Uploaded December 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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An acoustic cover of "Come Dancing" from the Kinks 1983 album State Of Confusion.
Words and music by Ray Davies
They put a parking lot on a piece of land
Where the supermarket used to stand
Before that they put up a bowling alley
On the site that used to be the local pally
That's where the big bands used to come and play
My sister went there on a Saturday
Come dancing
All her boyfriends used to come and call
Why not come dancing, it's only natural
Another Saturday, another date
She would be ready but she's always make him wait
In the hallway, in anticipation
He didn't know the night would end up in frustration
He'd end up blowing all his wages for the week
All for a cuddle and a peck on the cheek
Come dancing
That's how they did it when I was just a kid
And when they said come dancing
My sister always did
My sister should have come in a midnight
And my mom would always sit up and wait
It always ended up in a big row
When my sister used to get home late
Out of my window I can see them in the moonlight
Two silhouettes saying goodnight by the garden gate
The day they knocked down the pally
My sister stood and cried
The day they knocked down the pally
Part of my childhood died, just died
Now I'm grown up and playing in a band
And there's a car park where the pally used to stand
My sister's married and she lives on an estate
Her daughters go out, now it's her turn to wait
She knows they get away with things she never could
But if I asked her I wonder if she would
Come dancing
Come on sister, have yourself a ball
Don't be afraid to come dancing
It's only natural
Come dancing
Just like the pally on a Saturday
And all her friends will come dancing
Where the big bands used to play
*Song Facts*
Ray Davies wrote this nostalgic song about his older sisters, who loved to dance. The song describes how guys would take them out dancing, only to be frustrated at the end of the night when all they would get for their efforts (and $) was a kiss on the cheek.
Davies had six older sisters (and one younger brother: his Kinks bandmate Dave). For years, Ray said that the specific sister this song is about was Gwen, who was the sixth sister and seven years older than him (this fits the timeline, as a young Ray would have seen Gwen going out dancing and then sending off her dates). He later claimed that the sister in the song was Rene, who was 18 years older. According to Davies, Rene married a Canadian soldier and moved with him to Canada. He says is was an abusive and unhappy marriage, and Rene would often return to the childhood home in Muswell Hill for visits.
One of these visits took place in 1957 when Ray turned 13. For his birthday, Rene bought him his first guitar: a Spanish guitar he wanted. That night, she went dancing at the Lyceum Ballroom in London. Rene had rheumatic fever when she was young, and her heart was weak. That night, she suffered a heart attack and died at the ballroom. Twenty-five years later, Ray wrote this song to memorialize her and remember her love of dancing.
The tune became a staple of Kinks live performances, and the song Ray Davies really connected with. He said that of all the songs he's written, "Come Dancing" are the lyrics he's most proud of.
Clive Davis, the president of Arista Records, disagreed with Davies' choice of this as the album's single. However, he allowed to be released even though he thought it "a ditty" and too slight to be the smash hit it became. The song was the group's biggest American hit since "Tired of Waiting for You" also reached #6 in 1965.
This song's title was inspired by a ballroom dance show called Come Dancing, which ran from 1949-1995 on the BBC. In 2004, the show was revived with celebrities dancing in a competition renamed Strictly Come Dancing.
The dancehall in this song is referred to as the "Palais," which is French for "Palace." Many Victorian buildings that were originally theaters but later became dancehalls went by the name of "The (insert name here) Palais," so in this case, Davies would be referring to his local dance-hall. Another famous example in the context of Rock lyrics would be The Clash's "White Man (In Hammersmith Palais)."
Ray Davies made no effort to conceal his British accent on this song - he was surprised it did well in America.
In many ways, the song is about change, a ballrooms in the big band era gave way to car parks and rock music.
Julien Temple directed the video, which got significant airplay on MTV. Temple directed some of the biggest videos of the 1980s, including Janet Jackson's "When I Think of You" and Culture Club's "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?"
Ray Davies wrote a stage musical based on this song called Come Dancing that was performed in London in 2008.
In a 1983 interview, Ray Davies claimed that writing the song was a quick and easy process. The idea had been in his head for a long time.
