HOW CAN I KEEP FROM SWINGING
(Harry and Sandy Berkowitz)
Come all you dancers far and near
And hear my plight so stinging
I'm doomed to roam from dance to dance
I cannot keep from swinging.
My eyes can't see, my feet are sore
My clothes from sweat are wringing
The band begins. I can't ignore
How can I keep from swinging
The music starts, the room's a blur
And everything is spinning;
I know not how, I know not why
But I cannot keep from swinging
Through Soldier's Joy and Saint Anne's reel
Through Devil's Dream and Lancers
I dance and dance the whole night through
And never find the answers
No matter what the caller calls
It never makes me nervish
For on my right I see the smile
Of another whirling dervish
To kiss the one in my embrace
It takes the strength of horses
My osculation is undone
By cen-tri-fu-gal forces
And when my bones shall turn to dust
And all this flesh shall wither
A dizzy ghost shall haunt these halls
Still in a spinning dither
And if this fate I'm to avoid
And keep my ship from sinking
I'll make a change e'er all is lost
I think I'll take up drinking.