I Can't Dance

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During one recording session, Mike Rutherford first created the main riff of the song he called "Heavy A Flat", to which Collins suddenly improvised the basic concept for "I Can't Dance". The riff was actually inspired by a Levi Strauss & Co. television commercial (in the studio, the song was created under the working title "Blue Jeans") that used the Clash song "Should I Stay or Should I Go". Originally, the band did not think of it as anything more than a joke recording that would be discarded quickly, because the song was too simple, too bluesy, and unlike Genesis' style. Tony Banks said in an interview: "It was one of those bits you thought was going to go nowhere. It sounded fun but wasn't really special".

It was not until Banks decided to add keyboard sound effects to complement Rutherford's playing that "I Can't Dance" took on a different feeling. The band came to appreciate the sly humour inherent in the song and chose to not only record it properly, but to put it on the album as a single.

Banks also said in an interview the recording of a song that featured minimal production indicated a direction Genesis could have gone to make themselves stand out better against the rising popularity of alternative rock: "Opposite to what Genesis has done as general practice, which is taking an idea and turning it into a long or complex composition, it was just taking an idea and leaving it alone".{{cite interview |last=Banks |first=Tony |title=Interview from The Way We Walk – Live in Concert DVD }}

The Daily Vault's Christopher Thelen found that "I Can't Dance" is "a goofy number that features Genesis mocking themselves for being un-hip. (Best line from this song: "Ooh, she's got a body under that shirt"—dirty old man alert!)" He added, "If you ever get a chance to view the video, watch it; it's hysterical."{{cite web|first= Christopher |last= Thelen |title= We Can't Dance – Genesis |publisher= The Daily Vault |date= 21 December 1998 |access-date= 20 November 2020 |url= http://dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=607}} Sally Margaret Joy from Melody Maker wrote, "Phunny Phil, the Maker's Phavourite Phella, grinds and huffs his good self over one of those minimal, stab, crunch, plink, rock numbers. It seems to be a bit of a dig at those jeans ads that feature divine male bimbos."{{cite magazine|first=Sally Margaret|last=Joy|title=Singles|magazine=Melody Maker|date=11 January 1992|page=27|access-date=20 February 2023|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/52531445717/}} A reviewer from People Magazine described it as a "melodically fetching, radio-ready track", and "a simple slammer with an arrangement that shows off the group’s remarkable facility for aural atmospherics."{{cite magazine|url= https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-we-cant-dance-vol-36-no-21/ |title= Picks and Pans Review: We Can't Dance |magazine= People |date= 2 December 1991 |access-date= 13 November 2020}} Kara Manning from Rolling Stone named it "a gritty, tongue-in-cheek anthem for the average guy."Manning, Kara (9 January 1992). [https://web.archive.org/web/20080828212945/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/genesis/albums/album/189249/review/5943222/we_cant_dance Album Review], Rolling Stone. Adam Higginbotham from Select viewed it as "provocatively smug".{{cite magazine|first=Adam|last=Higginbotham|url=https://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2014/09/albums2.jpg|title=Reviews: New Albums — Sound Bites|work=Select|date=January 1993|page=74|access-date=4 January 2025|author-link=Adam Higginbotham}} Ted Shaw from The Windsor Star wrote that "I Can't Dance", "with its bluesy melody and metallic effects, is unlike anything the band has ever done, and it's a wonderful pop creation."Shaw, Ted (15 August 1992). "Record Review". The Windsor Star.

The accompanying music video for "I Can't Dance" (made by frequent collaborators Paul Flattery and Jim Yukich) illustrates the artifice and false glamour of television advertisements. Collins commented that the video was designed to poke fun at the models in jeans commercials and each verse refers to things models in these commercials do. During the first verse, he portrays a hitchhiker on a remote desert road in Hi Vista, California. A woman speeds past in a Porsche 911 then backs up to Collins and lets a lizard at his feet get in then she drives off, leaving him stranded. Collins is seen on a beach in the second verse, trying to pull his jeans away from a sunbather's angry dog and for the third, he loses them in a pool game at a bar.

