# Tiny Dancer- Urgh!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2007, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941 "2007-09-03T21:08:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/1 "2007-09-03T21:08:09Z")
What is with this song? It’s following me everywhere! I heard it on the radio 3 times last week, and now I find out my BF secretly downloaded the ringtone so when he calls me, I’m treated to a little taste of the chorus (inexplicably, he loves this song). It’s irritating on so many levels. I’ve got to go look up the lyrics, they seem so ridiculous from the 2 lines I recall. What the hell is he talking about? A music box ballerina or something? Anyway, I can’t summon the energy or requisite foul language to pit this, so I leave it to you to either extoll this song’s virtues or join me in mocking it. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/2 "2007-09-03T21:17:04Z")
It’s a love song by Bernie Taupin to his then girlfriend, Maxine Feibelman. > **[Elton John Lyrics: Tiny Dancer](http://www.eltonography.com/songs/tiny_dancer.html)** > [@](#): > > Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band > Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you’ll marry a music man > Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand > And now she’s in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand She was a ballerina. She was tiny. She gave up dancing to follow him and Elton and the band. Taupin wrote the song in 1971. He married her later that year. It’s about as straightforward a song as he ever wrote. Read the rest of the lyrics and it’s practically an article. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/3 "2007-09-03T21:23:44Z")
Well, September by Earth, Wind, and Fire has been stalking me for like the last nine months or so. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/4 "2007-09-03T21:37:30Z")
[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe] Anyway, I can’t summon the energy or requisite foul language to pit this, so I leave it to you to either extoll this song’s virtues or join me in mocking it. [/QUOTE] Virtues, for me. There’s nothing about it I don’t like. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/5 "2007-09-03T21:48:44Z")
It’s _Show Me the Way_ over here, from _Frampton Comes Alive_. That song is NEVER going to die. ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/6 "2007-09-03T21:50:16Z")
I heard it makes an even better earworm if you substitute “Tony Danza” into the lyrics. No, no, don’t thank me. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/7 "2007-09-03T21:59:36Z")
[QUOTE=Idlewild] I heard it makes an even better earworm if you substitute “Tony Danza” into the lyrics. No, no, don’t thank me. [/QUOTE] You must do more than that! Hold me closer, Tony Danza… Count the head lice on my heinie… ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/8 "2007-09-03T22:17:32Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] You must do more than that! Hold me closer, Tony Danza… Count the head lice on my heinie… [/QUOTE] I bow to your superior mischief-causing skills 😛 ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/9 "2007-09-04T00:11:44Z")
Hold my order, terrible dancer… ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/10 "2007-09-04T00:37:54Z")
I never paid much attention to it, but it was part of one of the best scenes in **Almost Famous** , and I’ve liked it ever since then. If I hear it now it makes me think of that movie and I smile. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/11 "2007-09-04T00:47:22Z")
It’s running thru my head constantly now > [@](#): > > Hold me closer, Tony Danza > Count the headlice on my heinie > Lay me down on sheets of lettuce > I had a bath today, today ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/12 "2007-09-04T03:25:07Z")
“Tiny Dancer” is actually a great song, but it’s almost unlistenable these days due to the massive airplay in numerous formats–it’s soft rock’s answer to “Freebird”. The problem is that radio stations apparently believe this and “Rocket Man” were the only songs Elton John ever recorded. Considering how popular he was in the early 70’s (a time when album cuts got as much airplay as singles), would it kill radio to play “Burn Down The Mission” or “Elderberry Wine” once in a while? ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/13 "2007-09-04T03:48:34Z")
You know what bugs me most about the song (aside from the adjective “tiny”, which makes it sound like he’s singing about a Lilliputian)? The friggin’ thing takes like 6 minutes to get to the chorus! After listening to the verses for so long I start to feel like I’m being jerked around a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/14 "2007-09-04T05:13:35Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] It’s running thru my head constantly now [/QUOTE] Qadgop, will you be my adoptive father? I mean, I can’t ask you to marry me. lno would be jealous, and you’re old enough to be my dad. So, um… come ‘ere n’ gimme a hug, ol’ man! 😃 you’re brilliant. _snort_ Tony Danza… _snort_ ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/15 "2007-09-04T05:54:07Z")
[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe] I heard it on the radio 3 times last week, and now I find out my BF secretly downloaded the ringtone so when he calls me, I’m treated to a little taste of the chorus (inexplicably, he loves this song). [/QUOTE] Be happy it’s now and you don’t need to hear Jerry Vale’s “Red Roses for a Blue Lady.” :eek: (signed) Someone for whom 1965 is “recent.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/16 "2007-09-04T15:00:51Z")
I always remember it as the closing music to an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati when a Russian hog expert falls for Bailey and tries to defect. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/17 "2007-09-04T15:05:19Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Goob] I always remember it as the closing music to an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati when a Russian hog expert falls for Bailey and tries to defect. [/QUOTE] My above quote was dubbed in for his quoting the lyrics when WKRP went into syndication & didn’t carry the rights to quote/play the song. The music rights people really need to fix crap like that. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/18 "2007-09-04T15:44:57Z")
Oh Christ. I hate this song SO much. My husband has a classic rock cover band, and one of his bandmates (a gay male keyboard player, naturally) luuurrrrves this song. That guy makes sure the band plays it at every gig I attend, without fail. And I swear it gets longer every time. Now I just step outside when it starts. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/19 "2007-09-04T17:23:19Z")
Basically, there is nothing wrong with the song. However, it has suffered in the way that many classic rock songs have by being overplayed. Elton Johns song library consists of more than just 7 good songs. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941/20 "2007-09-04T17:46:47Z")
I can barely listen to Elton now, he’s been so played to death. I’ve given away any of his music that I owned, except for a tape that has Levon on it and I never even listen to that. I felt pretty sorry for myself for a while when it seemed like Billy Joel’s Piano Man was stalking me, but it’s (a little) better than Tiny Dancer! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-dancer-urgh/417941.md?page=2)