Great, great song. Combining a story line and great refrain with literary references, the lyrics of a jaded old man, while he was only, what 22 at the time?
Like several other songs such as Mystery Dance and No Dancing on the first album, this one's about sex, lust and relationships. I hear a reference to H.C. Andersen's classic (and gruesome) fairy tale about the vain girl (in this case the storyteller) whose red dancing shoes, once she starts dancing, won't let her stop. The storyteller makes a deal with the angels, where they show him the secret of sex, and once he understands it, he can't stop. His girlfriend gets tired of his lust, feels disgusted and abused. Once the angels lose their own power "their wings have got rusted", they want the shoes back, resulting in the storyteller's quick aging and imminent death. While he declares his love "I'm so happy I could die" to the girl, she tells him to drop dead and dances on without him.
Oh, and I should say vanity in the original story is a sin, here it's been replaced by sex. The storyteller doesn't commit the sin of vanity but the sin of sex.
Oh, and I should say vanity in the original story is a sin, here it's been replaced by sex. The storyteller doesn't commit the sin of vanity but the sin of sex.
Great, great song. Combining a story line and great refrain with literary references, the lyrics of a jaded old man, while he was only, what 22 at the time?
Like several other songs such as Mystery Dance and No Dancing on the first album, this one's about sex, lust and relationships. I hear a reference to H.C. Andersen's classic (and gruesome) fairy tale about the vain girl (in this case the storyteller) whose red dancing shoes, once she starts dancing, won't let her stop. The storyteller makes a deal with the angels, where they show him the secret of sex, and once he understands it, he can't stop. His girlfriend gets tired of his lust, feels disgusted and abused. Once the angels lose their own power "their wings have got rusted", they want the shoes back, resulting in the storyteller's quick aging and imminent death. While he declares his love "I'm so happy I could die" to the girl, she tells him to drop dead and dances on without him.
Oh, and I should say vanity in the original story is a sin, here it's been replaced by sex. The storyteller doesn't commit the sin of vanity but the sin of sex.
Oh, and I should say vanity in the original story is a sin, here it's been replaced by sex. The storyteller doesn't commit the sin of vanity but the sin of sex.
..and as I read what I wrote I forgot to say that the dancing is a metaphor for sex...
..and as I read what I wrote I forgot to say that the dancing is a metaphor for sex...