To The Bone
The Kinks Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

Fat Flabby Annie was incredibly big
She weighed just about sixteen stone
And then a fake dietitian went and put her on a diet
Now she looks like skin and bone.
Do the meditation and yoga
And she's thrown away the good food guide
And she's given up the alcohol and pizzas
And the pies and now she looks as if she's ready to die,
You can't see her walk by.

Don't eat no mashed potatoes,
Don't eat no buttered scones
Stay away from carbohydrates
You're gonna look like skin and bone.

Living on the edge of starvation
And she says she's got no appetite
And her father and her mother
And her sisters and her brothers
Couldn't see her when she walked by
She looked like skin and bone.

Don't eat no mashed potatoes,
Don't eat no buttered scones
Stay away from carbohydrates
You're gonna look like skin and bone.

She used to be so cuddly,
She used to be so fat,
But oh what a sin 'cause she's oh so thin
That she lost all the friends that she had,
She looks like skin and bone

If you look flabby
And you feel overweight,
And you want to lose a couple of stone,
Take a crash course diet do your daily exercises
And you'll look like skin and bone.

Come on rattle them bones,
Put your hands up to the ceiling,
Bend your hips and touch your toes,
Do your daily exercises,
You're gonna look like skin and bone,





Don't eat no mashed potatoes, etc.

Overall Meaning

The Kinks' song "Skin And Bone" is a commentary on the societal pressure to have the so-called 'perfect body'. The song describes the story of Fat Flabby Annie, who was a very large woman, weighing about sixteen stone, but loses a lot of weight after being put on a diet by a fake dietitian. She starts doing meditation and yoga and avoids carbohydrates, alcohol, pizzas, and pies. She loses so much weight that she looks like she's on the verge of dying, and no one recognizes her when she walks by.


The lyrics suggest that society values being slender over being healthy and happy, and the pressure to conform to the beauty standards is immense. Annie's story is a cautionary tale of the dangers of pursuing the "ideal" body through unhealthy means, like fad diets and extreme exercise regimes. The repeated refrain of "Don't eat no mashed potatoes, don't eat no buttered scones, stay away from carbohydrates, you're gonna look like skin and bone" highlights the obsession with thinness and the misguided belief that cutting out entire food groups is the only way to achieve it.


In conclusion, "Skin And Bone" is a critique of the impact of societal beauty standards and excessive diet culture that lead people to go to unhealthy lengths to achieve an illusory ideal. The song is a reminder to embrace and love oneself for who they are, rather than trying to conform to an unrealistic and potentially harmful beauty standard.


Line by Line Meaning

Fat Flabby Annie was incredibly big
Annie was heavily overweight


She weighed just about sixteen stone
She weighed approximately 224 pounds


And then a fake dietitian went and put her on a diet
She consulted a fraudulent nutritionist who advised a weight-loss plan


Now she looks like skin and bone
Her weight loss resulted in an unhealthy thinness


Do the meditation and yoga
She engaged in meditative and yogic practices for weight loss


And she's thrown away the good food guide
She disregarded healthy eating guidelines


And she's given up the alcohol and pizzas
She stopped consuming alcohol and pizza


And the pies and now she looks as if she's ready to die
She eliminated pies from her diet and now appears unwell


You can't see her walk by.
Her weight loss has made her unrecognizable


Don't eat no mashed potatoes,
Avoid mashed potatoes


Don't eat no buttered scones
Avoid buttered scones


Stay away from carbohydrates
Avoid carbohydrate-rich foods


Living on the edge of starvation
She is dangerously malnourished


And she says she's got no appetite
She claims to have lost all appetite


And her father and her mother
Even her closest relatives


And her sisters and her brothers
And her siblings


Couldn't see her when she walked by
They couldn't recognize her due to her extreme thinness


She used to be so cuddly,
At one point, she was affectionately plump


She used to be so fat,
Once upon a time, she was considerably overweight


But oh what a sin 'cause she's oh so thin
Her weight loss has resulted in an unattractive extreme thinness


That she lost all the friends that she had,
She lost friends due to her unappealing physical appearance


If you look flabby
If you appear overweight


And you feel overweight,
And you feel heavy


And you want to lose a couple of stone,
If you desire to shed some weight


Take a crash course diet do your daily exercises
Start a rigorous weight loss regimen and exercise daily


And you'll look like skin and bone.
You will achieve an unhealthy level of thinness


Come on rattle them bones,
Encouragement to exercise vigorously


Put your hands up to the ceiling,
Invitation to a stretching exercise


Bend your hips and touch your toes,
Instruction for physical flexibility exercise


Do your daily exercises,
Maintain a routine of exercising regularly


You're gonna look like skin and bone,
Weight loss will lead to extremely unhealthy thinness


Don't eat no mashed potatoes, etc.
Advice to avoid high-calorie foods




Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: RAY DAVIES

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

@MrSirDrew

In the back of a record rack
There's a old double pack
Twelve inches and black
With an old crumpled cover
But every track is stacked

And it takes me back
To the one who caused this melancholy mood
And every single groove
Cuts me to the bone
Yeah, she rocks me to the bone

I took her back to my bachelor flat
While the stereo played for two
She unwrapped her gift
And played me a riff
And said, "this old record was just made for you"

Then we danced to songs of passion and
The singer's velvet tones
On the gramaphone
While the record played
She rocks me to the bone
Knocks me to the bone

Those those rock n' roll romantic songs
Played all summer long
And she rocks me to the bone
Knocks me to the bone.

