I Can Do It

The singer looks back on being a child who loved guitar music but felt awkward and left out of dancing. Now the music and dance style have returned, and he feels ready to join in. The repeated claim “I can do it” gives the song a playful, confident energy: the speaker is celebrating a skill he once thought he lacked.

The “local hop” means a neighborhood dance, while candy and soda pop help create a picture of youthful social life. “I couldn’t dance” and having no girlfriend to show him how suggest inexperience, not necessarily deep sadness. “From my head right down to my blue suede shoes” is a lively way to say that the rhythm moves his whole body. The “jive” and “stroll” are presented as different names or forms of rock ’n’ roll dancing.

There is a small tension between regret and celebration. The speaker says it is sad that he was “born too late,” suggesting he missed the chance to enjoy this music when he was younger. Yet “it’s back again” lets him take part now. The repeated refrain may sound boastful, but it can also be heard as joking self-encouragement: he is making up for lost time and enjoying the moment rather than dwelling on what he missed.