Tighten Up

• By: Archie Bell & the Drells
• Album: I Can't Stop Dancing

Lyrics:

Vocabulary in this song:

Vocabulary	Meanings
dance /dæns/ A1	verb - to move rhythmically to music noun - a set of steps and movements
walk /wɔːk/ A1	verb - to move at a regular pace by lifting and setting down each foot in turn noun - an act of traveling or an excursion on foot
music /ˈmjuːzɪk/ A1	noun - vocal or instrumental sounds combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion
drums /drʌmz/ A1	noun - a percussion instrument sounded by being struck, scraped, or shaken
drummer /ˈdrʌmər/ A2	noun - a person who plays a drum or drums
bass /beɪs/ A2	noun - the lowest adult male singing voice noun - an electric guitar with four strings that plays low notes
guitar /ɡɪˈtɑːr/ A1	noun - a stringed instrument with a long neck and a hollow body
organ /ˈɔːrɡən/ A2	noun - a keyboard instrument with pipes sounded by means of compressed air
mellow /ˈmeloʊ/ B2	adjective - pleasantly smooth or soft; free from harshness verb - to become more relaxed, calm, or gentle
tighten /ˈtaɪtn/ B1	verb - to make or become tight or tighter
tough /tʌf/ B1	adjective - difficult; involving hardship or suffering
fall /fɔːl/ A2	verb - to drop down from a higher level

Grammar:

• We don't Only sing but we dance just as good as we walk.

  ➔ Correlative Conjunctions (Not Only...But Also)

  ➔ The original sentence structure is grammatically informal but understandable. A more formal construction would be: "We don't *only* sing, but we dance just as good as we walk" or "We not *only* sing but *also* dance...". This emphasizes that the group excels at both singing and dancing.

• In Houston we just started a New dance called the Tighten Up.

  ➔ Simple Past Tense (Started)

  ➔ The verb "started" indicates an action that began and finished in the past. The context implies a relatively recent beginning of the dance's popularity.

• This is the music we tighten up to.

  ➔ Preposition at the End of a Clause

  ➔ While it's generally preferable to avoid ending sentences with prepositions in formal writing, it's common in informal speech and song lyrics. The preposition "to" governs the verb "tighten up".

• Come on now drummer. I want you to tighten It up for me now.

  ➔ Imperative Mood and Object Pronoun (It)

  ➔ "Come on" is used to encourage action. "Tighten it up" is an imperative, directly commanding the drummer. The pronoun "it" refers to the drums.

• I said if you can do it now, It sure would be tough.

  ➔ Conditional Sentence (Type 1/Likely)

  ➔ This resembles a Type 1 conditional, but is used unconventionally. It suggests that if doing the "tighten up" is possible now, it would surprisingly be difficult. It's a playful remark, implying it shouldn't be difficult at all.

• You can do it. But don'tcha just do it light.

  ➔ Contraction and Negative Imperative (Don'tcha)

  ➔ "Don'tcha" is a colloquial contraction of "don't you". This is a negative imperative, advising against doing the dance lightly. The use of "light" means without enthusiasm or energy.