The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, Apr 4, 2021.

  1. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Nice analogy :righton:
     
  2. Invisible Man

    Invisible Man Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lemon Grove
    I think this is allowed since "Berkeley Mews" was already discussed. I came across these while Googling:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    It must be disheartening when your own record label doesn't even know the name of your song or care enough to check. Multiple times. You'd have to laugh to keep from crying.
     
  3. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    Hey I've already considered sending you my 2021 Kinks vinyl bill!
     
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  4. Steve62

    Steve62 Vinyl hunter

    Location:
    Murrumbateman
    Denmark Street
    I've enjoyed reading the comments on this song and there's little for me to add. As others have said this is a playful 'palate cleanser' which makes far more sense in the context of the album than as a stand-alone song. I have two other thoughts which I don't think have come up in the discussion so far:
    1. It seems pretty unusual for an artist to give the middle finger to the music industry so overtly (I'm not counting more recent artists who released rushed/dodgy albums to fulfill contractual obligations they wanted to escape - Prince being the best example I know: doing just that along with writing 'slave' on his face and changing his name to a symbol!). Back in the early seventies though, it must have been really unusual to poke the music establishment like this. Does someone know how unusual this was at the time?
    2. Denmark Street is one of two short interludes on this album about the music biz . We will soon come to The Moneygoround about being ripped off by managers, agents etc. In these twin tunes Ray exorcises his demons about the background to the legal wrangles that had occupied most of his career to that time. Neither song is necessary to the album - which isn't a coherent concept - but perhaps both were necessary to Ray.
     
  5. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Van Morrison recorded 32 'contractual obligation' tracks for Bang in 1967, including such great tracks as 'Blow in Your Nose', 'Nose in Your Blow', and 'Ring Worm'. Apparently there was also a track criticising the production choices of Bert Berns. Strangely, Bang decided not to release them and they officially come out in 2017. So there was some precedent for Ray's anti music biz sentiments, although his actually got released!
     
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2021
  6. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    lol
     
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  7. Vagabone

    Vagabone Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Well, two things-

    1. Until I read this thread, I honestly had no idea Lola was meant ot be a concept album. The absurdly long title just sounded like goofing around ('lets see how many song titles we can cram into it') and the two songs I already knew from it, "Lola" and "Apeman" didn't seem connected to each other in any way. When I got the album I obviously listened to it all the way through. All I noticed thematically was that there was more than one song about the music industry but that's not unusual- "write about what you know", and all that. Even if someone had told me it was a concept album I migth not have paid any heed because I'd been misled before by alleged concept albums like Sergeant Pepper ... I'm tempted to add TKATVGPS because it has a concept but you still can't argue it has a coherent storyline.

    2. Even in a concept album or rock opera the songs should still stand up to individual scrutiny, like they do in Arthur and Preservation parts 1 and 2. The story ties togther really well but I can also enjoy the songs out of context.

    I'm grateful to be educated about this album and I will enjoy looking at the songs in a new light but I don't think anyone will persuade me "Denmark Street" is a good song.
     
  8. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    That's cool mate. It was only when I started going through the lyrics that I realised there was a thematic link, and it is a somewhat tenuous one in many ways. As for liking songs, I reckon we are all probably are drawn to different things, I don't think it is a law that we need to like everything lol
     
  9. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Get Back In Line

    stereo mix (3:01), recorded 11 Sep 1970 at Morgan Studios (1), Willesden, London

    For anyone interested here is a blog from someone named Holly A Hughes about their thoughts on this song. Hopefully Holly won’t mind me sharing this with you all The Song In My Head Today

    Here is one from Shaun Richman Get Back In Line : Shaun Richman

    Facing the world ain't easy when there isn't anything going
    Standing at the corner waiting watching time go by
    Will I go to work today or shall I bide my time

    'Cos when I see that union man walking down the street
    He's the man who decides if I live or I die, if I starve, or I eat
    Then he walks up to me and the sun begins to shine
    Then he walks right past and I know that I've got to get back in the line

    Now I think of what my mamma told me
    She always said that it would never ever work out
    But all I want to do is make some money
    And bring you home some wine
    For I don't ever want you to see me
    Standing in that line

    'Cause that union man's got such a hold over me
    He's the man who decides if I live or I die, if I starve, or I eat
    Then he walks up to me and the sun begins to shine
    Then he walks right past and I know that I've got to get back in the line

    Written by: Ray Davies
    Published by: Noma Music, Inc. - BMI

    I’m not sure if we’re allowed to talk about Unions or not, so all I will say is that like many many other organisations, power corrupted what was initially a necessary thing, for the working man…..

