Save the Last Dance

I was in high school when I first heard the song Save the Last Dance for Me. I thought it was a dumb song. "But don't forget who's taking you home, and in whose arms your gonna be"? I mean really. It sounds like the guy is getting all possessive of the woman who took to a dance. But there is a whole lot more to the story.

The lyrics of Save the Last Dance for Me were written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. Doc had polio at a young age and needed crutches just to walk. His wife Willi was a beautiful actress and dancer who loved the nightlife.

Not only couldn't he dance with his lovely wife, but he felt out of place with the Broadway crowd that she attracted.  He had this to say:
"I had a house, a swimming pool, all that shit, and we had nothing but these Broadway characters hanging around. None of them paid any attention to me and if they asked what kind of songs I wrote I felt embarrassed. If I had written a fifth-rate Broadway song, my God, they would have been proud."

Willi and Doc were married in 1957.
"Save the Last Dance" was first recorded in 1960.
Willi divorced Doc in 1965.

All of a sudden the song has become rather poignant. Doc, I take back what I said about your song when I was a teenager.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Save_the_Last_Dance_for_Me
 http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/elvis_presley_doc_pomus_mort_shuman.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Pomus
http://www.felderpomus.com/docpomus1.html
http://launch.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/billybeartrivia/message/141417?unwrap=1&var=1
http://wfmu.org/LCD/23/docpomus.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2005/06/30/2005-06-30_nobody_s_cripple__doc_pomus_.html