12/13/2004

Picture it - The Kinks, well respected men

It is so good (I mean I can't say how good in a family blog) to see my favorite band, The Kinks, finally getting some way overdue -- well, due.

The HP commercial featuring their song "Picture Book" (from the great Village Green Preservation Society album) is getting rave reviews. "Classic example of how good music makes a good commercial," raves someone on onehitwondercentral.com. Yeah. And classic example of how underestimated, overlooked, and misunderstood this great rock 'n roll band has been for 40 years.

The Kinks are rock's perpetual underdog. Ray Davies is a genius songwriter, but his musical explorations have rarely dovetailed with commercial tastes. The band has had hits over the years ("You Really Got Me", "Lola", "Come Dancing", and one you're probably hearing on the radio now, "Father Christmas"), but most often, something they did to sparse acclaim was done later by someone else who made millions.

Think "Tommy" was the first rock opera? Try "Arthur", by the Kinks. Think "You Really Got Me" is a Van Halen song? Wrong -- Kinks, 1964. "Stop Your Sobbing", a Pretenders hit? No -- and Chrissie Hynde didn't help Ray much by taking their love child and bouncin'. Ray found out about it at the same time as the rest of the world, when she announced she was leaving him during a radio interview.

Now Verizon ("So Tired of Waiting for You"), Nissan ("You Really Got Me"), HP, and others are mining Ray's catalog for their product identities. Ray doesn't control the licensing to the band's early work, so once again the band has a close encounter with success -- but not so close that they aren't still The Kinks, the band that never, ever gets their propers.

But maybe things are changing. So you knew about the commercials -- but did you hear about Def Leppard? That's right, the boys from Sheffield -- what's left of them -- covered what is perhaps Ray Davies' masterpiece, the most stunningly beautiful pop song ever recorded, "Waterloo Sunset", on their new release Best of Def Leppard. I grimaced as I clicked on the link - please Joe, don't kill it - but after a listen I must admit - I think I like what I'm hearing.

There's a Kult of Kinks fanatics, of course. The Internet has made us whole. Dave Emlen keeps the best Kinks fan site I've seen.

And say what I will (and I do) about corporate America, I credit them for rediscovering the inimitable Davies music catalog. Maybe the rest of America will follow suit.

And by the way, here's the rest of the song:

"Live Life" from the Kinks album "Misfits" (1978)
Written by: R.D. Davies Published by: Davray Music Ltd.

Have you heard about trouble throughout the land
With the fascists and the left wing militants
Out of work executives are killing themselves
And the I.R.A. are killing everybody else
Don't panic, don't lose control
Keep your head, keep a hold
Act normal, there's nothing wrong
Stay cool, just carry on

You gotta live life and be yourself
You can't live life for anyone else
You gotta live life, that's all you do
Nobody gonna live your life for you

Don't get depressed when you read in the press
About world revolution and social unrest
Try not to panic when you switch on the news
And see the crooked politicians and the unemployment queues
It's only life, it's really fine
So don't you believe all you read in the headlines
Live life, see it through
Carry on, it's all you can do

You gotta live life for yourself
You can't live for anyone else
You gotta live life, that's all you do
Nobody gonna live your life for you

Trendy intellectuals always take action,
For every cause that's ever been in fashion
Weekend revolutionaries protest and sing
Because they're dedicated followers of any old thing
They got every solution for every revolution
They live in the slums just like the poor people do
But they'd rather sniff coke instead of glue
Right-wing fascists beat up the blacks
Then they salute the Union Jack
You can't pretend there's nothing wrong
It's not the end, so just carry on

You gotta live life for yourself
You can't live for anyone else
You gotta live life, that's all you do
Nobody gonna live your life for you

Oh, life's a mother, oh, life's a mother
Oh, life's a mother, oh, life's a mother

You gotta live life for yourself
Can't live life for anyone else
You gotta live life, that's all you can do
Nobody gonna live your life for you

Live life, you gotta live life
You gotta live life, you gotta live life

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