Waking up with a song stuck in your head can be a strange experience. Yesterday, it was The Kinks’ ‘Come Dancing’ that filled my thoughts. While it’s undeniably catchy, its place within The Kinks’ impressive body of work is often debated. Yet, this song played a crucial role in introducing the band to a new wave of listeners in the 1980s, a generation I found myself at the edge of when ‘Come Dancing’ climbed the charts in 1983. Having not heard it for perhaps two decades, revisiting it recently revealed just how distinct this track is from their classic sound. It’s undeniably an 80s creation, marked by a somewhat jarring keyboard riff. However, the song also reveals a strong ska and reggae influence, evident in its rhythm and Ray Davies’ vocal delivery. The horn arrangements, intended to evoke the Big Band era, ironically sound more akin to The Specials, likely by design.
As I listened to the Kinks Come Dancing Lyrics, the theme of nostalgia became increasingly apparent. For those unfamiliar, Ray Davies, The Kinks’ frontman, narrates the story of a changing landscape. The lyrics speak of a new parking lot replacing the supermarket, which in turn was built on the site of the former palais de danse. This palais was where, during Davies’ 40s and 50s childhood, his older sister would spend her Saturdays, dancing to big bands and being courted by hopeful suitors. This forms the nostalgic core of “Come Dancing,” a reflection on times gone by.
In many ways, ‘Come Dancing’ encapsulates the 1980s fascination with 1950s nostalgia, a dominant trend in pop culture as the baby boomer generation entered middle age and sought to recapture their youth. Davies himself was in his late 30s when he recorded the song. This blend of nostalgia with contemporary British musical styles is what makes the song so compelling. Repeated listens – four times in a row, in my case – helped to unravel its layers of meaning, music, and message.
At its heart, the song delves into nostalgia, primarily through the lens of Davies’ sister’s experiences in the 1950s. He had six sisters, and the lyrics paint a picture of a more innocent time, where young men would spend their meager earnings for “a cuddle and a peck on the cheek” with his sister at the palais. In this sense, the song seems like a harmless, sentimental look back.
However, the poignant lines resonate deeply:
The day they knocked down the palais
My sister stood and cried
The day they knocked down the palais
Part of my childhood died, just died
These lines elevate the song beyond simple nostalgia. Svetlana Boym, a prominent scholar on nostalgia, argued that it’s a genuine emotion, not to be dismissed as mere sentimentality. Nostalgia, she posited, can be a real response to a form of psychological trauma, a common yet valid experience. Davies’ lyrics suggest a similar depth of feeling, making it entirely plausible that his sister, and perhaps Davies himself, felt a genuine sense of loss as the palais was demolished, marking the symbolic death of a part of their childhood.
The irony, of course, lies in the fact that the palais’ demise was inevitable. The era of big bands had faded, replaced by the rise of rock’n’roll. And who were at the forefront of this cultural shift? Ray and Dave Davies, with The Kinks, one of the most influential rock bands in history. In essence, Ray and Dave Davies, along with their peers, spearheaded the new culture that superseded the one their older sisters had grown up in.
The song is indeed a tribute to his older sister, René. She was living in Canada and enduring an abusive marriage when she returned home in 1957. During that visit, she bought Ray the Spanish guitar he had longed for as a 13-year-old. Tragically, on that same visit, René, who had a heart condition, passed away from a heart attack on the dance floor of the Lyceum in London. This personal tragedy adds another layer to the song’s nostalgic depth. René’s death undoubtedly remained a significant trauma for Davies, even decades later. He himself acknowledged that “Come Dancing” was written partly to evoke the 50s and reconnect The Kinks with their roots after their stadium rock period in the 70s.
Nostalgia, as “Come Dancing” illustrates, operates in complex ways. Despite being central to the movement that eclipsed the big band era, Davies was also indebted to his sister, a symbol of that very era, who encouraged his musical path and whose life was tragically intertwined with the dance floor. Decades later, the demolition of the palais represented a tangible loss, echoing the passing of a cherished time. The Davies of the late 30s could articulate a sense of loss that perhaps the younger Davies hadn’t fully grasped.
One can only imagine how a contemporary reimagining of “Come Dancing,” stripped of the dated keyboards, could further highlight the poignant core of kinks come dancing lyrics and resonate with new audiences.
