Kinks – "Dandy" (1966)

They long for Dandy, Dandy

Knockin’ on the back door

Climbing through the window

Contrary to what you may have heard, today’s featured song was not inspired by yours truly.  After all,  yours truly was a seriously geeky 14-year-old when Ray Davies wrote “Dandy.” 

(Ten years later, it would have been a different story, of course.)

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I didn’t know until today that “Dandy” was written by the Kinks’ Ray Davies.  That doesn’t surprise me – it’s a very clever song, and Davies was as clever a songwriter as there was.

“Dandy” is about a man who loves the ladies – and vice versa:

You’re chasing all the girls

They can't resist your smile

Oh, they long for Dandy . . . Dandy!

Dandies

Dandy doesn’t discriminate between the unmarried lasses and the married ones:

Hubby’s gone away

And while the cat’s away

The mice are gonna play

Oh, you low down Dandy . . . Dandy!

Playing the field is all well and good when you’re young, but society frowns on older men who live their lives that way:

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

Davies predicts that Dandy won’t give in and settle down.  A leopard can’t change his spots, and neither can Dandy:

You always will be free

You need no sympathy

A bachelor you will stay

And Dandy, you’re all right!

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The Kinks released “Dandy” on their Face to Face album at about the same time that Herman’s Hermits released the song as a single in the U.S., where it went all the way to #5 on the Billboard “Hot 100.”  

The Kinks version was a hit in Europe – it went to #1 in Germany, #2 in Belgium, and #3 in the Netherlands.  But for some reason, the Kinks didn’t release “Dandy” as a single in the UK – and neither did Herman’s Hermits.

Both groups were British, so that seems odd.  Maybe there was an Alphonse and Gaston situation going on: 

Herman’s Hermits: “After you, my dear Kinks!” 

Kinks: “No, you first, my dear Herman’s Hermits!” 

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