There are so many instances when songs related to dancing are brought forth in a music therapy session. Perhaps you are using the song to motivate movement towards physical goals and specific motor skills. Or perhaps, you are working with an older adult who used to go out dancing with their loved one every Saturday night! Whatever the clinical application, I hope you find these songs helpful to add to your repertoire!
1. Tennessee Waltz - Patsy Cline
Lyric: I remember the night and the Tennessee Waltz Now I know just how much I have lost Yes, I lost my little darling the night they were playing The beautiful Tennessee Waltz
2. Footloose - Kenny Loggins
Lyric: Loose, footloose Kick off your Sunday shoes Please, Louise Pull me offa' my knees Jack, get back C'mon before we crack Lose your blues Everybody cut footloose
3. Sway - Dean Martin
Lyric: Like a flower bending in the breeze
Bend with me, sway with ease
When we dance you have a way with me
Stay with me, sway with me
4. Could I Have this Dance - Anne Murray
Lyric: Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Would you be my partner every night?
When we're together it feels so right
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
5. Can't Stop the Feeling - Justin Timberlake
Lyric: I got that sunshine in my pocket
Got that good soul in my feet
I feel that hot blood in my body when it drops (ooh)
I can't take my eyes up off it, movin' so phenomenally
6. Dancing in the Moonlight - King Harvest
Lyric: Dancin' in the moonlight
Everybody's feelin' warm and bright
It's such a fine and natural sight
Everybody's dancin' in the moonlight
7. Dancing With Myself - Billy Idol
Lyric: A-when there's no one else in sight,
A-in crowded lonely night
Well, I wait so long for my love vibration
And I'm dancing with myself
8. Twist and Shout - The Beatles
Lyric: Well, shake it up baby now
Twist and shout
Come on, come on, come, come on baby now
Come on and work it on out
9. The Locomotion - Little Eva
Lyric: My little baby sister can do it with me
It's easier than learning your a-b-c's
So come on, come on, do the loco-motion with me
You gotta swing your hips, now
10. I Wanna Dance with Somebody - Whitney Houston
Lyric: Oh, I wanna dance with somebody
I wanna feel the heat with somebody
Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody
With somebody who loves me
11. On the Floor - Jennifer Lopez
Lyric: Dance the night away
Live your life and stay young on the floor
Dance the night away
12. Dancing Queen - Abba
Lyric: Dancing queen
Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
13. I Hope You Dance - Lee Ann Womack
Lyric: Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you danceI hope you dance
14. I'll Never Dance Again - Herman's Hermits
Lyric: My soul was swayin' to the beat of your heart
And your lips were sayin' that we won't dance apart
Now someone else is holding you the way I did then
So I'll never, no I'll never, never dance again
15. Save the Last Dance for Me - The Drifters
Lyric: But don't forget who's takin' you home
And in whose arms you're gonna be
So darlin' save the last dance for me
16. Cheek to Cheek - Fred Astaire
Lyric: Oh! I love to climb a mountain, And to reach the highest peak,
But it doesn't thrill me half as much
As dancing cheek to cheek
17. Shake Your Groove Thing - Peaches & Herb
Lyric: Let's show the world we can dance
Bad enough to strut our stuff
The music gives us a chance
We do more out on the floor
18. Mambo Italiano - Dean Martin
Lyric: Try an enchilada with the fishy baccalà and then a
Hey cumpa', love a how you dance a rhumba
But take a some advice, paisano
Learn how to mambo
19. Just Dance - Lady Gaga
Lyric: Just dance, gonna be okay, da da doo-doo-mmm
Just dance, spin that record, babe, da da doo-doo-mmm
20. Waltzing Matilda - Slim Dusty
Lyric: Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me
He sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled,
you'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me
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