Yeah, she rocks me to the bone
Yeah, she rocks me to the bone

In dreams she's smiling in slow motion
Devouring all of my emotion
Angels singing rock 'n' roll
While demons take away my soul

Voices sound, her image fades
Every time that record plays
She rocks me to the bone
Knocks me to the bone

In my back room there's an old 45
That we played all summer long
Shakin the beams so loud it covered up the screams
When lover's harmony went oh so wrong

And in every word emotion is torn
And blood flows down the drain
Like she opened up a vein
And cut me to the bone
Yeah, she rocks me to the bone

And now i'm just a prisoner
In that stereo Hi-Fi jail
The needle pierced just like a nail
As she rocks me to the bone
Knocks me to the bone

Do do do do do do do
She rocks me to the bone

Yeah, she rocks me to the bone
Yeah, she rocks me to the bone



@user-ip9yu7lp1q

In the back of a record rack
There's a old double pack
Twelve inches and black
With an old crumpled cover
But every track is stacked

And it takes me back
To the one who caused this melancholy mood
And every single groove
Cuts me to the bone

Yeah, she rocks me to the bone

I took her back to my bachelor flat
While the stereo played for two
She unwrapped her gift And played me a riff
And said, "this old record was just made for you"

Then we danced to songs of passion and
The singer's velvet tones
On the gramaphone
While the record played
She rocks me to the bone
Knocks me to the bone

Those those rock n' roll romantic songs
Played all summer long
And she rocks me to the bone
Knocks me to the bone.

In dreams she's smiling in slow motion
Devouring all of my emotion
Angels singing rock 'n' roll While demons take away my soul

Voices sound, her image fades
Every time that record plays
She rocks me to the bone
Knocks me to the bone

In my back room there's an old 45
That we played all summer long
Shaking the beams so loud it covered up the screams
When lover's harmony went oh so wrong

And in every word emotion is torn
And blood flows down the drain
Like she opened up a vein
And cut me to the bone
Yeah, she rocks me to the bone

And now i'm just a prisoner
In that stereo Hi-Fi jail
The needle pierced just like a nail
As she rocks me to the bone
Knocks me to the bone



All comments from YouTube:

@JD-zw4pz

Among the best bands I've ever seen live..God Bless The Kinks!!

@tonypollock9149

This is my favorite and best(in my opinion) song of their career. This is called SONGWRITING! The lyrics and everything else in this song is PERFECTION.

@keithgordon620

Totally agree.

@thorbjornpluten9246

One of the best Kinks' record ever!

@MrSirDrew

In the back of a record rack
There's a old double pack
Twelve inches and black
With an old crumpled cover
But every track is stacked

And it takes me back
To the one who caused this melancholy mood
And every single groove
Cuts me to the bone
Yeah, she rocks me to the bone

I took her back to my bachelor flat
While the stereo played for two
She unwrapped her gift
And played me a riff
And said, "this old record was just made for you"

Then we danced to songs of passion and
The singer's velvet tones
On the gramaphone
While the record played
She rocks me to the bone
Knocks me to the bone

Those those rock n' roll romantic songs
Played all summer long
And she rocks me to the bone
Knocks me to the bone.

Yeah, she rocks me to the bone
Yeah, she rocks me to the bone

In dreams she's smiling in slow motion
Devouring all of my emotion
Angels singing rock 'n' roll
While demons take away my soul

Voices sound, her image fades
Every time that record plays
She rocks me to the bone
Knocks me to the bone

In my back room there's an old 45
That we played all summer long
Shakin the beams so loud it covered up the screams
When lover's harmony went oh so wrong

And in every word emotion is torn
And blood flows down the drain
Like she opened up a vein
And cut me to the bone
Yeah, she rocks me to the bone

And now i'm just a prisoner
In that stereo Hi-Fi jail
The needle pierced just like a nail
As she rocks me to the bone
Knocks me to the bone

Do do do do do do do
She rocks me to the bone

Yeah, she rocks me to the bone
Yeah, she rocks me to the bone

@robkolmans7782

This song stands. Both the lyrics as the music.

@tonypollock5848

Ladies and gentleman and children of all ages this is called songwriting and music sounds like learn it live it love it

@dimethaltryptamine1

This song needs to be enshrined!!~~

@obscuremelody

I would have loved this song so much in the 90s, if I'd had the chance to hear it! Not in radio, no mtv or viva (in germany) - how can that be!? I discovered it just today - great 90s Song by the Kinks! <3

@alexnutu1125

Killer freakin tune holy smokes

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