    This song was for a long time my favourite song on here, because it has a depth of feeling not too dissimilar to Dave’s Strangers, even though topically it is a million miles away from it.

    In context with our story we have a scenario where the guys have signed to a publisher and now in a somewhat metaphorical way, we have them waiting for the powers that be, in this instance the Union, to allow them to work. Bands don’t, to the best of my knowledge line up to be picked for a gig, but by the same token they do in some instances need to be union members to get gigs, or at least they did used to. I remember when our band was rocking away in Perth, Western Australia, and we inquired about playing support gigs for bands at the Entertainment Centre, our big concert arena. We were told that only bands in the Musicians Union could get gigs there…. Which I found quite interesting, but of course, it has to be organized in some way I guess. We never bothered joining the Union, but it was interesting to know this information. So here I kind of imagine the band waiting to get the nod for a career changing gig that could give them the exposure that any up and coming band needs.

    Interestingly when I first heard this song, it made me think of a scenario in Phoenix Arizona I saw, and it really was a very strange situation to me. When I was over there, if you went to the shopping centre … or mall I guess folks say in the US, there would always be a mob of folks lined up near the entrance/exit to the parking lot (car park)…. and I had to ask what it was about. Apparently contractors would come by in the morning to pick up guys to work, if they needed any. I can only assume that most were undocumented workers, but I don’t know. It just struck me as pretty demoralizing, to have to roll up outside a shopping centre, of all places, to hope someone drove passed and picked you up to earn some money that day…

    Going back in history, which is where I guess Ray was drawing some of the inspiration here, this was a very real thing, and some folks would be waiting for the call to go and earn enough money to put food on the table for the week.

    Anyway, I hope I haven’t stepped outside of the bounds of acceptance with that…..

    In this instance though I think Ray is subtly referencing the US tour ban, that obviously came about due to the US Musicians Union, and how that call, and an unprecedented one, that I believe was never done before, or since, cost the Kinks a huge amount of momentum in their growing fanbase in the US. In fact, as we saw earlier, it seemed to effect the band’s presence everywhere except Europe and Australia/New Zealand.
    The direct reading of the lyrics is very much about someone wanting and needing to work, and the scenario of waiting to be chosen, rather than a first come first serve basis, would be demoralizing, and certainly would seem very unfair.

    Ray’s vocal here is really good, he sounds beaten, he sounds desperate, he is living his part in the song.

    We open with the excellent crisp, almost brittle guitar arpeggio, and Ray comes in with a beautiful melancholy melody. At the end of the first section, that I am going to call the verse, we get a subtle ritard, that slows up the music as Ray has that moment of wondering if he is going to be working today or standing around wasting (although he says biding) his time.

    We move into the chorus with a change of backing. The band come in for a couple of bars after the purely guitar and vocal opening, and then they drop out again, as the organ takes the wheel. A shimmer on the crash cymbal and the organ holds the chord progression with that pregnant pause of our protagonist seeing the Union man coming. Then everybody kicks in.

    The arrangement of what I am calling the chorus is really excellent. It is measured and precise in its aims and it hits them and hits them well. It creates tension and release really well. We get that “He’s the man who decides if I live or I Die, If I starve or I eat”. That is just such a powerful line, and sadly in an instance like this, it is a straight up truth.

    The start of the second verse has the band drop out again, and we get this hypnotizing blend of the arpeggio guitar and the organ, and it really works beautifully.

    Lyrically the second verse is a real killer. Mamma told me this would never work, and how many of us have heard that in reference to someone wanting to play in a band. Thankfully my parents never went that route, they gave me love and support, and think they actually thought I should have made it anyway lol… che sera sera lol.

    Then we get the terribly poignant he just wants to earn some money, so he can bring home some wine for his partner…. But he never wants them to see him standing in that line. In that section there we get a small glimpse of the humiliation of being at the whim of another, and having to put ourselves in the cattle line in order to be able to eat… or have some wine …. It is another example of the wonderful writing Ray was capable of.

    Just like Strangers, it is the humanity of this song that really gives it an edge for me.
    There is a real sense of pain for the person standing in line waiting to be thrown a crumb, and Ray handles the subject with a deft hand. He doesn’t dehumanize the person looking for work, or the person responsible for choosing who gets to work.
    The balance achieved between the music and the wonderful lyrics here is quite remarkable, and along with that incredibly human lyric and delivery, it makes this a stand out song .

    I suppose that it would be easy to say that this song somewhat interrupts the thematic flow, but I think in context with what we know, rather than the direct lyrics, it is pretty clear that Ray has taken a working class spin and put it into a song that speaks the that US ban, due to the Union in the US.

