Some Mother's Son I believe I only heard this song for the first time this year and yow...it's pretty intense stuff. The part that always gets me is the lyric "One soldier glances up to see the sun"...in studying the Kinks this past year, the sun is often invoked by Ray. It is a symbol of love and life...positive things when it is shining on you...yet here, by this very act of gazing at the sun for a moment, this soldier's life is lost. So even the sun doesn't have the answers. How depressing. Now I must go get a tissue... I don't know if the Kinks has a more moving and sad song. If so, please tell me.
Bringing this thread back to Arthur, have any of my fellow Avids read the review of it in the Uncut Ultimate Music Guide by one Andrew Mueller? It seems that he & we are listening to two different albums. He seems to think that the album is an act of vengeance by Ray against his brother in law taking his sister Rose to Australia. Here he is on the last two songs we have discussed: "The next two songs on Arthur, "Yes Sir, No Sir" and "Some Mother's Son", are caricatures of the class system, specifically as manifested in the British military-but Davies seems as hostile towards the frontline lions as he is about the brass hatted donkeys who bray, "Give the scum a gun and make the bugger fight..if he dies we'll send a medal to his wife." As ever, there's a whiff of lofty impatience about Davies' satire, a failure to understand why these dismal plebs don't just grow their hair, buy a fur coat and hang out on Carnaby Street with people almost as brilliant as Davies himself. As ever, as well, there's the brilliant flowering of a supreme pop conjurer: "Some Mother's Son" especially is a minor psych masterpiece not far adrift of "Strawberry Fields Forever" " Again, I think he was listening to a different album!
Well I guess ..... LOL hahahaha.... I mean.... ..... I don't think he listened to it Some Mother's Son is certainly a masterpiece.... maybe I am having an out of body experience, but I don't hear anything here that makes me think psychedelic.... I love the Beatles, and Strawberry Fields is a great track, but Some Mother's Son has more depth than probably anything the Beatles ever did.... that just wasn't the Beatles thing at all.
Sadly most movies... it is always somewhat disappointing to read the reality after engaging the fantasy.
Really enjoyable discussion today folks. Lots of great input, and we managed to discuss some heavy topics, without bickering.... I appreciate you folks a lot Cheers Mark
Finally, after all this time, my lovely fiancé has decided she will rejoin the fray with her two cents on Arthur. I have encouraged her to get her own account (I even came up with her name “Fly Girl” because she is learning to be a pilot). …but for now Courtney says: Victoria: Love this song. I think it’s a comment on colonialism and having ambiguous loyalty to the crown. He seems to find it heartbreaking and humorous that all of these countries around the world have the same queen. Yes Sir No Sir: Great song that is an incredibly accurate walk through of the perception of a solider from the day the sign up until after, when they are veterans who’s training no longer applies and cannot help the veteran to survive. That outcome is ironic, considering that they dedicate their lives to their country. I imagine it was a very profound and controversial song when it came out but it still applies today.
"Some Mother's Son" What more can I add after all these pages of thoughtful commentary? @mark winstanley has written an incredible introduction to the song. This could be your best so far and every one has been excellent! We couldn't have asked for a better leader to take us through the entire Kinks discography. I tip my hat to you kind sir! The song and your write up had me in tears this morning. I'm actually getting a bit choked up now! What a beautiful and heartbreaking song. It's certainly one of my favorites. Ray is back in his normal voice and he sings it so lovely. The melody of this song kills me. "Some mother's son ain't coming home today." One of the finest anti-war songs ever recorded. Ray is on another level. Did he even know how amazing these songs were? I am happy to see it get so much love here. I always felt it was overlooked. An amazing song that leaves me speechless with a tear in my eye and a smile on my face.
The sun is discussed in relation to this song and “Lazy Old Sun” in that 1970 Rolling Stone interview with Ray I linked earlier today. Good catch on your part!
I found the website for Andrew Mueller & it's the same guy who wrote that review of Arthur: Andrew Mueller - Home
That was one of the songs that appeared in Ray's movie Return to Waterloo, where there is a question about the main character so to speak.
I’ve never actually watched that. But I’m surprised Ray didn’t make more films. He made that and Weird Nightmare. I think that’s it.
I watched this film a few nights ago. A 1975 British movie about World War II that mixes real footage with studio acting. It touches on many of the themes in "Some Mother's Son". Highly recommended. Overlord (1975) - Overlord (1975) - User Reviews - IMDb
Indeed! Believe it or not, I'd never really "heard" this song before today. But I played it today three times through, and was floored I'd missed it all these years. One of Ray's Finest! tears,
Yes, the last page (#343) was a most excellent, educational and illuminating read! Cheers to one and all for sharing, and for Mark leading the "charge" of the Kinks Brigade...
Some Mother's Son Though i was far too young to speak to my grandfather of his military service for Britain in WWI & Australia in WWII, my work did provide the opportunity to speak to what was just in essence, some other mother's son. Imagine it is 1945 and you are boy of 17 and conscripted into your depleted and desperate German army alongside only other youths and men well into middle age. After a total of 3 weeks training you are sent into combat and promptly shot in the head and stretcherd to hospital. After recuperating you are sent back to the front, ambushed and watch most of your colleagues shot when they won't surrender and so become a P.O.W. Years later when you revisit your home town you research and find that both your serving male friends and fellow countrymen had been decimated in WWII as many homes on most streets had lost well over half of their male youth population. So now we know what may have happened to our protagonist's actual Walter that he used to play games with? As we discover in the songs incredible second verse that our lost soldier remembers games he played when he was young please take a moment to consider that this memory may in reality only be 3-4 years old as the faceless fallen soldier is often still only a boy! This deep song on Arthur must be the deepest song of the band's career, cataloging the supreme futility of war the cruel insanity of lives lost and mans (ever ongoing) inhumanity to man! Unlike Yes Sir No Sir this is sung by Ray our narrator directly and with one voice, and the sadness and emotion unmistakably walk hand in hand with you for the songs entire duration! If anyone feels this is the best song on the album i am not going to disagree with you, to me it certainly feels at least the most important!
