"Dancing in the Moonlight" A coming of age in 1972 (1582 hits)
Category: RomanceLabels: songposts
Rating: 2 on 16 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Bigmike (View user info) at 2004-06-11 00:34:45 EDT
He heard the music begin. One of his favorite songs in his short 12 years on the planet. He loved this song because it just flowed within him. He knew all the words even though he didn't recognize the significance of some of them at this age, but he knew what he liked and he liked this tune.
The year, 1972. The place, Reva Rollerdrome. The Girl, Karen O'Brady. The song, "Dancing in the Moonlight.
And it started....
"We get it on most every night
And when that moon gets big and bright
It's supernatural delight
Everybody's dancin' in the moonlight.
Dancin' in the moonlight
Everybody's feelin' warm and right
It's such a fine 'n' natch-ral sight
Everybody's dancin' in the moonlight."
All he could think of was a skate with Karen. He really liked her with her long brown hair and her cute brown eyes. She wore glasses, but he thought they were cute too. He skated around the rink until he spotted her. She was sitting with a couple of other girls and all of a sudden he was afraid.
"Everybody here is outa site
They don't bark and they don't bite
They keep things loose, they keep things light
Everybody's dancin' in the moonlight."
What would he do? He really wanted to skate with Karen and yet how could he ask her. Between being so shy that he couldn't stand it and the fact that there were other girls with Karen, he didn't....no he couldn't ask her to skate. He desperately wanted to though.
The song continued.
"Dancin' in the moonlight
Everybody's feelin' warm and right
It's such a fine 'n' natch-ral sight
Everybody's dancin' in the moonlight."
He skated up behind her and stood there motionless for a minute. She wasn't being asked by anybody else so why couldn't he be the one. He was trembling with nervousness and cursing himself inside for being so damn shy. "What if she says no?" he thought. "What would the other kids think?" Between the fear of rejection and the possibility of humiliation at the hands of the others, he was a mess. He watched the other skaters out on the rink, holding hands, being close.
And still the song played on.
"We like our fun, we never fight
You can't dance 'n' stay uptight
They keep things loose, they keep things light
Everybody's dancin' in the moonlight."
She turned and looked at him. To her it was a split second in time. To him it was slow motion agony that took all night. Everything went to slow when she started to turn her head. He saw it but couldn't do anything about it. As he would later tell his friend Scott, he almost fell over trying to keep from looking at her. The pain of being shy was too much for him.
The song was almost over.
"Dancin' in the moonlight
Everybody's feelin' warm and right
It's such a fine 'n' natch-ral sight
Everybody's dancin' in the moonlight."
It was too late and he knew it. He skated away, his petrification broken by the fact that the song was coming to an end. He had lost his chance. He had let fear get the best of him and had let this opportunity slip through his fingers. Yes, it was 1972. Free love was happening all around even though he didn't really know what free love was. Drugs were plentiful even though he knew they were bad. Girls were experimenting, only not in ways that he could understand. He was 12 and not quite ready to grow up yet. With conflicting emotions that he could hardly bear to feel, he skated away, the depression of not having enough nerve to even ask a girl to skate weighing heavily on his mind.
"Dancin' in the moonlight
Everybody's feelin' warm and right
It's such a fine 'n' natch-ral sight
Everybody's dancin' in the moonlight."
The song was over. He sat down on a bench and began to feel sorry for himself. She had surely noticed him there, standing behind her. She had surely felt the nervousness emanating off of him like heat from a bonfire. This realization made it doubly hard for him to accept the fact that he had to be the worlds biggest weenie. No boy should be so scared to ask a girl for a skate. No boy.
The next song started.
"A wimawe A wimawe
A wimawe A wimawe
A wimawe A wimawe
A wimawe A wimawe
A wimawe A wimawe
A wimawe A wimawe
A wimawe A wimawe
A wimawe A wimawe
In the Jungle, The Mighty jungle, The lion sleeps tonight
In the Jungle, The Mighty jungle, The lion sleeps tonight."
