Lyrics to Do The Strand (USA single mix)
Lyrics to the song Do The Strandas recorded by Roxy Music.
(Ferry)
There's a new sensation a fabulous creation
A danceable solution to teenage revolution
Do the strand love when you feel love
It's the new way and that's why we say
Do the strand
Do it on the tables Quaglino's place or Mabel's
Slow and gentle sentimental
All styles served here
Louis Seize he prefer Laissez faire strand
Tired of the tango fed up with fandango
Dance on moonbeams slide on rainbows
In furs or blue jeans you know what I mean
Do the strand
Had your fill of quadrilles the madison and cheap thrills
Bored with the beguine the samba isn't your scene
They're playing our tune by the pale moon
We're incognito down the Lido
And we like the strand
Arabs at oases Eskimos and Chinese
If you feel blue look through who's who
See la goulue and Nijinsky
Do the strandsky
Weary of the waltz and mashed potato schmaltz
Rhododendron is a nice flower
Evergreen it last forever
But it can't beat strand power
The Sphynx and Mona Lisa
Lolita and Guernica
Did the strand
Do The Strand (USA single mix)
Single
Roxy Music's Do The Strand from the For Your Pleasure album was edited from 4:00 to 3:19 for the USA single release.
Do The Strand is probably the most performed Roxy song ever. This song has appeared in almost every set list of every tour since its release in 1973. The song was released as a single in most European countries as well as
There are 3 edits of the song:-
Album version 4:00
Street Life Compilation Version 3:40
What
The second Roxy album was recorded at the old Air Studios. by Oxford Circus in
I had long been a fan of Cole Porter and other songwriters from his era. Do The Strand was an attempt to emulate that style of writing, with a lot of cultural references that I found interesting.
There where a particular genre of dance crazes, like 'Do The Twist', 'The Jerk' and 'The Madison' etc. which I found amusing, and 'Do The Strand' was a nod in their direction' although it attempted to be more high brow or a bit further uptown in as much as I wanted to turn the Sphinx and Mona Lisa, Lolita and Guernica into a rhyming couplet...
Do The Strand became a sort of anthem for Roxy fans, and we traditionally made the closing song at all our shows."
This is a piece written by the late Doctor Simon Puxley explaining some of the references in the Lyrics.
Do The Strand Explained
By SIMON PUXLEY
The
The song metaphorically conceives of the
0 body swayed to music, 0 brightening glance,' How can we know the dancer from the dance? ('Among School Children')
fabulous creation i.e. 'creation' as in a fashion-show; hyperbole but- as the rest of the song insists - also literally 'fabulous' like a fable, magical, incredible.
Quaglino's place or Mabel's Quaglino's: long-established, exclusive
Louis Seize King Louis the Sixteenth (Seize) of
Laissez-faire French phrase used in English to mean 'free trade', and more generally 'no restrictions' therefore freedom of expression, 'anything goes', 'each to his own'. A literal translation is 'let it be', or 'you have leave to do', so the sense of these lines is that Louis approves of the Strand because it has no limits, or that he prefers the Strand laissez-faire rather than otherwise, or even that he gives state approval ('you have leave to do') to the Strand.
Tango... fandango Spanish-American dances. The tango became an established ballroom step; the fandango a wilder routine, became a synonym for a shindig.
Quadrilles Quadrille: a square dance, origin
Madison A dance done in formation which was a short-live fad, mainly in
Mashed potato schmaltz A play on words to create a contradiction. 'Mashed potatos' is intended literally, to describe the slushiness of schmaltz (sentimentality and oversweetness in music, films, etc.); and is also the name of a 'sixties dance which appeared in the wake of the twist and in its rhythmic and vigorous lunges is anything but schmaltzy'.
Rhododendron Large evergreen shrub which flowers annually, cultivated all over the world but especially in the grounds of large houses in
The Sphinx and Mona Lisa Two all-time great enigmas. The Sphinx was a creature in both Greek and Egyptian mythology with a human head and a lion's body. The Greek version strangled those who failed to solve a seemingly unanswerable riddle: literally enigmatic. The most famous example of the Egyptian Sphinx, the massive stone figure (240 feet long, 66 feet high) still recumbent at the side of the Great Pyramid, is more mysterious: it actually exists, but what its exact purpose was is unknown.
The impression, anyway, is that it guards the pyramid's secrets, as the Greek Sphinx guarded the answer to the riddle. The 'Mona Lisa' is probably the most famous painting of all time. Painted by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), the smile on the face of the portrayed woman has been the scource of endless speculations. Her expression is said to be deeply profound with a magical effect which no analysis of the painting can explain
The Sphinx and Mona Lisa represent not only the arcane and mysterious but also - by implication -the ancient and immortal.
Lolita and Guernica Two outstanding artistic portrayals of never-ending human frailties - love and war respectively. Vladimir Nabakov's novel masterpiece (1955) describes a man's obsession with a pubescent girl, a 'nymphet'. The opening words of the book are: "Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul".
Perhaps Picasso's most well- known single work, the name
Beguine A rhumba-like dance-step from the islands of
Samba Much-favoured ballroom dance from
Lido A fashionable Italian beach, just outside of
Who's Who The annual directory of anyone who's anyone (currently).
Lagoulue Celebrated Parisian dancer at the turn of the century. So named because of her immense size ('goulu' means greedy), she was immortalised in countless Toulouse- Lautrec pictures. Has also lent her name to a fashionable
Nijinsky Vaslav Nijinsky (1892-1950), Russian ballet dancer who, under Diaghilev's direction, created a sensation in the early years of the century with his technique and expressiveness. Generally regarded as the greatest of all male dancers. The '-sky' at the end of his name is jokingly supposed, in cornmon lore, to end all Russian words: thus 'Strandsky' in the next line.
Song Musicians
- Bryan Ferry Voice And Keyboards
- Andy Mackay Oboe And Saxophone
- Eno Synthesizer And Tapes
- Paul Thompson Drums
- Phil Manzanera Guitar
- John Porter Guest Artist Bass