TS: The Kinks. Dandy vs. Dedicated Follower of Fashion

"Dandy" was a single? Also, I don't think either song is about mods, I could be wrong... isn't "Dandy" just about a guy who likes puttin' about a bit? I prefer it anyway.

... both songs could be about Dave Davies!

I guess it was only a single in Europe.

DFF plainly refers to Carnaby Street and I suppose I've always just assumed that Dandy was about a young London dandy of the time, most likely a mod.

I always enjoyed the slightly sneering condescension of DFF but I prefer the lyrics to Dandy, now. They're more complex and more humane.

Ha ha! That wouldn't surprise me at all if they were both about Dave.

Dandy for me too.

I'm sure I've said it before, but I always thought Dandy would make an excellent Reggae/Rocksteady track.

DFF is one of the few Kinks singles I really don't like.

er, I mean, classic era Kinks singles

Dandy all the way. I like the twinge of jealousy in "oh, they long for Dandy."

"Dandy" was a single in the UK.

It was a big hit for Herman's Hermits.

madness. DFF all the way.

Never thought of Dandy as being about a Mod - my reading was that the protagonist was an in the closet gay man, chasing women to fight the realisation that 'a bachelor you will stay'..... and not a young mod either, but slightly over the hill or soon to be. And the mod scene was hardly 'burgeoning in '66 - it was already beyond ripe and turning proto- hippie in one direction and suede/ skin -head in the other...

"Dandy, dandy,
Where you gonna go now?
Who you gonna run to?
All your little life
You're chasing all the girls.
They can't resist your smile.
Oh, they long for dandy, dandy.

Checkin' out the ladies,
Tickling their fancy,
Pouring out your charm
To meet your own demands,
And turn it off at will.
Oh, they long for dandy, dandy.

Knockin' on the back door,
Climbing through the window,
Hubby's gone away,
And while the cat's away
The mice are gonna play.
Oh, you low down dandy, dandy.
Dandy

Dandy, you know you're moving much too fast,
And dandy, you know you can't escape the past.
Look around you and see the people settle down,
And when you're old and grey you will remember what they said,
That two girls are too many, three's a crowd and four you're dead.

Oh dandy, dandy,
When you gonna give up?
Are you feeling old now?
You always will be free,
You need no sympathy,
A bachelor you will stay,
And dandy, you're all right.
You're all right.
You're all right.
You're all right.
You're all right.
You're all right."

Closeted gay dude? Really?

I won't quibble with your chronological protest. Regardless of possibly erroneous nomenclature, it's obviously about whatever the new hip London scene was when it was written

I don't know...... have you never met the kind of 'ladies man' who later comes out? ......but, yeah, maybe I'm reading too much into the 'a bachelor you will stay'

You guys are projection way too much. It's got nothing to do with swinging London or being gay. It's quite simply about the stereotypical "Jack the Lad" character celebrated in a multitude of songs and stories, including others by Ray Davies.

It's called "Dandy"

Which is how the 'jack the lad' characters of swinging london were referred to.

As well as a character, "Jack the Lad" can also function as an imperative sentence, hmmm

"Dandy" is like a pre-emptive response to "Do You Remember Walter?".

L-R: Dandy, Walter
http://www.comedycentral.co.uk/files/imagecache/showhub-b-main/2009/02/25/robin_asquith.jpg

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