Deep Track of the Week: Arthur by The Kinks The Kinks have been one of my favourite bands since I was a child, when I heard You Really Got Me and enjoyed the crunch of its guitar and Ray Davies inimitable voice. But what I grew to appreciate as years went on is that the sincerity of numbers like You Really Got Me were more of an aberration, and that The Kinks tended to like wry political commentary and a wicked sense of humour far more than they liked crooning for their lovers. There are so many wonderful tracks to choose that you arent likely to hear on the radio every day. The entirety of their Village Green Preservation Society Album, my favourite rock album of ALL TIME, is pure genius. But for Deep Track of the Week I will choose the closing and title track of their 1969 album Arthur. Much like a lot of their other songs, the songs on this album are not what they appear to be about at first listen. Victoria is not a love song but rather a fanfare dedicated (quite sarcastically) to Queen Victoria and the British Empire. Arthur tells the story that could be about a simple working class British man, or really the story of the Empires decline itself. Lyrics like the following (as well as the albums subtitle) lend credence to the latter: How is your life and your Shangri-la And your long lost land of Hallelujah And your hope and glory has passed you by Cant you see what the world is doing to ya And now we see your children Sailing off in the setting sun To a new horizon Where theres plenty for everyone Arthur has an inescapably catchy melody, an utterly simple and perfect riff, and what can only be described as a fantastically rousing finale sung and repeated with new layers of vocals and harmonies added as the song reaches its end. This type of ending would later be used on the song Eclipse by Pink Floyd on Dark Side of the Moon two years later. Thus we have our second Deep Track of the Week! Come back next week!
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 02:42:35 +0000
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