Lyrics

I know you've been waiting

Yeah, I've been watching you

Yeah, I know you wanna get up

Yeah, come on

Everybody, come on dance and sing

Everybody, get up and do your thing

Everybody, come on dance and sing

Everybody, get up and do your thing

Let the music take control

Find a groove and let yourself go

When the room begins to sway

You know what I'm trying to say

Come on take a chance

Get up and start to dance

Let the D.J. shake you

Let the music take you

Everybody, come on dance and sing

Everybody, get up and do your thing

Everybody, come on dance and sing

Everybody, get up and do your thing

Let your body take a ride

Feel the beat and step inside

Music makes the world go 'round

You can turn your troubles upside down

Gonna have to change your mind

Gonna leave your troubles behind

Your body gets the notion

When your feet can make the motion

Everybody, come on dance and sing

Everybody, get up and do your thing

Everybody, come on dance and sing

Everybody, get up and do your thing

Everybody, come on dance and sing

Everybody, get up and do your thing

Everybody, come on dance and sing

Everybody, get up and do your thing

Dance and sing, get up and do your thing

Dance and sing, get up and do your thing

Dance and sing, get up and do your thing

Dance and sing, get up and do your thing

I know you've been waiting, yeah (yeah)

I saw you sitting there (I've been watching you)

I saw you sitting there by yourself, yeah (yeah)

Common (common)

Everybody, come on dance and sing

Everybody, get up and do your thing

Everybody, come on dance and sing

Everybody, get up and do your thing

Let the music take control

Find a groove and let yourself go

When the room begins to sway

You know what I'm trying to say

Everybody, come on dance and sing

Everybody, get up and do your thing

Everybody, come on dance and sing

Everybody, get up and do your thing

Everybody, come on dance and sing

(Dance and sing, get up and do your thing)

Everybody, get up and do your thing

(Dance and sing, get up and do your thing)

(repeat and fade)

Credits

Written by Madonna

Produced by Mark Kamins

Synthesizers by Dean Gant, Fred Zarr and Ed Walsh

Electric and acoustic pianos by Dean Gant and Fred Zarr

Guitars by Reggie Lucas and Ira Siegal

Drum programming by Reggie Lucas and Leslie Ming

Tenor saxophone by Bobby Malach

Background vocals by Gwen Guthrie, Norma Jean Wright, Madonna, Brenda White and Chrissy Faith

For You Can Dance:

Additional production and remix by Bruce Forest and Frank Heller

Keyboards by David Cole

Album

Madonna

You Can Dance

Pre-Madonna

In The Beginning

Single

Everybody was the very first single made by Madonna. After years of trying to make it in the music business, Madonna convinced New York DJ Mark Kamins of her singing talent. Released in October 1982, the single sold about 250.000 copies. It only reached #107 on the US Billboard chart, but it made it to #3 on the dance charts. It later appeared on the albums Pre-Madonna and In The Beginning. In 1993 Madonna paid tribute to that very first single on the Girlie Show and also on the Hung Up promo tour in 2005.

Video

The video, directed by Ed Steinberg, shows Madonna and a few dancers in a rather dark New York club. Her brother Christopher did the choreography. The budget for the video was only $1500. It's a simple and dark video, but it visualized the popular disco singer, of which many people thought she was actually black.

Tour

Madonna's first single was performed on the Virgin Tour. It was the fourth song of the show, where Madonna put on a matching hat for her colourful outfit and made everybody get up and do their thing and Madonna herself humped a boombox. Afterwards, Everybody got forgotten for a while. The Blond Ambition Tour started off with an intro using the line 'dance and sing, get up and do your thing' but then kicked into Express Yourself.

On the Girlie Show, Everybody made a grand comeback as final encore of the show. After the superb Justify My Love, Madonna got back on stage in a simple torn jeans short and a shirt from the national soccer team of the country they were touring in. Madonna started off with a beautiful rendition of the chorus from 'Everybody Is A Star' (originally by Sly & The Family Stone). Then the beat kicked in and Madonna kicked off Everybody. The dancers appeared on stage one by one, each performing their acrobatic tricks. Once complete, they got out some groovy dance steps. Madonna introduced her band during the song, letting them each have their own solo. Then it was the dancers' turn to show off their skills. And finally, the fans got to do their sing-along part. At the end, the dancers goof aroun, trying to steal the spotlight before disappearing behind the curtain. Madonna dragged them all away, then left herself while thanking the crowd.

The pierrot re-appeared to say good-bye. The audience politely cheered but then went wild, when the mask was taken off and it turned out to be Madonna herself. One last time she sang the line 'Everybody is a star' and then left the stage. Nobody knew she wouldn't return for another 8 years.