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It was the Great Depression, and the year was 1931 when Duke Ellington and Irving Mills wrote this song. It's a happy song about the joy of dancing-- in other words, if a song doesn't have a good beat and isn't fun to dance to, it just isn't worth much. Of course, the 1930s were a time of euphemism and song lyrics couldn't talk directly about sex or they would be censored; but in this case, I don't think there's a hidden meaning. I think the back-story is simply that Duke Ellington, like many jazz and dance orchestra leaders, wanted to provide something to make the audience feel better and forget their troubles.

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11y ago

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