These scenes are intercut with footage of the band and film crew members setting up the areas as if to shoot a series of commercials. The video ends with a parody of the video for the Michael Jackson song "Black or White," in which Collins imitates Jackson's erratic dancing. Banks and Rutherford eventually arrive to escort Collins off the set, at which point he goes limp and they have to drag him away.

The song created the "'I Can't Dance' dance" (a series of stiff, stylised motions). Collins explained in an interview that when he was at stage school, he would see kids that would always use the same hand and the same foot when they were tap dancing, meaning they could not coordinate. He then copied their movements and the 'dance' was born.

Collins told Rolling Stone the music video and the song were a joke about male models in jeans commercials who could not dance or talk but could only walk in their jeans. He also said the audience was confused and could not figure out the joke because clearly Phil Collins can dance as he dances at the end of the video.{{cite web |title=I Can't Dance Song Facts |url=https://www.songfacts.com/facts/genesis/i-cant-dance |website=Song Facts |access-date=13 September 2019}}

Single releases contained an extended remix entitled "Sex Mix". This was later released on the Genesis Archive 2: 1976–1992 box set retitled as the "12" Mix". The remixers were brothers Howard Gray and Trevor Gray of Apollo 440.

The B-side, "On the Shoreline", was also included on Genesis Archive 2: 1976–1992. The song features a sample of guitarist Mike Rutherford's guitar playing that was captured by Tony Banks during a jam session. The peculiar sound (dubbed "elephantus" by the band) was also used in the song "No Son of Mine." Several chord passages also appeared in "Living Forever." Rolling Stone commented that "On the Shoreline" is "enjoyable in an un-ironic way. Here, as usual, Phil Collins sounds most comfortable at the raspy apex of his vocal range, pushing his voice to the breaking point as Tony Banks' synths drift through like mists."{{cite magazine | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/20-insanely-great-genesis-songs-only-hardcore-fans-know-20141010/on-the-shoreline-20141010 | title = 20 Insanely Great Genesis Songs Only Hardcore Fans Know | last = Reed| first = Ryan | date =10 October 2014 | magazine = Rolling Stone |access-date = 26 April 2018}}

The "Jesus He Knows Me" CD single also included a version titled "I Can't Dance (the other mix)" with a running length of 5:59.

"I Can't Dance" was played live during The Way We Walk,{{cite web |url=http://www.genesis-movement.org/php/listtour.php?tourid=16&addcommentsall= |title=Gig guide |website=www.genesis-movement.org |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040320063105/http://www.genesis-movement.org/php/listtour.php?tourid=16&addcommentsall= |archive-date=20 March 2004 |url-status=dead}} Calling All Stations{{Cite web|url=http://www.genesis-movement.org/php/listtour.php?tourid=17&addcommentsall=|title=Genesis - The Movement - Gig Guide|website=Genesis-movement.org|access-date=1 June 2021}} (with Ray Wilson on vocals), Turn It On Again{{Cite web|url=http://www.genesis-movement.org/php/listtour.php?tourid=18&addcommentsall=|title=Genesis - The Movement - Gig Guide|website=Genesis-movement.org|access-date=1 June 2021}} and The Last Domino? tours. On the band's Turn It On Again Tour and The Last Domino? Tour, it was included as an encore. During live performances, the song was transposed to a lower key to accommodate Collins' deepening voice.

A live version appears on their albums The Way We Walk, Volume One: The Shorts, and Live over Europe 2007, as well as on their DVDs The Way We Walk - Live in Concert and When in Rome 2007

Rutherford and Daryl Stuermer accompanied Collins doing the walk across the stage.

Ray Wilson continued to cover the song on his solo live album after his departure from Genesis. His version is a bluesier rendition, closer to the original.

