Sunday 15 January 2012

Dance Away The Good Times

Time for a song. A rather silly one just made up for fun.

It's a Friday night, it's a tidy night
To step out hand in hand
To have a ball at the old church hall
With Mr Jackson's band
The sound of his accordion
It is my heart's delight
And the finest girls in all the world
Will all be there tonight

So dance away the good times
While the moon shines down upon the frosty fens
Warm in the arms of a handsome boy
Until the music ends

Little Amy Robinson
She hurries home from school
To try on her new party dress
She shines just like a jewel
With mother's bracelets on her wrist
And ribbons in her hair
Oh me oh my, she'll make em fly
As soon as she gets there

So dance away the good times
While the moon shines down upon the frosty fens
Warm in the arms of a handsome boy
Until the music ends

And Suzy girl she's a crazy girl
How she loves to dance
She sets on fire the coldest heart
With just a fleeting glance
And the fiddler's going frantic
And the calling's all awry
For the tambourine plays twice as fast
When Suzy's passing by

So dance away the good times
While the moon shines down upon the frosty fens
Warm in the arms of a handsome boy
Until the music ends

Then Mr Smith and Mrs Smith
Can stand and watch no more
Before too long both old and young
Are dancing round the floor
Mrs Smith she likes the boys
She'll dance with all she can
But she keeps one eye on Suzy
When she gets near her old man

So dance away the good times
While the moon shines down upon the frosty fens
Warm in the arms of a handsome boy
Until the music ends

Now Uncle Bert you should see him flirt
With Old Mathilda Grimes
She's quite forgot her poor old back
That gives her gyp sometimes
She says "This beats the bingo
And the over-sixties club
It sets me all a-tingle 
Like a hot rheumatic rub"

So dance away the good times
While the moon shines down upon the frosty fens
Warm in the arms of a handsome boy
Until the music ends

And good old Granny Whitmore
She's throwed her sticks away
And everyone's still having fun
As the last waltz starts to play
Then the young ones leave in motor cars
With their husbands and their lovers
And the old uns totter down the street
Holding on to one another

So dance away the good times
While the moon shines down upon the frosty fens
Warm in the arms of a handsome boy
Until the music.......


None of the above really happened - though it must have happened thousands of times. It was inspired by a rollicking evening spent at a village dance many years ago. All the characters are people I've known at various times masquerading, in some cases, under different names and turning up, in my imagination at least, at this dance. Mr Jackson is an old friend, a multi-talented musician whose instruments include trumpet, accordion, piano, guitar, whistle, sitar, Northumbrian pipes...you get the picture. Suzy's his lovely wife. Uncle Bert wasn't my uncle but is already known to long-time readers of this blog. All the others are people whom I've encountered along the way.

Some other things might need a little explanation:
'Fridee' rhymes with 'tidee' in Cambridgeshire and tidy means "good" in this context.
'Calling's all awry' - country dances have a "caller" who explains the moves as the dance takes place. Many of the dances are "progressive" ie people change partners during the dance; this was the cause of Mrs Smith's concern!
'Gives her gyp' means 'causes her pain'


Take care.

9 comments:

  1. ...good reading; I could just picture it all happening too. Great creative writing; it should be in print somewhere, beyond your blog.

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  2. I can hear it! And I am not going to tell you which I most resemble.

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  3. Oh my, that sounded like one of my Mom and Dad's old "square dancing" songs. "Swing your partner, round and round" type of a song. I really enjoyed it, John. And the characters came alive in my head. You are so creative. Love to you and yours!!!

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  4. I love it John. I think these old village dances have probably quite faded away by now. When I was a girl, the vicar used to organise a threepenny hop every wednesday night in the village hall - it was the highlight of our week!

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  5. Oh, I've been to dances like that, - you have captured it all perfectly, John. Good for you!

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  6. Fun. You certainly have a way with words.

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  7. How very jolly, just like a hop at the village hall with the local musicians fiddling away.
    Have you made up a tune as well?

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  8. We've just about got enough of us for a set or two. Don't be shy now. Take your partners by the hand for the Bloggers' Reel!

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