The Kinks - Come Dancing

The Kinks - Come Dancing




The Kinks continue their career of exploring nostalgia with this bittersweet pop hit from 1983, a song that is itself now drenched in nostalgia. Ooh, recursivity!

I'm not going to go too deep into this song, just the chords and the intro riff:

G                                    D 
They put a parking lot on a piece of land 
D                               G 
Where the supermarket used to stand. 
  G                           D 
Before that they put up a bowling alley 
D                                  G 
On the site that used to be the local palais. 
C                            G 
That's where the big bands used to come and play. 
D                         G 
My sister went there on a Saturday. 

chorus: 
     C 
Come dancing, 
                   G 
All her boyfriends used to come and call. 
             D              C    G 
Why not come dancing? it's only natural 

riff 

Another Saturday, another date. 
She would be ready but she's always make them 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. 

chorus: 

Come dancing, 
That's how they did it when I was just a kid, 
And when they said come dancing, 
My sister always did. 

riff 

Em                   D              C 
My sister should have come in at midnight, 
Em                  D              C 
And my mom would always sit up and wait. 
Em          D              C 
It always ended up in a big row 
Em                D              C 
When my sister used to get home late. 

 G                          D 
(spoken) Out of my window I can see them in the moonlight, 
D                                                    
Two silhouettes saying goodnight by the garden gate.
         G
(Mom yells at them...) 
Em           D                C 
The day they knocked down the palais 
Em       D          C 
My sister stood and cried. 
Em           D              C 
The day they knocked down the palais 
Em         D              C 
Part of my childhood died, just died. 

 Em D C D  Em D C D Em D C D Em D C D 

repeat intro:   G   D       D       G 

Now I'm grown up and playing in a band, 
And there's a car park where the palais 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, 

chorus: 

Come dancing, 
Come on sister, have yourself a ball. 
Don't be afraid to come dancing, 
It's only natural. 

         C 
Come dancing, 
C                    G 
Just like the palais on a Saturday. 
                              D 
And all her friends will come dancing 
            C               Em 
Where the big bands used to play. 

Then a modulation up a half step, which I won't bother with.