Berlin–Music Box 1921 Everybody Step

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In A Walkthrough Shows, Songs and More
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The second song that we want to listen to is called “Everybody Step,” and it is one of those songs that sounds so simple and is in fact quite complex to get right. Berlin wrote three very famous songs that have very difficult, syncopated rhythms buried in them. The other two are “Putting on the Ritz” and “Top Hat.” We will explore these two songs at greater length when we get to them.

Here are the lyrics for “Everybody Step:”

Lyrics
Soon you’ll hear a tune
That’s gonna lift you out of your seat
It could be sweeter but then the meter
Was written especially for your feet
Fly away up high
Upon a syncopated balloon
A little ginger will never injure
Hear them tuning up, they’ll be playing soon
Everybody step to the syncopated rhythm
Let’s be goin’ with ’em when they begin
You’ll be sayin’ Yes Sir the band is grand
He’s the best professor in all the land
Listen to the pep that emerges from the middle
Of the jazzy fiddle under his chin
Oh, what music
The clarineter could not be better
Hear that strain
I don’t know just what it is but it’s great
They simply ruin it
Look at ’em doin’ it
Come, come don’t hesitate
Everybody step if you want to see a glutton
When it comes to struttin’ over the ground
Wait’ll you see my little sweetie and me
Step, step, stepping around

I’m getting tired of eating in restaurants
They don’t appeal to me
If we could own a cute apartment
I’d know just what a joyful heart meant
I hate to think of waiters and bill-of-fares
When evening time draws near
Three little rooms will be just like heaven
When we are married dear

In a Cozy kitchenette apartment for two
I’ll be setting the table
While you’re cooking a stew
For me and you
I’ll be there to help you put the dishes away
Then together we’ll listen to the phonograph play
The tuneful Humoresque
And oh, what bliss
When it’s time to kiss
In a cozy kitchenette apartment for two

Everybody step to the syncopated rhythm
Let’s be goin’ with ’em when they begin
You’ll be sayin’ Yes Sir the band is grand
He’s the best professor in all the land
Listen to the pep that emerges from the middle
Of the jazzy fiddle under his chin
Oh, what music
The clarineter could not be better
Hear that strain
I don’t know just what it is but it’s great
They simply ruin it
Look at ’em doin’ it
Come, come don’t hesitate
Everybody step if you want to see a glutton
When it comes to struttin’ over the ground
Wait’ll you see my little sweetie and me
Step, step, stepping around

And here is Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra in his October 21, 1921 recording.