This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
They're pickin' up the prisoners
And puttin 'em in a pen
And all she wants to do is dance, dance
Rebels been rebels
Since I don't know when
And all she wants to do is dance
Molotov cocktail, the local drink
And all she wants to do is dance, dance
They mix 'em up right
In the kitchen sink
And all she wants to do is dance
Crazy people walkin' round with blood in their eyes
And all she wants to do is dance, dance, dance
Wild-eyed pistols wavers who ain't afraid to die
And all she wants to do is
And all she wants to do is dance
And make romance
She can't feel the heat
Comin' off the street
She wants to party
She wants to get down
All she wants to do is
All she wants to do is dance
Well the government bugged the men's room
In the local disco lounge
And all she wants to do is dance, dance
To keep the boys from sellin'
All the weapons they could scrounge
And all she wants to do is dance
Yeah, but that don't keep the boys from makin' a buck or two
And all she wants to do is dance, dance
The still can sell the army
All the drugs that they can do
And all she wants to do is
All she wants to do is dance
And make romance
Well we barely make the airport
For the last plane out
As we taxied down the runway
I could hear the people shout
They said, "don't come back here Yankee"
But if I ever do
I'll bring more money
'Cause all she wants to do is dance
And make romance
Never mind the heat
Comin' off the street
She wants to party
She wants to get down
All she wants to do is
All she wants to do is dance
And make romance
All she wants to do is dance
And puttin 'em in a pen
And all she wants to do is dance, dance
Rebels been rebels
Since I don't know when
And all she wants to do is dance
Molotov cocktail, the local drink
And all she wants to do is dance, dance
They mix 'em up right
In the kitchen sink
And all she wants to do is dance
Crazy people walkin' round with blood in their eyes
And all she wants to do is dance, dance, dance
Wild-eyed pistols wavers who ain't afraid to die
And all she wants to do is
And all she wants to do is dance
And make romance
She can't feel the heat
Comin' off the street
She wants to party
She wants to get down
All she wants to do is
All she wants to do is dance
Well the government bugged the men's room
In the local disco lounge
And all she wants to do is dance, dance
To keep the boys from sellin'
All the weapons they could scrounge
And all she wants to do is dance
Yeah, but that don't keep the boys from makin' a buck or two
And all she wants to do is dance, dance
The still can sell the army
All the drugs that they can do
And all she wants to do is
All she wants to do is dance
And make romance
Well we barely make the airport
For the last plane out
As we taxied down the runway
I could hear the people shout
They said, "don't come back here Yankee"
But if I ever do
I'll bring more money
'Cause all she wants to do is dance
And make romance
Never mind the heat
Comin' off the street
She wants to party
She wants to get down
All she wants to do is
All she wants to do is dance
And make romance
All she wants to do is dance
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
All She Wants to Do Is Dance Lyrics as written by Danny Kortchmar
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is political commentary (like about half of Don Henley's solo work) about Americans being concerned with self-gratification when everything's falling apart. It's both amusing and horrible that people think about it as a fun party song.
@PanteroBlanco the song was released and marketed as a party/ bar song so its not surprising people only see it as such
This song came out when I was about 9 or 10 years old. There are very few songs that have struck me as very danceable/catchy/rock-out and this was one of them. (Others among them for me was Chaka Khan's "I feel for you", Wham!'s "Everything she wants", Pointer Sisters' "Automatic", Def Leppard's "Photograph", Van Halen's "Panama", etc.) When you're a kid you just pay attention to how something makes you feel. In my opinion, this song is pretty darn groovy. Also, I can totally relate to the chorus alone-- take out all the politics it's talking about, and it becomes just a fun song. Pretty much the theme song for my life, sometimes it still holds true, and all I know to do with myself is to "Just Dance" (Lady Gaga). But just for the record, even though I agree with what one person said about how annoying Don Henley could get with his political messages in some of his songs, I can also appreciate the other side of it, that maybe it is a fresh approach to relaying worldly issues... kind of comedy does, like SNL, Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert. It takes the dryness out of the media and can be helpful in understanding it with another part of the brain. Watching or reading the news isn't even necessarily going to get the truth out anyhow, anyway, because it's like Mark Twain once said, "If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed." But when one person steps up and relays his own personal account of government actions, or lack thereof, as a witness, especially if it's going to get them in trouble, that's when the real truth comes out. My hat is off to those who risk imprisonment by stepping forward to speak out against heinous acts that affect millions and would otherwise be kept a secret.
This song has a reference to she which can be interpreted as: a) american society at large b) american GIs in a war zone
other comments have referenced other areas of conflict i believe the primary region referenced by the song is Vietnam
The reference to prisoners could be POWs on either side last plane out is a possible reference to the evacuation of saigon as the last helicopter evacuated the US Embassy.
I think one could arguably make reference to other conflicts, within the lyrics, but the ground zero reference would be the Vietnam War. Which suits the formative years of Don Henley.
The region is Central America – this was written in 1983, when bumper stickers said, "No US war in Central America," seven years before Iraq invaded Kuwait, and the talk of "rebels" and drug deals and American intervention – that's all Central America, or arguably certain locations in South America, but not the Middle East, not Vietnam, not Iran. The use of "Yankee" / "yanqui" is another clue, and the video shows Spanish writing and has Spanish subtitles at the end.
The lyrics do something interesting – they are all third person until the last stanza, when they become first person. Whoever the singer is, he's a part of all this. "The last plane out" implies a change of government; if he's unwelcome under the new government, then the rebels won, so he must have been on the side of the government or at least antagonized the rebels while playing both sides.
And what's going on is a game of arms deals, drug deals, and soldiers of fortune. That's all very clear – the topic is not a mystery here.
Except for the title character – who is "she"? Some people are suggesting a metaphor, but I don't think so. I think she's a literal woman, attractive to the narrator. She frequents the bars and discos where the people arranging the various criminal deals meet. And if he ever finds occasion to go back to this country, he'll expect to have a good time. Could she be a metaphor for the whole corrupt situation? Sure, why not, but sometimes a muchacha is just a muchacha.
I wonder if anyone has considered the possibility that the words just fit together and worked with the music, and don't mean anything more than that. Don Henley is very elusive about discussing the meaning behind his songs, almost to the point of arrogance. For example he said that Hotel California 'means whatever you want it to mean' despite interpretations, among which included Satanic worship and demonic imagery. All She Wants to Do is Dance may just be a synthesized 80s single with no real meaning other that a lot of zeros in Don Henley's bank account.
Sounds like an old episode of Hawaii 5-O.
This is me.. lol, I'm just kidding.
Have you seen Coyote Ugly?
This a great song. It's a lot of fun.
this song is about a country in the middle east being at war or on the brink of war. I think it was Iran.
I agree with PanteroBlanco. "She" is America. There is all of the chaos/violence/political strife going on, and all she/America wants to do is dance/party. It reminds me of the Janis Joplin song, Lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz. My friends all drive Porsches and I must make amends.