The Art of the Handshake

Golden Era Records in conjunction with Hilltop Hoods proudly presents 'The Art of the Handshake'

I used to wake up, bathroom, face-wash, cartoons

Ma Dukes, far too smart to start to

Talk to this awful swine with a score to

Settle with the world, whose only crime is that it bores you

Walked to the train it was covered from the floor to

Ceiling in graff and stickers, up back no ticket

Can't afford to, life off the payroll

Lye rolled up made my eyes and my brain roll

Headphones wrapped like a vine 'round my Kangol

Walked like a Bengal Tiger, and the train rolled

And the train rolled, and the train rolled, and the train rolled on

Then I was stopped by these two cops who got made rude

I'm like 'What? There's not a whole lot that you can do'

Then whop-bop-a-lu-a-whop-bam-boo

Next stop, what have you got? The whole damn crew

So I grabbed 'em by the wrist, then switched to a grip thumbs

Flipped then we clicked then we finished with a fist bump

This chump, tried to get cute with me and diss us

About the handshake, I said man wait

There used to be a time like way before this song

When all the handshakes were like twenty seconds long

And they just went, and they just went

And they just went, and they just went on

There used to be a time like way before this song

When all the handshakes were like twenty seconds long

And they just went, and they just went

And they just went, and they just went on

The handshake is thought to have developed as a gesture to demonstrate that neither party at an encounter is carrying a weapon or poses a threat

Over hundreds of years this simple act has developed into a sometimes-complex ritual and a way to convey status, mutual affiliations or just plain respect

I used to wake on a Saturday, play in the matinee

Game, get faded on the train down to Adelaide

Headphones playing looking out at fresh painted walls

Rakim saying we about to get paid in full

My man entered, cap and black sweater

Jacks get all up on a fella that act clever

Train tracks were graffed with back-to-back letters

But we came to rap and that was back when a

DJ would supply the wax, stage had a lino mat

Place full of writers in a Raiders or a Giants cap

Casing with minors, crates are piled by the back

We'll break in in time to hit the stage and freestyle attack

Walk in like I'm possessed by the beat mix

Clean kicks, full of more hot air than a phoenix

Move right away to my crew side of stage

Nothing new but this groove how we do night and day

Bring it back; no high five shit is whack

We're bringing that old side-to-side, finger snap

Fist poke, stop and lock, just don't stop the rock

Look away handshake body pop

There used to be a time like way before this song

When all the handshakes were like twenty seconds long

And they just went, and they just went

And they just went, and they just went on

There used to be a time like way before this song

When all the handshakes were like twenty seconds long

And they just went, and they just went

And they just went, and they just went on

[Voice-Over: Dave Pettitt]

Not all cultures consider a firm handshake as a sign of respect; in fact a grip that's too tight can often be considered as offensive

Scientists at the University of Manchester, taking into account twelve different variables, developed a mathematical formula for the handshake to which people would be the most receptive

There used to be a time like way before this song

When the DJ could cut the record right

Cut the record right, cut the record right

Cut the record right, cut the record right

There used to be a time like way before this song

When the DJ could cut the record right

Cut the record right, cut the record right

Cut the record right, cut the record right.