History is full of plagues, they come and go in waves and waves
But the strangest one there's ever been was Strasbourg in 1518

A woman there began to dance, a small crowd fell into her trance
They couldn't stop, they tried and tried, the rhythm would just not subside
In a feverish malaise, those people danced for days and days

Soon hundreds moved in unison, entranced, immune to all reason
Through weeks and months, through night and day, their flesh began to waste away 
Strangers prayed and loved ones wailed, doctors tried to help and failed
The numbers grew, the virus spread, the dance soon claimed its first few dead

The people brought musicians in, to draw the dance out from within
The city built a wooden stage, and night and day the music played
But in trying to lift the curse, they spread it round, they made it worse 
Those infectious melodies increased the spread of the disease

Toxic ergot fungal spores, growing through the rye grain stores
Are a documented cause of hallucinations and tremors 
Victims would be seized by mania, exhibiting bizarre behavior
Flailing limbs and muscle spasms, contagious enthusiasm
But that does not explain it all

Now we can read page after page on theories of cultural contagion
Was it some big psychogenic behavioral epidemic
Or was it a poison spider bite, or some secret pagan rite,
Or a curse sent down to claim the young from St. Vitus or St. John
Well, we may never know for sure

They never found a cause or cure, so there's no way we can be sure
That one day in a city street, our heaving pulsing limbs won't meet
With sweaty brows and heavy breath, as we all dance ourselves to death.



Words and music by Nick Wilson 2020. Additional vocals by Erin Hall & Lauren Garcia. Cello & clarinet by Lauren, Picture is a detail of "The Wedding Dance by Pieter Brueghel the Elder.

The Dancing Plague

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