song and dance

Noun

song and dance (countable and uncountable, plural songs and dances)

1. A display of unnecessary excitement or activity.

   Synonyms:

   fuss, palaver, ado, argy-bargy, bangarang, bobbery, brouhaha, bunfight, bustle, bust-up

2. An excessively elaborate story or excuse used to justify something.
   • You could pick up the phone, call your vendors and give them a big song and dance about all the great things happening in your company.2011 December 2, Ariel Kaminer, “The Ethicist: Caveat Vendor”, in New York Times, retrieved 06 Apr 2015

   Synonyms:

   palaver

3. An excessively complex set of instructions.
4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see song, and, dance.