A tap on his shoulder brings him out of the depths of his self loathing. He sits up with a start and turns around. A smiling face greets him and all of his troubles seem to amplify. It is Karen O'Brady and she has just tapped him on the shoulder.
"Uh, hi Karen".
Karen looks at him for a moment and then utters the unspeakable.
"Did you want to ask me to skate just a few moments ago?"
He is horrified but relieved all at once.
"Yes, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I knew that you felt it but I am just too shy Karen. You've known me long enough to know that. I'm such a weenie."
It came out, just like that. He was mortified.
She just smiled.
"Why don't we make up for it now?", she asked.
He processed this for a few moments and then it was as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. A smile as big as the sun came across his face and as he looked up at her, he saw she was beaming as well.
He stood up and she took his hand. Her hand felt warm and soft. He felt a spark between them as they moved together. They skated out to the rink and he proceeded to have the best skate of his entire life.
"OOOOoooooOOOOOOOOOOooOOOOOOOooooooowhee um bumbawee
bllllllll OOOOoooooOOOOOOOOOOooOOOOOOOooooooowhee um bumbawee
Hush my darling, don't cry my darling, the lion sleeps tonight
Hush my darling, don't fear my darling, the lion sleeps tonight."
User Reviews
Submitted by jimbobjoe (user info) at 2004-06-20 18:46:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Mike, you really should write for a living and forget about people who need to see.
Submitted by Scott_James (user info) at 2004-06-13 02:02:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Can_Always_Trust_A_Liar (user info) at 2004-06-11 15:24:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I thought this was gonna be Thin Lizzy's Dancing in the Moonlight
Submitted by AshK (user info) at 2004-06-11 09:04:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Ahhh the roller rink. Skates with shiny new toe stops. Our rink has been turned into a furniture store, and I swear it still smells like stale nachos, popcorn and particle board.
Submitted by lojope (user info) at 2004-06-11 09:02:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Pittdude (user info) at 2004-06-11 07:54:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Great story .... like Bart said, got me thinking about "that one girl."
Submitted by Stin (user info) at 2004-06-11 07:38:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It's a song I associate with growing up, sunshine and happiness, and reading that brought a lot of it back. Nice post, liked it a lot.
Submitted by Magicaddict (user info) at 2004-06-11 07:07:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Strange, I associate "Dancing in the Moonlight" with filling the dancefloor to bursting point any time you need to.
Submitted by bart (user info) at 2004-06-11 04:27:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I think every guy associates the song "Dancing in the Moonlight" with a specific girl. I know I have mine.
Submitted by Malificent (user info) at 2004-06-11 04:04:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm gonna have to give you a +2 because Dancing in the Moonlight was covered a couple of years back by a band that comes from my home town, and it did really well in the British Charts (got to the Top 5 I believe). So here's to you, Toploader!
Submitted by bargled (user info) at 2004-06-11 01:17:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2004-06-11 01:13:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I think my "N" key didn't like me the first time around.
It's funny, I type this whole thing into Uber not stopping from start to finish. I then proofread it to make sure it's correct but I never check the spelling in the title. I hit hook me up, go back to the post and am completely surprised by my mis spelling. I had to get it off the front page it was bothering me so much.
Submitted by youarsoghey (user info) at 2004-06-11 01:10:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Well, you sure did spell "Dancing" better this time around.
Submitted by AlwaysAnEagle (user info) at 2004-06-11 01:07:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Awww, that was awesome.
And props to Karen for being a cool kid.
Submitted by Disektor (user info) at 2004-06-11 00:47:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by dakingisdead (user info) at 2004-06-11 00:37:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
In the Jungle
the mighty Jungle
the lion sleeps tonight
Oh you big fool you've gone and made me all sentimental.
And you get a plus two on the repost as well you lucky bugger!