Album: What Up, Dog? (1987)

Charted: 10 7

License This Song 

• Boom boom acka-lacka lacka boom
  Boom boom acka-lacka boom boom
  
  It was a night like this forty million years ago
  I lit a cigarette, picked up a monkey skull to go
  The sun was spitting fire, the sky was blue as ice
  I felt a little tired, so I watched Miami Vice
  And walked the dinosaur, I walked the dinosaur
  
  Open the door, get on the floor
  Everybody walk the dinosaur
  Open the door, get on the floor
  Everybody walk the dinosaur
  Open the door, get on the floor
  Everybody walk the dinosaur
  Open the door, get on the floor
  Everybody walk the dinosaur
  
  I met you in a cave, you were painting buffalo
  I said I'd be your slave, follow wherever you go
  That night we split a rattlesnake and danced beneath the stars
  You fell asleep, I stayed awake and watched the passing cars
  And walked the dinosaur, I walked the dinosaur
  
  Open the door, get on the floor
  Everybody walk the dinosaur
  Open the door, get on the floor
  Everybody walk the dinosaur
  Open the door, get on the floor
  Everybody walk the dinosaur
  Open the door, get on the floor
  Everybody walk the dinosaur
  
  One night I dreamed of New York
  You and I roasting blue pork
  In the Statue of Liberty's torch
  Elvis landed in a rocket ship
  Healed a couple of leapers and disappeared
  But where was his beard?
  
  A shadow from the sky much too big to be a bird
  A screaming crashing noise louder than I've ever heard
  It looked like two big silver trees that somehow learned to soar
  Suddenly a summer breeze and a mighty lion's roar
  I killed the dinosaur, I killed the dinosaur
  
  Open the door, get on the floor
  Everybody kill the dinosaur
  Open the door, get on the floor
  Everybody kill the dinosaur
  Open the door, get on the floor
  Everybody kill the dinosaur
  Open the door, get on the floor
  Everybody kill the dinosaur
  Repeat chorus 2 one time
  Boom boom acka-lacka lacka boom
  Boom boom acka-lacka boom boom Writer/s: David Jay Weiss, Donald E. Fagenson, Randall Keith Jacobs
  Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 9

• Mark Conner from 45601Winston Watson (Bob Dylan drummer) and Stevie Salas ( Rod Stewart guitar player) are featured in the song and in the video.
• Alexandra Merel Powers from Flat Lick KentuckyWhat a classic! Open the door, get on the floor everybody walk the dinosaur! Great song. Beautiful sexy women dressed in cavemen costumes. Never gets old! Need it in Jurassic Park movies more often.
• Mason from MinnesotaOh, and there are some parts of the lyrics that almost seem to foreshadow the aftermath of 9/11. Obviously it’s just a coincidence, but a pretty spooky one. Consider how he mentions New York in the bridge, and then the final verse goes:
  
  “A shadow from the sky much too big to be a bird [airplane?]
  A screaming crashing noise louder than I've ever heard [plane crashes]
  It looked like two big silver trees that somehow learned to soar [“two big silver trees”: before they fell, the Twin Towers were so tall that they seemed to “soar” into the sky]
  Suddenly a summer breeze and a mighty lion's roar [scene changes to a warm desert, like Afghanistan or Iraq where U.S. troops were deployed to]
  
  And then the soldiers had to “kill the dinosaur” (i.e., fight terrorists in the Middle East, who could be compared to “dinosaurs” due to their “archaic” religious extremism). Of course, part of the reason these wars and attacks happened to begin with, was the Americans’ need to “walk the dinosaur” (i.e., drive cars powered by fossil fuels/oil).
  
  Again, this is obviously NOT what the band had in mind when they wrote the lyrics; they said it was about the threat of the Cold War going nuclear. But the lyrics almost seem to function better as a metaphor for 9/11 and the War on Terror. It’s uncanny.
• Mason from MinnesotaThere seems to be an homage to the B-52s in this song. In the second part of the bridge that goes:
  
  “Elvis landed in a rocket ship
  Healed a couple of lepers and disappeared
  But where was his beard?”
  
