Ballroom Dancing

Song ratings

Rating Comments Author Date
Average song rating Great opener for side b. Paul's rocking out on this song. Nice honky tonk piano. Pauls voice in the highest registers at 1.26 gives the song a boost. He nearly misses it the second time round at 1.39. Once again great brass section playing the solo's from 1.55. Nice instrumental break starting at around 2.35 with a great trumpet lick. The magic of that break disappears with the start of another verse. Great song tho and a great end as well. Bobber July 7, 2012
Average song rating During the Beatles years it became clear that while Paul had a genius for creating memorable pop music, his lyrical ability was pretty much hit and miss (particularly when compared to John Lennon, who gave him a lot of assistance during those years). During the Wings years Paul seemed to regard meaningful lyrics as irrevelant to good music and not worth the effort (if you review his songs one by one, you will find not a single one with a memorable lyric, and their final album Back to the Egg has particularly nonsensical lyrics). In the albums McCartney II and Tug of War he seems to be trying again ("Waterfalls", "Here Today"), and in this song, "Ballroom Dancing" he finally succeeds with his first truly outstanding set of lyrics since his Beatle days.
This is a wonderfully fun song which, if it was better known, would make an ideal wedding reception/bar mitzvah staple, as it is the sort of song that three generations of celebrants can find irresistably danceable.
Bruce Beatlefan August 4, 2006

Lyrics

Well, I used to smile when I was a pup,
Sailing down the Nile in china cup,
With the recipe for a lovely day
Sticking out my back pocket.

But it wasn't always such a pretty sight,
'Cause we used to fight like cats and dogs
Till me made it up in the ballroom.

Ballroom dancing, made a man of me,
One, two, three, four,
I just plain adore your
Ballroom dancing, seen it on TV
I got what I got from ballroom dancing.
Big b.d.

Well, I used to fly when I was a kid,
And I didn't cry if it hurt a bit,
On a carpet ride to a foreign land
At the time of Davie Crockett.

But it wasn't always such a pretty sight,
'Cause we used to fight like cats and dogs
Till me made it up in the ballroom.

Ballroom dancing, made a man of me,
One, two, three, four,
I just plain adore your
Ballroom dancing, seen it on TV
I got quite a lot from ballroom dancing.
Big b.d.

- "ladies and gentlemen,
The band is ready and we're starting with the first of our
Dances in this competition, that's the 'cha cha cha'."

Well, it went so fast and we all grew up,
Now the days that passed in the china cup,
Are the memories of another day
And I wouldn't want to knock it.

Oh, but it wasn't always such a pretty sight,
'Cause, we used to fight like cats and dogs
Till me made it up in the ballroom.

Ballroom dancing, made a man of me,
One, two, three, four,
I just plain adore your
Ballroom dancing, seen it on TV
I got quite a lot from ballroom dancing.
Big b.d.

Oh!

 

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Tug of War
Tug of War