‘All She Wants to Do Is Dance’ is a song written by Danny Kortchmar and performed by Don Henley, co-lead vocalist and drummer for Eagles. It was released as the second single from Henley's second studio solo album, Building the Perfect Beast (1984), and was Henley's sixth solo single overall. It was one of Henley's most commercially successful singles, peaking at No. 9 on Billboard Hot 100 and also became his third song to top the Top Rock Tracks chart.
The song critiques the US intervention in Central America, particularly in the then-ongoing Contra War, in which the Reagan administration funded the right-wing rebel group Contras to overthrow the socialist Sandinista National Liberation Front government in Nicaragua. This was Henley's attempt at a protest song. When Kortchmar was writing the lyrics, he drew on two specific books for inspiration:
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) - Kortchmar said: "You've got this really rich couple that's oblivious to what's going on around them."
- The Ugly American by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer (1958) - Kortchmar said: "A book about Americans coming into third-world countries, and acting like they own the place."
The song is a scathing takedown of American political apathy and governmental gun-running; it paints a picture of Americans focusing on their own selfish needs amid the Iran-Contra affair of the Reagan administration, and it features allusions to gun-running, and the corrupting influence of money and drugs. The lyrics are often interpreted as a critical observation of the rebel side of youth culture in America -- kids more interested in partying than in their professed aims to change the world.
Backing vocals for the song was provided by Patty Smyth of the band Scandal, and Martha Davis, lead singer of the Motels. Although it was a protest song, it was also ironically a huge dance hit and very few Americans noticed the protest nature of the song in the first place. Upon its release, John Leland from Spin magazine wrote "...this mother whomps from the git with punchy electronic drums and a mix that keeps one foot off the ground for a full seven-and-a-half minutes. Henley's post-hedonist vision of apocalypse is twisted."
Label – Geffen
Songwriter – Danny Kortchmar
Producers – Don Henley, Danny Kortchmar, Greg Ladanyi
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]They're pickin' up the prisoners
And putting 'em in a pen
And all she wants to do is dance, dance
Rebels been rebels
Since I don't know when
And all she wants to do is dance
[Verse 2]
Molotov cocktail
The local drink
And all she wants to do is dance, dance
They mix 'em up right
In the kitchen sink
And all she wants to do is dance
[Verse 3]
Crazy people walkin' round
With blood in their eyes
And all she wants to do is dance, dance, dance
Wild-eyed pistol-wavers
Who ain't afraid to die
And all she wants to do is
All she wants to do is dance
[Chorus]
And make romance
She can't feel the heat
Comin off the street
She wants to party
She wants to get down
All she wants to do is
All she wants to do is dance
[Verse 4]
Well the government bugged the men's room
In the local disco lounge
And all she wants to do is dance, dance
To keep the boys from sellin'
All the weapons they could scrounge
And all she wants to do is dance
[Verse 5]
But that don't keep the boys
From makin' a buck or two
And all she wants to do is dance, dance
They still can sell the army
All the drugs that they can do
And all she wants to do is
All she wants to do is dance
And make romance
[Verse 6]
Well, we barely made the airport
For the last plane out
As we taxied down the runway
I could hear the people shout
They said, "Don't come back here, Yankee"
But if I ever do
I'll bring more money
'Cause all she wants to do is dance
[Chorus]
And make romance
Never mind the heat
Comin' off the street
She wants to party
She wants to get down
All she wants to do is
All she wants to do is dance
[Outro]
And make romance
All she wants to do is dance