“Shake It” is about a sexually aware teen girl who is free with her expression of that sexuality.

“Shake It” was originally Terence Boylan’s song. Boylan never released it as a single in the United States. Matthews was living in Seattle at the time, and he heard the song on the radio. He liked it and called the DJ about it. The DJ sent him a copy of the record. Two years later, Matthews released his own version of the song and gave Boylan writing credit for it. The lyrics describe a sexual encounter of a girl and a boy in an unnamed parking lot where the girl stops the boy before they “go all the way.” The second verse mentions that this teen girl devised a new and sensual way of slow dancing that not only shows she knows what’s on teen boys’ minds but also what entices them. There is also a mystery person whose photograph is in her locker, but Matthews doesn’t divulge who that person is.

One-Hit Wonder

Matthews never quite achieved the same level of fame and success that he did with “Shake It.” More than three decades ago, he told Rolling Stone that he’d been doing the same kind of songs for 15 years or so. The author Wayne Jancik was writing a book at the time called “The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders,” and for that book, Matthews told Jancik about that Rolling Stone comment and that the popularity of “Shake It” was his reward. Although the album “Stealin’ Home” contains other songs that never quite made it, AllMusic.com reviewed the album favorably, noting that Matthews’s vocals were smooth and superb and that the band was classy behind him.

Somewhat “Off” Lyrics

The lyrics also hide a darker side. Although the song is light and upbeat, they talk about a teen girl, who is likely still in high school and less than 18 years of age, “shaking it” for boys and men. At least one reviewer went past the “girl is a tease” bit to opine that the girl in the song is a prostitute and that the line about “stopping just in time” referred to the concept of, “If you want to see or do more, then it’s time to pay up.” Also, the line about “break them all you can tonight” doesn’t make clear what the girl is to be breaking, but it’s clear that what the girl does should be fodder for the boy’s dreams while mastubating.

Other Media

The song has only appeared in a soundtrack once, and that was in the first season of the television program “Girls.”

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Here she comes riding
Rolling it down the line
Slipping and sliding
Taking her sweet old time
And laughing all the way to the parking lot
Knowing in the back of her mind
She’s gonna show the boy what she’s really got
And stop him in the nick of time

[Chorus]
Shake it baby, shake it all you can tonight
Go on and break them baby
Break them all you can tonight
Cause it won’t last forever
But do it for worse or for better
And give the boy something to dream on later

[Verse 2]
Here she comes sliding
Shaking it down the hall
She’s got a picture in her locker
An autographed basketball
She’s got a purse that was made in Mexico (Mexico)
A mind that was made for love
She’s got a new way of dancing slow
She knows what you’re thinking of

[Chorus]
Shake it baby, shake it all you can tonight
Go on and break them
Break them all you can tonight
Cause it won’t last forever
Do it for worse or for better
And give the boy something to dream on later

[Saxophone Solo]

[Verse 3]
It won’t last forever
Do it for worse or for better
And give the boy something to dream on later

[Chorus]
Shake it baby, shake it all you can tonight
Go on and break them baby
Break them all you can tonight
Shake it baby, shake it all you can tonight
Break them baby
Break them all you can tonight
Go on and shake it baby
Shake it all you can tonight
Break it baby
Break it all….

Listeners of Alternative/Indie music, might also appreciate the song Yellow  by Coldplay