Mood-tipped wand, ghost shades at midnight
A bassline promising liberation
But liberation syncopates, slides sideways
Refuses to stay in the pocket

Get down, get down
If down is where the meaning lives

A horn blast calls the meeting or the party
Or the meeting disguised as a party
Sequins testify, but testimony glitters
And glitter won't hold still

Get down, get down
If down is where the meaning lives

The drummer finds the pocket
The pocket finds a loophole
Someone shouts, shake it baby
Someone else shakes the question
The question shakes the floor
Where the answer used to dance

Get down, get down
If down is where the meaning lives
Hey, hey

Gum-soled shoes negotiate the goo
The treaty of hips, a congress of rhythm
But the hips defect, the treaty fractures
The breath, the posters, the beat

Get down, get down
If down is where the meaning lives

And the knives, the confession
The loose-cut denial
Meeting, oscillating
Like a mirror for losing certainty

Get down, get down
If down is where the meaning lives
The lights dim, the beat thins
A single clarinet note wandering the room
Looking for its own definition
Looking for the downbeat it misplaced
Somebody whispers, funk is a question
Somebody else answers with a dance
With a dance, with a dance
Get down, get down
If down is where the meaning lives