Twelfth Street Rag
Hank Snow Lyrics

In a certain city, where
The song is about a particular city where something special is happening.

The girls are cute and pretty,
The people in this city are attractive.

They have a raggy jazzy jazz time tune.
There is a popular style of music in this place that is upbeat and fun.

When you hear that syncopated
When you listen to the music they play, which uses off-beat rhythm,

Jazz created melody
It will be a melody that is typical of jazz music.

You could dance all morning
The music is so infectious that it will make you want to dance for hours.

Night and noon,
Whether it is day or night, the upbeat music keeps playing.

When the slide trombone
Once the trombone starts playing,

And moaning saxophone begin to play.
and the saxophone player starts playing notes that sound sad or mournful,

It will make you sad,
the music will evoke bittersweet emotions.

'Twill make you glad
At the same time, the music will fill your heart with happiness.

Oh! Boy,
The artist is expressing excitement and joy.

What Joy,
The music brings so much happiness that it is a great source of joy.

Burn my clothes for I'm in Heaven,
The singer is saying that they feel so euphoric that they might as well be in heaven.

Wish I had a million women,
The singer wishes they had even more reasons to be happy.

Soloman in all his glory,
Even King Solomon, who was very wealthy and powerful,

Could have told another story,
would not have experienced the same kind of joy that the artist is feeling.

Were he but living here today,
If he were here today, Solomon would see what true happiness is like.

With his thousand wives or more,
Even though Solomon had many wives, it was not enough to bring him this kind of joy.

A Jazz Band on some Egypt shore,
If Solomon were listening to jazz music on the shore of Egypt,

He could dance the night and day away.
he would experience a joy that would not stop, even if he danced all day and all night long.

I will tell you how they dance
The artist is going to describe how people dance to the 12th Street Rag.

That tantalizing 12th. Street Rag.
The 12th Street Rag is a very exciting and compelling song that makes people want to dance.

First you slide and then you glide,
The artist is describing the dance moves that people do to the music.

Then shimmie for a while;
They start by sliding their feet, then dance in a way that makes their whole body move.

To the left then to the right
They move in specific directions as part of the dance.

"Lame Duck" "Get over Sal"
Specific dance moves with playful names that people do to have fun.

Watch your step then Pirouette,
They have to be careful not to fall, then spin around gracefully.

Fox Trot, then squeeze your pal
They perform a ballroom dance and sometimes dance very close to their partner.

Over you comes stealing
The music is so captivating that it takes over your mind and body.

Such a funny feeling
The feeling you get when you start dancing in this way is indescribable.

'Til you feel
You start to feel something inside of you that makes you want to dance more.

Your senses reeling,
You feel dizzy and lightheaded from all the dancing and excitement.

Tantalizing, hypnotizing,
The music is addictive and makes you want to listen and dance more.

Mesmerizing strain,
It is a type of music that captivates people and makes them feel alive.

I can't get enough of it
The artist is saying that they can listen to the song and dance more and more and not get tired of it.

Please play it o'er again
The people want to hear the 12th Street Rag song played again and again.

I could dance for ever
The singer is saying that they could dance to this music forever.

To this refrain,
They want to dance to this specific song over and over again.

To that 12th. Street,
They love listening to and dancing to the 12th Street Rag song.

Oh you 12th. Street Rag.
The artist is expressing their love for the 12th Street Rag song.