A brief warning before I begin this post: I have gone a little Kinks-crazy. My MP3 player consists mainly of Kinks albums presently, so my apologies if this ends up with me just comparing Kinks songs to other Kinks songs.
Song #1: Alcohol by The Kinks (Muswell Hillbillies, 1971, Track 5)
Exactly as predicted.
Musically, this song is bloody fantastic. The brass section gives this song a life I really doubt it would have had with the regular Kinks sound. The sound (along with elements of the lyrics) remind me a lot of "Misery" by Green Day. I will be amazed if lines have ever been drawn between the two groups before. This song just has the most magnificent beat, and it certainly can't be faulted on the music front.
Vocally, Davies is always a good, reliable voice, but he has one real problem and that is I never actually focus on his singing. With someone like Cave of Dempsey, I'm always thinking how great a voice they have, or the opposite with people like Madden, but with Davies, I don't focus on it until I reach this point in a review. I suppose it shows that he's letting the music and the lyrics speak for him, but it gets in the way. Here, he is pretty good, actually paying attention, matching the mood of the lyrics pretty damn well, and being a little melodramatic when the song called for it. Not bad.
Lyrically, this song tells the story of a man who is reasonably successful, but becomes involved with alcohol and a "floosie" (their words, not mine), eventually penniless. I'll talk about the characters first. I love that none of them are portrayed in a positive light. The main character is initially seen as good enough, if not a little impressionable, until it's revealed be beat his wife in a drunken stupor. The wife is called selfish and ambitious, and the floosie... well, she's called a floosie. That should answer all questions. The concept of this being a continual cycle is also really interesting. Many elements of this song deserve to be looked at closer, but I'll try and stop myself doing so here. The story reminds me a lot of (as previously mentioned) Misery, but also some of Ben Folds' music. I don't believe he has told this particular story, but many of his characters seem to be very easily transplanted into this song. I really do adore the lyrics to this song, which are delivered perfectly to tell the story I think they're trying to tell.
Song #2: Do You Remember Walter? by The Kinks (The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, 1968, Track 2)
Yeah, this is looking like a three-for-three. Sorry, unless you like The Kinks as much as me, in which case you are very welcome.
Musically, I must say that it is clearly not the focus of the song. Despite the importance of the vocals and the lyrics over the tune, I think the music does quite a role in demonstrating the emotion. The music seems to be in near complete contrast to the lyrics, the music being upbeat and pop-ish, while the lyrics are mournful and reminiscent. I think this is meant to represent how Davies is hiding his emotions on the lyric subject. There is also a, and this might just be me, really creepy element in the music, as if the music is way too clean cut for the lyrics, as if there is something we really don't know. Something that would completely change the meaning of the song, like Walter being imaginary or dead. Yeah, I think that says more about how my mind works than what the song is like. Sorry. Good music, though.
Vocally, Davies does a lot more here for me than in other songs. His vocals are much more emotive than in previous songs, and I think this is due to the very personal subject of the song. Even if Walter was not based off of a real individual, Davies must know that he's supposed to make people think he is. Although, as previously stated, the music and vocals don't quite match the lyrics, I think the fact that Davies comes off as a much more developed singer shows what subject matter can do for a song.
Lyrically, I can't say this song is treading new ground (although it may have at the time), but it does it well. The basic focus of the song is Davies being nostalgic about an old friend, the athletic and popular "Walter", a school friend who had lost touch with Davies. This is fantastically done, with the first verse describing what they were like as kids, the second describing what they thought the future would be like and the final verse outlining where they are now, covering past, future and present, telling a lot about the narrator talking about Walter. Now, the concept of thinking about old friends is a well-trod one. Look at Disco 2000 by Pulp (or if you respect your ears, Nick Cave's cover) for a variant of the story (I'm hesitant to use the phrase "genre") in which the old friend was a crush, or Ben Folds Five's Michael Praytor, 5 Years Later for an instance in which the old friend never quite went away. I try not to talk about myself too much here, as this blog is not for me to talk about myself, rather talking about the music I love, but this song is one that really rings true. It may be nearly half a century, and the world is more connected than ever, but people will always think these thoughts, myself very much included, and that makes for the best thing I can say about the sentiments behind this song.
Song #3: Lola by The Kinks (Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part 1, 1970, Track 5)
Musically, this song is clearly intended to be a single, which instantly sets it apart from the previous two songs. Everything sounds that little bit more polished, as it is clear that The Kinks knew this would be a big one, and they were pretty correct at that, I suppose. The music for this song has never appealed to me, but it does interest me. I love songs that either express emotion or tell a story (or ideally both) but the music on this song does nothing. It's not happy or sad, lively or subdued.It's just there, for some reason. Not bad, per say, but I have definite problems with it.
The vocals here are fine, and Davies is a pretty good fit for the character portrayed. The vocals are more noticeable here than in the other songs, but not in a really good way, with several moments where you think "you could have done that differently" or just "don't.. do that" at some points. Not bad, but sub-par to other Kinks songs.
Lyrically, the story told isn't too bad. Lola tells the story of a sheltered bloke who ends up falling for a.. well, let's just call her a "masculine woman", ultimately growing as a human, despite his conflicted emotions regarding Lola. This is, if nothing else, a hell of a new story. Both of the previous songs have been pretty well-trod themes, but this is very new. I can greatly tell just how this was planned to be a single, with only a little of The Kinks usual language. One phrase that really struck me was "electric candlelight", which actually gave me more to think about than the entire rest of the song. So... there's that. Not bad, not good, but something different.
Overall:
Musically, I have to go with Alcohol, just for that fantastic brass section blaring the whole way through. Although I do like the music from Walter, I've got to give the runner up position to Lola.
Vocals. Well, this is going to be splitting hairs like nothing else. First place, again, is going to have to go to Alcohol, just because Davies really seemed to be having fun with that song. I think I have to give runner-up to Walter, as Lola didn't appeal to me much.
Lyrically, Walter is by far the superior song. It just appeals to me more than a hell of a lot of music, being personal without over-sharing and also telling a story. Just fantastic. Runner-up is Alcohol. It was actually a tight run between Lola and Alcohol, but I feel the characters in Alcohol are more interesting and fleshed out than in Lola.
Winners:
1. Alcohol by The Kinks
2. Do You Remember Walter? by The Kinks
3. Lola by The Kinks
Overall, I really don't actually like Lola, and it ranks up there with Plastic Man for my least favourite Kinks songs, but I do understand the majority of the appeal. I didn't plan on just Kinks material, but I'll just brand this a "Special Edition" or something. Now, on an unrelated topic, last night at 3am by Canberra time 17 Americans stopped by and read my Sinatra vs. Lee vs. Cooke post and nothing else. Considering my usual readership a day is less than 3, this event has slightly surprised me, and there is no traffic source for the views. If any of those 17 drop by again, feel free to cure my curiosity and tell me how you ended up here and what you're after. I'm more than happy to talk about Sinatra, Noise Addict, Cooke or anyone else if you're interested. That goes for anyone dropping by here. Anyway, maybe more Kinks tomorrow. We'll see.
Feedback, as above, is welcomed.
H. Rourke
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