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• 7-inch and cassette single{{cite AV media notes|title=I Can't Dance|others=Genesis|year=1991|type=UK 7-inch single sleeve|publisher=Virgin Records|id=GENS 7, 115 091}}{{cite AV media notes|title=I Can't Dance|others=Genesis|year=1991|type=UK cassette single sleeve|publisher=Virgin Records|id=GENSC 7}}

1. "I Can't Dance"
2. "On the Shoreline"

• 12-inch and CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=I Can't Dance|others=Genesis|year=1991|type=UK 12-inch single sleeve|publisher=Virgin Records|id=GENS 712}}{{cite AV media notes|title=I Can't Dance|others=Genesis|year=1991|type=UK CD single liner notes|publisher=Virgin Records|id=GENSD 7, 665 091}}

1. "I Can't Dance"
2. "On the Shoreline"
3. "I Can't Dance" (sex mix)

• Australian CD single and Japanese mini-album{{cite AV media notes|title=I Can't Dance|others=Genesis|year=1991|type=Australian CD single liner notes|publisher=Virgin Records|id=GENDG 7}}{{cite AV media notes|title=I Can't Dance|others=Genesis|year=1991|type=Japanese mini-album liner notes|publisher=Virgin Japan|id=VJCP-14040}}

1. "I Can't Dance"
2. "On the Shoreline"
3. "In Too Deep" (live)
4. "That's All" (live)

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• US CD single and Japanese mini-CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=I Can't Dance|others=Genesis|year=1991|type=US CD single liner notes|publisher=Atlantic Records|id=87532-2}}{{cite AV media notes|title=I Can't Dance|others=Genesis|year=1991|type=Japanese mini-CD single liner notes|publisher=Virgin Japan|id=VJDP-10184}}

1. "I Can't Dance" (LP version) – 4:00
2. "I Can't Dance" (sex mix) – 6:59 (7:02 in Japan)

• US maxi-CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=I Can't Dance|others=Genesis|year=1991|type=US maxi-CD single liner notes|publisher=Atlantic Records|id=85906-2}}

1. "I Can't Dance" (LP version) – 4:00
2. "On the Shoreline" – 4:45
3. "In Too Deep" (live) – 5:28
4. "That's All" (live) – 4:54
5. "I Can't Dance" (sex mix) – 6:59

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• Tony Banks – keyboards
• Phil Collins – vocals, drums
• Mike Rutherford – electric guitars, bass guitar

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{{Certification Table Entry|region=Austria|type=single|artist=Genesis|title=I Can't Dance|award=Gold|relyear=1991|certyear=1992|access-date=5 April 2019}}

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In the 1990s, "Weird Al" Yankovic created a parody of the video for "I Can't Dance" for his series Al TV, in which he appeared alongside the band. He added shots of himself to several of the band shots.

In 2007, German death metal group Debauchery recorded "I Can't Dance" and released it on their fourth album, Back in Blood.

In 2014, Finnish metal band Sonata Arctica released a cover of "I Can't Dance" as a bonus track on their album Ecliptica: Revisited; 15th Anniversary Edition. The band made a promotional video which features all of the band members dancing in cities that they visited during their Pariah's Child tour.

In 2019, Tuff singer Stevie Rachelle released a cover of "I Can't Dance" on his "Best sTuff" solo album on RLS Records.

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• Fielder, Hugh (2000). Genesis Archive #2: 1976—1992 [CD liner notes]. Gelring Ltd.
• {{cite web| author=McMahan, Scott| date=January 1998| title=The Genesis Discography| url=http://cyberreviews.skwc.com/gendis.pdf| access-date=12 May 2006| archive-date=14 May 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060514203500/http://cyberreviews.skwc.com/gendis.pdf| url-status=dead}}

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• [http://www.genesis-music.com/ Genesis official site]
• {{youTube|hGI2d31M7Ns}}

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Category:1991 songs

Category:1992 singles

Category:Atlantic Records singles

Category:Blues rock songs

Category:Dutch Top 40 number-one singles

Category:Genesis (band) songs

Category:Music videos directed by Jim Yukich

Category:Songs about dancing

Category:Songs written by Mike Rutherford

Category:Songs written by Phil Collins

Category:Songs written by Tony Banks (musician)

Category:Virgin Records singles