(The) Harvey Danger Database

He cut a stunning figure on the dance floor
The people came from miles and miles
A graceful gait and deathless execution
He elevated every style
The hometown daughters clutched their heaving chests
when they watched him turn his pirouettes
“Will you forget us when you’re famous?”
He joined a touring company, by and by
And they were crying that same day
The greatest living dancer, he left no answer

He toured the country and he toured abroad
You should have heard the way they would applaud
His reputation didn’t just precede him
It led the dancer by his nose
But they were faceless watching every show
Another city, another standing O
And the attention went to his head
(not unlike Isadora¹)

It made the places blend with things and people fall between them
You never see them fall
Never see them fall

A tragic limited engagement: He danced the Tango Argentine²
in front of millions of Brazilians
A fall like they had never seen
or heard
or—crash
And they were crying the same day
The greatest living dancer, he’d never dance again
never dance again

You got me running out of time again

Sean: No one who hears this song ever seems to know if the lyric about a small town dancer who becomes arrogant when he gains international fame then falls, literally and metaphorically, from grace, is meant to be funny or serious, and I don't know either; I think the song, however, taken as a whole, is genuinely beautiful and gentle, and if only King James Version had had room for another six minute mid-tempo ballad full of cellos, a choir, and hard-to-decode lyrics about things no teenager would ever care about, "TWGLD" would've been right up in there; Ben Gibbard and Allisyn Levy lent vocals to the recording that still give me chills, as do Jeff and Aaron's guitar/bass interplay.^10A

Sean: Funny maybe, not funny ha-ha.^DSS