#TheKinks #ComeDancing #PopRock
🎤 plaidonflannel.com
🎸 plaidonflannelshop.com
An acoustic cover of "Come Dancing" from the Kinks 1983 album State Of Confusion.
Words and music by Ray Davies
They put a parking lot on a piece of land
Where the supermarket used to stand
Before that they put up a bowling alley
On the site that used to be the local pally
That's where the big bands used to come and play
My sister went there on a Saturday
Come dancing
All her boyfriends used to come and call
Why not come dancing, it's only natural
Another Saturday, another date
She would be ready but she's always make him wait
In the hallway, in anticipation
He didn't know the night would end up in frustration
He'd end up blowing all his wages for the week
All for a cuddle and a peck on the cheek
Come dancing
That's how they did it when I was just a kid
And when they said come dancing
My sister always did
My sister should have come in a midnight
And my mom would always sit up and wait
It always ended up in a big row
When my sister used to get home late
Out of my window I can see them in the moonlight
Two silhouettes saying goodnight by the garden gate
The day they knocked down the pally
My sister stood and cried
The day they knocked down the pally
Part of my childhood died, just died
Now I'm grown up and playing in a band
And there's a car park where the pally used to stand
My sister's married and she lives on an estate
Her daughters go out, now it's her turn to wait
She knows they get away with things she never could
But if I asked her I wonder if she would
Come dancing
Come on sister, have yourself a ball
Don't be afraid to come dancing
It's only natural
Come dancing
Just like the pally on a Saturday
And all her friends will come dancing
Where the big bands used to play
*Song Facts*
Ray Davies wrote this nostalgic song about his older sisters, who loved to dance. The song describes how guys would take them out dancing, only to be frustrated at the end of the night when all they would get for their efforts (and $) was a kiss on the cheek.
Davies had six older sisters (and one younger brother: his Kinks bandmate Dave). For years, Ray said that the specific sister this song is about was Gwen, who was the sixth sister and seven years older than him (this fits the timeline, as a young Ray would have seen Gwen going out dancing and then sending off her dates). He later claimed that the sister in the song was Rene, who was 18 years older. According to Davies, Rene married a Canadian soldier and moved with him to Canada. He says is was an abusive and unhappy marriage, and Rene would often return to the childhood home in Muswell Hill for visits.
One of these visits took place in 1957 when Ray turned 13. For his birthday, Rene bought him his first guitar: a Spanish guitar he wanted. That night, she went dancing at the Lyceum Ballroom in London. Rene had rheumatic fever when she was young, and her heart was weak. That night, she suffered a heart attack and died at the ballroom. Twenty-five years later, Ray wrote this song to memorialize her and remember her love of dancing.
The tune became a staple of Kinks live performances, and the song Ray Davies really connected with. He said that of all the songs he's written, "Come Dancing" are the lyrics he's most proud of.
Clive Davis, the president of Arista Records, disagreed with Davies' choice of this as the album's single. However, he allowed to be released even though he thought it "a ditty" and too slight to be the smash hit it became. The song was the group's biggest American hit since "Tired of Waiting for You" also reached #6 in 1965.
This song's title was inspired by a ballroom dance show called Come Dancing, which ran from 1949-1995 on the BBC. In 2004, the show was revived with celebrities dancing in a competition renamed Strictly Come Dancing.
The dancehall in this song is referred to as the "Palais," which is French for "Palace." Many Victorian buildings that were originally theaters but later became dancehalls went by the name of "The (insert name here) Palais," so in this case, Davies would be referring to his local dance-hall. Another famous example in the context of Rock lyrics would be The Clash's "White Man (In Hammersmith Palais)."
Ray Davies made no effort to conceal his British accent on this song - he was surprised it did well in America.
In many ways, the song is about change, a ballrooms in the big band era gave way to car parks and rock music.
Julien Temple directed the video, which got significant airplay on MTV. Temple directed some of the biggest videos of the 1980s, including Janet Jackson's "When I Think of You" and Culture Club's "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?"
Ray Davies wrote a stage musical based on this song called Come Dancing that was performed in London in 2008.
In a 1983 interview, Ray Davies claimed that writing the song was a quick and easy process. The idea had been in his head for a long time.
#TheKinks #ComeDancing #PopRock