    I’m not going to say this is the best song on the album, because for me there are a lot of wonderful tracks on this album, but this is a very moving and engaging song, that is written and executed perfectly, in my opinion.

     
  10. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    A brilliant track and album highlight. The lyric is incredibly poignant, and I like the way Ray pronounces 'shine' as 'shiiine' at one point - I wonder if Liam Gallagher liked this track!
     
  11. Fortuleo

    Fortuleo Used to be a Forum Resident

    Here comes yet another Ray : the ballad writer. This is a slow building track in the Some Mother's Son vein. The melody and ever-changing chord structure are stunning, as is the duetting electric/acoustic guitar backing. It sounds like Dave switches guitars all through the song, to keep things distinctive and fresh, bustling with hooks and inventive little licks.
    Ray starts out alone, in the most desolate way, before things turn into a full band production, I guess because in that line the singer’s not alone, he’s surrounded by people just like him and they all feel the same. They all are the singer of that song. The line image is so simple, so on point, perfectly literal and metaphorical at the same time. The second verse is less brilliant in my view, probably because the first is so vivid and striking, all crystal clear: the shared hardships, the collective hopes and frustrations, sung by one, shared by all. I'll admit I've never thought of this song as being part of the music business arch of the album. For me, the protagonist is really standing in a line for some construction job or something. Ray’s written so many good songs about people trying to make it but in my opinion, he writes even better ones about people trying to get by. It’s pretty clear to me that himself a member of the “making it” portion of humanity, he sees more nobleness in the “getting by” crowd, the kind of which he probably admired growing up, both in real life and in the romanticized Big depression and social films he used to watch, like John Ford’s marvelous How Green Was My Valley for instance. @croquetlawns : the "shiiine" bit is also my favorite. I love when he does that. But really, I love the way the vocals are treated all through the song, gradually becoming fuller (solo, then double tracked, then with Dave’s harmonies, itself then double-tracked) until it seems the whole line of workers joins in to sing together as one.
     
  12. ARL

    ARL Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    "Get Back In Line"

    Top-drawer Ray material here. His first two songs on this album may not have had much in the way of melody, but this one more than makes up for that. Highlights of this track include:
    The way the melody line ascends a little with each line of the verse
    The subtle slowing down going from the verse to the chorus
    The use of the organ
    The little mute guitar plucks in the right channel during the chorus

    Lyrics, music, performance - everything's great about this track and its a genuinely moving piece, which works just as well as a standalone track as within the context of the album. (In my screenplay we would be back in the studio in the present day with the band recording this track)
     
  13. Echoes Myron

    Echoes Myron Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Glad I dipped into the thread at this point. By some coincidence this album has been on my turntable for the past two weeks straight.
     
  14. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    'Get Back In Line' wasn't exactly a regular visitor to The Kinks live sets, but interestingly they chose to revive it for their 1977 Christmas Concerts, the second of which was filmed for the Old Grey Whistle Test and you can find on the DVD with the Kink at the BBC box. There's a slight extra layer of extra poignancy to this performance, as it's John Gosling's last show with the band, and here he is reprising the moving organ accompaniment he played seven years before on his first LP with the band one last time:

     
  15. Vagabone

    Vagabone Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Get Back In Line
    Beautiful song, a relief to hear and probably my favourite song on the album aside from the singles.
     
  16. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    I'll admit this is a total reach of an association and almost certainly not intended, but I'll throw it out there as it's in my brain: John Gosling's churchy/Bachy organ lines on this track distantly put me in mind of the theme of 60s-90s UK current affairs ITV programme 'World In Action', AKA to many people who grew up here in the 70s and 80s, thee most depressing theme music in the world, which also used the Vitruvian Man in it's opening graphics. And an investigative piece into union issues and the impact they could have on working families is definitely the kind of bleakly quotidian subject matter they may well have devoted an episode to. Here's the theme, but be warned, it really is a downer, esp the end credits.



    Not that I'm saying 'Get Back In Line' is as hopelessly gloomy to listen to as the above piece, it's just a tiny association I get. I really love the song for the record. I've always particularly liked the honesty of the line 'all I want to do is make some money'.. you're conditioned to, in the vernacular of rock music, hearing an admission of wanting money as being a signifier of inauthenticity (hence why it was applied as the overarching titular putdown of the 60s dream in the famed Zappa album), but here it just comes across as totally sincere and guileless.. because the truth is, the young working class need to earn regular money... they don't have the day to day luxury of investing time in questioning the system that makes that a reality.
     
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2021
  17. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    I mentioned this upthread, suggesting it would be hard to continue in the business. My concern was wiped clean by Exhibit A: Mr. Mills (see @ajsmith post).

