and emotions. kind of what she's doing/experiencing.

  Flag sweetxenoughon May 16, 2009   Link

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  General Comment:has anyone questioned why this song is called "The Dance" even though it doesnt mention the title anywhere in the song? I feel that it has an even deeper meaning that just what it appears to be about:
  friends who briefly became intimate and the tried to remain friends but she continued to have intimate thoughts about him
  
  Dance is a very powerful word with many deeper meanings, i honestly cant think of what it could be though

  Flag katellowon April 15, 2009   Link

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    It's very obviously written in waltz time, so that likely plays a part. Also, the song seems to suggest that the people have been through this situation before, they've 'danced around it', so to speak.

    Flag smg1128on May 04, 2009  
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  General Comment:My winter guard learned a little dance/work out routine to this song, that goes so FREAKING perfectly with the beat, it's just amazing. And it's a lot of fun to dance to, as well. Amazing song! :D

  Flag LoveMetal5233on December 28, 2008   Link

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  General Comment:To me it seems like this song may be about someone she was very close to, perhaps a friend, and they shared the same feelings for eachother. At one point, they shared a brief encounter which made her feel that they were about to start a real relationship. He may have become hesitant and made excuses as to why he couldn't be more than friends, so she accepts them (anything to justify his actions) and buries her broken heart in alcohol and excuses. And although she'll be ok being friends with him, she still doesn't understand why he can't gain the courage to just take her in his arms.
  
  That's what I got out of it at least...either way, it is a beautiful song that pulls at my heart strings for these exact reasons.

  Flag hyperactive_on September 28, 2008   Link

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