(The) Harvey Danger Database

The World’s Greatest Living Dancer

Recorded

Release history

Credits

Alternate versions

Lyrics

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 was crying that same day
The greatest living dancer, he’d never dance again
never dance again

You got me running out of time again

  1. Isadora Duncan (1877–1929) was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance who performed to great acclaim in Europe, the U.S., and the Soviet Union. ↩

  2. Argentine tango is marked by themes of nostalgia, sadness, and laments for lost love. It gained worldwide attention in the late 1980s and 1990s in response to several popular international touring shows. ↩

Quotes

SCN: 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

SCN: I don’t know what to say about “The World’s Greatest Living Dancer,” other than I think it’s staggering when all the voices come in, and the guitar/bass interplay that basically forms the nucleus of the band never sounded better.DSS

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