103: A Cuddle and a Peck On the Cheek

103. "Come Dancing" by the Kinks {#6; 5/83} [iTunes? Yes.] {Video: Come Dancing.}

Here's something for the "Things I Learned On the Interwebs" File! For over 30 years I've loved this song and sang along with it. But, I never knew exactly what he was saying. Was it "pally?" "Polly?" A bad mispronunciation of "parlor?" A bad mispronunciation of "palace?"

I never knew. I just sang along saying "pally," not knowing what exactly they meant by it. And then I looked up the lyrics to this song on metrolyrics.com. There are several websites that feature song lyrics, so why do I usually use metrolyrics? Because they generally have fewer pop-up ads than the other sites. That said, I know that metrolyrics is not the be all and end all of song lyrics. Inaccuracies creep in. Just the other day while looking at the lyrics for "Jessie's Girl" they tried to tell me Rick sings "I want to tell her that I love her, but the point is probably mute." Of course, it's not "mute," it's "moot." (I learned this from Jesse Jackson on Saturday Night Live.) (Unless you happen to adhere to the philosophy of Joey Tribiani from Friends, who would say it is a "moo" point, meaning worthless, like a cow's opinion.)

Anywho, I looked up the lyrics for "Come Dancing" and found that the word I've been struggling with all these years is "palais." It's a French word meaning "palace." Because I don't totally trust metrolyrics, I double-checked the word on Wikipedia. (Wikipedia is trustworthy, with a 74% accuracy rate. That's good enough for a "C" grade, and we all know that "Cs get degrees.")

Wikipedia confirmed that the word "palais" is French for "palace," and also noted that it was also a word used for dance clubs in the United Kingdom back in the 1950s and 1960s. So, there you have it: palais!

Aside from the ever-confusing "palais," this song is a treasure trove of awesome lyrics. [Side note: Has there ever been a trove that isn't a treasure? Something to think about.]  There's:
"She would be ready but she'd 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."

And: "My sister should have come in at midnight, and my mom would always sit up and wait. It always ended up in a big row, when my sister used to come home late."

And also the great: "Out of my window I can see them in the moonlight. Two silhouettes saying "Goodnight" by the garden gate."

And, just like "Jessie's Girl" before it, the song has a "gotta turn it up" guitar moment, right after "The day they knocked down the palais, part of my childhood died," (at the 2:27 mark of the video.) Can't go wrong with a kid playing air guitar on a tennis racket! (And, apparently, people who make videos think that "gotta turn it up" guitar moments should be accompanied by breaking mirrors.)

I like the video. I'm not sure if he's a smarmy guy with a moustache, a guy with a smarmy moustache, or a smarmy guy with a smarmy moustache.

Plus, we get the history of a certain parcel of land. Palais, then bowling alley, then supermarket, then parking lot.

COMING UP NEXT: Sesame Street: Where is it? And how do I get there?