I pulled into the gas station this morning to refill the tank (on the car, not me), and when I opened the car door I was greeted by the disco sound of “K.C. and the Sunshine Band” 1979 classic, “Shake, shake, shake…(ba-da-da-da-da)… shake, shake, shake, …(ba-da-da-da-da)… shake your boo-tay, shake your boo-tay!”
Now I was 14 when this song hit the number one spot on the airwaves. I was a bit sheltered at that time(being a Mennonite child who was not allowed to attend school dances or boy-girl par-tays--although, once I lied to my mom so I could go to my friends party, but that’s a story for another time) and really wasn’t sure what a “boo-tay” was, but it didn’t take too long for my friends, who weren’t as sheltered (meaning they weren’t Mennonite and could go to school dances and boy-girl par-tays) to inform me—“Shake your booty” means “shake your backside,” or “get up and dance” as the first line of the song says, “Everybody, get on the floor, let’s dance!”
Having grown up without the benefit of learning to dance (I did love watching Soul Train as a kid but never learned the moves, my mother would have been horrified had I even tried, but there was a short period of time when I would wear my black shiny go-go boots and "tap dance" on the fireplace hearth), I had, and still don’t have, any idea how to shake my booty, not do I want to learn at the age of 45. I’d probably hurt myself or someone would think I was having a seizure and call 9-1-1.
Anyway, the gas station was blasting that song and, as I was washing the windshield, I glanced at all the other drivers who were similarly engaged, and had a brief and hilarious vision of everyone suddenly dropping window washing wands and letting go of pump handles, to participate in an extemporaneous, yet miraculously choreographed, dance number, all of us shaking our boo-tays (which may or may not be the same as a “groove thing”)! I saw it in my mind, similar to dance scenes from movies like Oklahoma, West Side Story, and The Home Improvement Show when Tim completes his hot-rod and everyone dances to Greased Lightening. People just going about their normal daily routines, when suddenly music starts playing, people drop what they’re doing, and everybody starts dancin’!
Can you imagine this?! It made me LOL!
“Is there a sermon in this, Deb?” you may be asking. Probably, but I can’t think of one right now. I’m too busy looking up songs from the 70’s and wishing I knew how to dance…
4 comments:
First of all, let me thank you so very much for giving my mind something to get stuck on for the day, and it's a gift that keeps on giving since Rod and Chris will become infected after hearing me sing those words.. Since I already had the dictionary open looking up the word "extemporaneous", I thought to also look up the word "booty". There is no reference to booty being a persons backside in the dictionary. Booty is, as anyone who's ever watched a pirate movie knows, the spoils of war or a battle. A person could share their booty, or become bootyless, there was no mention of shaking it though. I guess KC (did you notice those are my initials?) thought of bottoms, and the shaking of them, in his own special way...
If my memory serves me correctly, there was a disco era song where the ONLY words were "Everybody Dance Now", with a lot of "popcorn", synthesized music between the words, and no mention of booty shaking. Is that correct?
Yes, 1990 C & C Music Factory's first hit "Everybody Dance Now." No mention of booty, but it does say, "Shake your pants." Haha!
Isn't this how people in Biblical times worshipped? Maybe the song writer needed to be specific about what to shake since "dancing" in certain denominations had become taboo. I believe God loves our spontaneity because we let go of self and things that would often hinder/inhibit our worship.
Amen, Sister/Cousin Sharon!!!
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