Beryl I’m Only Dancin’

For some reason I was thinking of the Liver Birds this morning, and that set us thinking about the history of the actual Liver birds.  Apparently the concept dates from 1350 (didn’t know Carla Lane was that old, LOL) and was supposed to be an eagle but then became a cormorant (“many people feel the Liverpool cormorant does not play an important part in the life of the city, but I would remind you…”)  In 1688 they were called The Leaver Birds, though the Liver Building wasn’t constructed until 1911.  They are a pair of birds, the female looking out to sea and the male looking towards land.  One of them has something in its mouth thought to be lava, so maybe that’s where the name originated.

It’s hard to imagine Liverpool without the Liver Birds: they seem to much the guardian spirits of the city.  Of course if you type the words ‘Liver Birds’ into a search engine in the UK you’re quite likely to get this:

They’re not quite looking in different directions, but almost: here are Beryl and Sandra, the Liver Birds of the sitcom.  Now, what I want to know is this: what does the little dialogue at the end of the theme tune mean?  I can understand the rest – ‘what’s got four arms, loves to grab ya?  answer is, two Liver Birds’.  But what about this:

You dancin’?

You askin’?

I’m askin’

I’m dancin’

What does this mean?  Does it mean, ‘yes I’ll dance with you’ or does it mean ‘I’m already dancing so no thanks’ or maybe ‘I’m dancing anyway so you can join in if you want’.  Which is it?  Or is it none of the above?

I think we should be told.

It’s at the end of this clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeCMArzfDlQ&playnext=1&list=PL454A0805F3014D17&feature=results_video

Btw the song was sung by the Scaffold and here’s the full version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y9VW2ldaJI

Kirk out