song and dancen. pl. song and dances or songs and dances 1. A theatrical performance that combines singing and dancing.2. Slang a. An excessively elaborate effort to explain or justify.b. An elaborate story or explanation intended to deceive or mislead.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.song and dance n 1. Brit a fuss, esp one that is unnecessary 2. US and Canadian a long or elaborate story or explanation, esp one that is evasive Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014song? and dance? n. Informal. an extended, often self-justifying explanation that may be irrelevant or untrue. [1870?75, Amer.] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.