Shakin' All Over

The lyrics describe a speaker who feels an intense physical reaction when someone comes close and when they say goodnight. The feeling seems exciting and pleasurable, but also nervous: the speaker cannot stay steady. The emotion builds through repeated descriptions of shaking and shivering, then returns to the same central feeling.

The “shakes” and “quivers down my backbone” suggest a thrill that moves through the whole body, rather than literal illness or cold. Naming the knee bones and thigh bones makes the reaction vivid and playful, as if every part of the speaker is affected. Saying goodnight also seems important: an ordinary farewell becomes charged with emotion because of the closeness between the two people.

The lyrics do not explain exactly what kind of relationship the speakers have, or whether the feeling is mainly desire, nervousness, or both. Their simple, repeated words leave room for that ambiguity. The speaker’s reaction could be read as joyful excitement, a loss of composure, or a mixture of the two; the repetition emphasizes how overwhelming and difficult to control it feels.