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Save the Last Dance for Me
byThe Drifters
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Songfacts: You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page.
This was written by the songwriting team of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. In Lonely Avenue: The Unlikely Life & Times of Doc Pomus, Alex Halberstadt explains that one night, Pomus found a wedding invitation in a hatbox, and he stayed up all night writing the words to this song on the back of it. Shuman had played him a soaring Latin melody that afternoon, and he wanted the words to sound like a poem translated into English: "He wrote long lines, loading the measures with as many syllables as they could hold: 'You can dance every dance with the guy who gave you the eye, let him hold you tight.' Of course, it was a love song; he could already hear Leiber and Stoller's Spanish guitar and strings. Doc was writing the second verse when something he suddenly remembered began to intrude. Under his pen, the simple declaration of love he set out to write wavered, giving way to vulnerability and fear. The words pleaded for faithfulness: 'If he asks if you're all alone, can he take you home, you must tell him no.' Doc finished the verses. He decided he'd sort it out in the morning with a clear head. He wrote the title - 'Save The Last Dance for Me' - across the top, left the words on the coffee table, and went to bed."
The lyrics are about a couple at a dance. He tells his wife that she is free to dance and socialize with other men throughout the evening, but she should not forget who she is going home with.
Emmylou Harris in 1979 and Dolly Parton in 1984 have had Country hits with this song, and Michael Bublé reached #99 in the US with his version. (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England, for all above)
A 1974 version by The DeFranco Family, who had a big hit the year earlier with "Heartbeat - It's a Love Beat," hit #18 in the US, and was their last hit.
More songs written by Mort Shuman and/or Doc Pomus
More songs about being there for someone
More songs that were hits for more than one artist
Comments:
They played Michael Buble's version of this song at my 8th grade dance last night as in May the 8th. It waz alot of fun:D
- Claire, Miller's, MD
Doc Pomus had polio and needed crutches and a wheelchair to get around so he wasn't able to dance. He was at a dance with his wife and after watching her dance that evening wrote this song.
- John, New York, NY
This is a true gem of the period, and I'm not just saying so because one of the songwriters shares my last name! (No relation--honest!) In fact, I never knew who wrote this until just now. But having heard this many times, still, it always seems welcome to my ears. Great message, great tune, great delivery, great arrangement, what more is there to say? *** Pierre/Chelsea,PQ/Can--I'm not familiar with which songs are their work, but if they wrote a bunch of the Drifters' hits, then you're absolutely right!
- Fred, Laurel, MD
What a great team : somebody should write down of the whole bunch of hit those guys have signed in the past. Same greatness with Leiber - Stroller...
- Pierre, Chelsea, Quebec, Canada
A very beautiful song of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. In the 70's Mort Shuman came to France to make a second career as a singerand he sang a very soft/slow French version of this song. Nevertheless I prefer The Drifters' version.
- Teresa, Mechelen, Belgium