    Mr. Mills aside, by ‘74 anyway (which is a tad later), skewing the industry seemed pretty normal: Sugarloaf‘Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You’; Lynyrd Skynyrd ‘Workin’ For MCA’; Billy Joel ‘The Entertainer’; and in ‘75, Pink Floyd ‘Have A Cigar’

    I disagree as I think both songs are, lyrically, key to the album (with the latter even being a title song). As of now, neither track makes my playlist but my playlist isn’t trying to present a cohesive story.
     
  18. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    Get Back In Line: Well, Mark must have rolled out of bed an hour early this morning to put out today’s opus. Very nicely done.

    Melancholic, wrought with worry (?), I’m not sure how to describe it other than to say there’s an ache in the overall mood of this song. As @Fortuleo notes, my image is outside the realm of the music industry, of folks standing in a line seeking employment...though, as Mark says, The Kinks did have their US Musicians Union ban that almost derailed their career.

    When the @croquetlawns referenced ‘shiiine’ is sung, I find myself almost heartbroken.
     
  19. ARL

    ARL Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    I have to admit that when I first saw the back cover of Lola vs Powerman, the first thing that came into my head was World In Action. Compare and contrast that theme with the use of "Nantucket Sleighride" for Weekend World! (another UK current affairs show of the 70s, shown at Sunday lunchtime)
     
  20. DISKOJOE

    DISKOJOE Boredom That You Can Afford!

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    That "album" by Van was available legally for many years before 2017. I remember I bought a 2 CD version on the Charly label back in the 1990s.
     
  21. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Yep, I think Van finally got control of it for the 2017 release. Before that there were lots of 'grey market' releases, a bit like what happened with the Small Faces stuff.
     
  22. ARL

    ARL Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    British DJ Danny Baker used to play "Ringworm" quite often on his radio show.
     
  23. Steve62

    Steve62 Vinyl hunter

    Location:
    Murrumbateman
    Get Back In Line
    I have particular affection for this bittersweet song, musically and lyrically - going back to when I first heard it on Kronikles. The lyrics are a little puzzling. For example, is the singer in the union or not? The latter could explain why he is unemployed.
    I'll draw on my armory of books for clues. The Davies brothers have a working class background which in the sixties and seventies was very much intertwined with union membership. In Kink Dave says "the emotions and sentiment echo deep into our background and our upbringing, a tribute to the difficulties of the working classes.....to communicate the struggle of the ordinary working man ...in a greedy and purely materialistic society." In his bio of Ray, Johnny Rogan said Ray had admitted the song includes memories of his own experiences of the print union when working at a magazine long before the Kinks, and his father's humiliation after signing on the dole." The 'line' in the song isn't the work line of On the Waterfront (which I mention because that film has been cited as another catalyst) - it's the line for unemployment benefits. Jon Savage's bio of the Kinks quotes Ray saying "I went to get my employment form for a student job, and I got in the wrong line by mistake. I stood in the unemployment line. My dad had been unemployed a lot. he said, 'I don't ever want you to see me standing in that line'." Back to Ray's magazine job, in X-Ray Ray says the other workers were all militant unionists who plotted confrontations with management and taking the piss out of Ray for working in his tea break. It depressed Ray so much that he pretended not to work so they wouldn't give him a hard time! That experience, combined with his ban by the musicians union in the US, probably left scars that emerge in this song.
    Despite the ambiguities - or maybe because of them - I like this one a lot.
     
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2021
  24. joejo

    joejo Well-Known Member

    Location:
    toronto
    Back at Something Else By The KINKS I had originally thought lesser of No Return and End Of The Season. I learned my lesson back then. LVPATM is 5 star, every bit.
     
  25. markelis

    markelis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Miami Beach FL
    Back in the Line: as a stand alone song, it’s obviously a thoughtful, effective and touching set of lyrics, with amazing melodies, and gorgeous music. As I first started listening to the album a few weeks ago, this one was one of my least favorites, although as I have noted above, the whole album to me plays fantastic straight through. That said, as with many of the kinks’ songs, repeated listening has elevated the song to a point where, just like Strangers, I walk around humming and singing this one.

    Others have mentioned that they don’t think this song fits as clearly into the song cycle as other songs on the album. I must admit, I didn’t really pick up on that as an issue. Ray has demonstrated repeatedly that when he introduces an album concept, he then hews closely to that concept or loosely to the concept song by song as is his whim. While other songs do seem to be narrowly focused on the music industry, this one just seems to be more generally focused on the idea of you make it or don’t make it within your chosen profession sometimes based on a third-party. I still find it an effective part of the story he is telling.
     

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