It’s nearly impossible to sit still while listening to the music of James Brown. With a career that spanned more than three decades, so many of Brown’s songs are perfect for a dance floor, including these three songs. They are all so good that they still make me want to dance the night away today.
“I Got You (I Feel Good)”
Out in 1965, “I Got You (I Feel Good)” is the title track of a compilation album Brown released in 1966. The sole writer of “I Got You (I Feel Good)”, the song hit No. 1 on the R&B chart for a total of six weeks.
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The uptempo tune begins with, “I feel good, I knew that I would, now / I feel good, I knew that I would, now / So good, so good, I got you.”
Brown first recorded this song in 1964. When he redid it again the following year, after the original version was caught up in a lawsuit, he added guitar. He also added more saxophone to the new version as well.
“I Got You (I Feel Good)” has been part of numerous movie soundtracks over the years. It appears on Good Morning, Vietnam, The Nutty Professor, and White Men Can’t Jump, among others.
“It’s Too Funky In Here”
A Brown dance song, if there ever was one, “It’s Too Funky In Here” came out in 1979. It was written by George Jackson, Walter Shaw, Brad Shapiro, and Robert Miller. The song is on Brown’s appropriately titled album, The Original Disco Man.
“It’s Too Funky In Here” says, “Gettin’ down that’s right / My name James Brown is go / Too funky / Too funky in here / Gimme some air / Say it.”
This song became Brown’s final big hit on the R&B chart until “Living In America” came out in 1985.
“I Got Ants In My Pants (And I Want To Dance)”
Out in early 1973 is “I Got Ants In My Pants (And I Want To Dance)”. The song, which did not originally appear on an album, was written by Brown. Later, in 1988, Brown included this song on Motherlode, a compilation album.
“I Got Ants In My Pants (And I Want To Dance)” says, “I got ants in my pants, and I need to dance / Come on / I got ants in my pants, and I need to dance / Some big fine mama come and give me a chance.”
Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
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