A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor

Willie and the Hand Jive lyrics
Saturday, November 26, 2005
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I know a cat named Way Out Willie
Had a real cool chick named Rockin Millie
Did the bop, the stroll, and the Susie Q
Did that crazy hand jive too

Papa said, "Willie, gonna ruin my home.
You and that hand jive just have to go
Can't spend your life hanging around dancing
And they went to East Lansing.

Hand jive....hand jive....hand jive...doin that crazy hand jive

Willie said, "Millie, here's what we'll do
We'll go to school at MSU
Hand jive is something distinguished
You and I ought to major in English.

Willie and Millie tore the place to pieces
Did the hand jive for their thesis
Wrote a jive bibliography
Got a hand jive Ph.D

Hand jive....hand jive....hand jive...doin that crazy hand jive

They opened up a brain, all tangled and gray,
And found hand jive in our DNA
All human beings are dancing fools
It's way down deep in our molecules.

And the hand jive isn't just for romantics
It is the basis of quantum mechanics.
Albert Einstein himself declared
Energy equals the hand jive squared.

Hand jive....hand jive....hand jive...doin that crazy hand jive

Now MSU is the Big Ten school
Where people can come and learn to be cool
Within a week after they arrive
All the freshmen learn the hand jive

DRUM SOLO, SANDPAPER BLOCKS

Hand jive is ancient and it's new
It's an art and a science too
The meaning of life is to syncopate
Just like they do at Michigan State.

Hand jive....hand jive....hand jive...doin that crazy hand jive