  The man speaking the first two lines has a vocal delivery reminiscent of Fred Schneider, while the last line is sung by multiple women vocalists in a playfully off-key manner. Much like “Weird Al” Yankovic parodied the B-52s’ style in his own song “Mr. Popeil” (from 1984), Was (Not Was) were probably doing the same thing here. The B-52s were primarily known for their novelty dance songs, so the shout-out makes sense.
• Ferb from Usa"But its star would have faded by now, if it hadn't been re-discovered in the 2000s and become an Internet meme." Nope! This song pops into my head on a regular basis, as it has since it was released, and I've never even heard of all this 2000s-era stuff mentioned in the article. I think sometimes people born after, say, 1988, think that unless something from the past has reappeared as Internet fodder, then it never actually happened in the first place. I once read a piece written on Vice by some dolt who thought Steve Winwood was a long-forgotten 80s singer whose only real claim to fame is that some dork in the 2000s created an "original" track which is really just Steve Winwood's "Valerie" looped for several minutes. Of course, 30 seconds of research would have shown this poor child the vast scope of Winwood's résumé, but why do research when you're a cool junior journalist for a POS like Vice?
• Karey Grant from South CarolinaWho was the black girl in the video? Kinda makes me think of Karen Parsons from fresh prince,but not sure, also if any one knows the name of the black girl in Barry White's "practice what you preach" video, thanks
• Mike O from IllinoisBrunette is Deborah Jenssen
  Blonde is Helene Phillips with her hair up second from right
• Bo from AlabamaDoes look like her , but I would like to know the name of the girl in back with the sunglasses on.
• Buskieboy from Brampton, OnI just came across the video of this song on YouTube. There are 4 "Cavegirls" in the video and I
  SWEAR one of them is Elisabeth Shue, from "Karate Kid", "Adventures in Babysitting" and "CSI"!
  She is the cute one with the short blond hair. Is this an unaccredited role? Perhaps she was doing
  someone a favor?

More Songfacts:

Love Won't WaitGary Barlow

Madonna wrote a song called "Love Won't Wait" that she didn't want, but became a UK #1 hit for Gary Barlow.

Hey There DelilahPlain White T's

When he met Delilah DiCrescenzo, Plain White T's lead singer Tom Higgenson told her he'd write a song about her, and came up with the first verse of "Hey There Delilah" on the spot.

The Long and Winding RoadThe Beatles

"The Long and Winding Road" became The Beatles' last US #1 song on June 13, 1970.

RoyalsLorde

16-tear-old Lorde wrote the lyrics to "Royals" at home in just half an hour. She was inspired by the "ridiculous, unrelatable, unattainable opulence" that runs through such albums as Kanye West and Jay-Z's Watch the Throne and Lana Del Rey's Born To Die.

GreaseFrankie Valli

The song "Grease," sung by Frankie Valli in the 1978 movie, was written by Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees.

Run To YouBryan Adams

"Run To You" by Bryan Adams was written for Blue Oyster Cult, and the guitar part is modeled after "Don't Fear The Reaper." BOC turned it down, so Adams recorded it for his album Reckless.

Editor's Picks

Supertramp founder Roger HodgsonSongwriter Interviews

Roger tells the stories behind some of his biggest hits, including "Give a Little Bit," "Take the Long Way Home" and "The Logical Song."

HardySongwriter Interviews

The country hitmaker talks about his debut album, A Rock, and how a nursery rhyme inspired his hit single "One Beer."

Arrested For Your Art - The Story Of 2 Live Crew's "Obscene" AlbumSong Writing

In the summer of 1990, you could get arrested for selling a 2 Live Crew album or performing their songs in Southern Florida. And that's exactly what happened.

Weird Al YankovicFact or Fiction

Did Al play on a Beach Boys record? Did he have beef with George Lucas and Coolio? See if you can spot weird but true stories.

The Truth Is Out There: A History of Alien SongsSong Writing

The trail runs from flying saucer songs in the '50s, through Bowie, blink-182 and Katy Perry.

Michelle BranchSongwriter Interviews

Michelle Branch talks about "Everywhere," "The Game Of Love," and her run-in with a Christian broadcasting network.