Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance!)

Single infobox
Name = Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance!)


track_no = 18
Artist = Elton John
from Album = "Blue Moves"
B-side = "Chameleon"
Released = January 31, 1977
Genre = Rock, Pop, Disco
Length = 6:43
Label = MCA (US/Canada) DJM Records
Writer = Elton John, Bernie Taupin
Producer = Gus Dudgeon
prev = "Theme from a Non-Existent TV Series"
prev_no = 17
next =
next_no =
Last single = "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"
(1976)
This single = "Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance!)"
(1977)
Next single = "Crazy Water"
(1977)

"Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance!)" is a song by Elton John with lyrics by Bernie Taupin. It is the closing track of his 1976 album, "Blue Moves". It came out as a single two months after the release of the album. The b-side was another album track, "Chameleon", which was also featured on the "Crazy Water"-single that only came out in the U.K., only four days later. The single peaked at #28 at in both the U.S. and the U.K.

Lyrical meaning

The song is a typical party-song, inspired by the tunes of the time. It mentions various places, a choir throughout most of the song. It could be put in the same vein as disco, but also uses rock and roll and pop elements.

Musical structure

The song opens with a sole piano, and then kicks off to the beat, consisting of a jangling electric guitar with the heavy percussion of Ray Cooper and the rest of Elton's line-up from that period, notably also featuring Caleb Quaye. The last four minutes of the song consists of the band almost jamming and a choir of singers chanting "Bite your lip - get up, get up and dance!". This section of the song also features strings and double bass, giving it a sense of disco. The song then ends, clocking at 6:43.

The song closed his "last" concert in 1977, which featured Stevie Wonder on stage. He also played it dressed as Donald Duck at the free concert in Central Park in 1980. The most recent performance dates from 2004, the first time since his throat surgery.

Personnel

* Elton John - Piano, vocals
* Davey Johnstone - guitar
* Caleb Quaye - guitar
* Kenny Passarelli - bass
* James Newton-Howard - synthesizer
* Roger Pope - drums
* Ray Cooper - percussion

Also featuring:

* The Cornerstone Institutional Baptist and Southern California Community Choir
* The Gene Page Strings