Beautiful analysis, beautiful counter argument. I find with epics like this, they often take more than just a few “with-half-of-an-ear” listens to really sink in and makes sense. Thus far, my take on this album was that, unfortunately, the song took up a lot of time and hadn’t really caught my interest, but I’ll be the first guy to admit I haven’t listen to it that closely the way I probably need to. For that reason, and because most of my favorite songs really are epics, your analysis is sufficiently compelling that I will go back today or tonight and listen to this a few times with total attention before I give my thoughts on the song. I don’t want you to be out there alone in your love for this song if you don’t have to be!
There's a lot going on here, and not just because of the length. The "epic" moniker is probably accurate, but what is this epic's grand statement? Education is "sacred" and will save us all, or education is pointless and will drive us all crazy? Why should everybody get an education when no amount of knowledge can answer the big existential questions? And even when it turns out all the air travel and agriculture and friendship in the world can't spare us from the stark reality of our ultimate ignorance, still -- everybody needs an education. When I first heard it I thought, oh, Ray was in the middle of writing a song about how great education is and realized it was a rock & roll album so he switched to the default Jack the Idiot Dunce perspective that, essentially, people with high IQ's can't teach you to dance. So it's just muddled and confused and flawed because Ray can't figure out what he's trying to say. Getting to know the catalog, I started thinking no, the whole song up to "thanks to all the mathematicians" is tongue-in-cheek, a sort of pseudo-epic history of man's heroic rise from the depths of ignorance (like you'd hear from an overenthusiastic teacher), and that Ray's authentic "20th Century Man" view of modernism/industrialization/"progress" kicks in with "you can't tell me what I'm living for..." When he gets to "everybody needs an education," then, we know that we're back to a sarcastic take on the POV of the proselytizers who think education will save the day for all of humanity -- ha! Listening to it the last few days, though, it feels like Ray is setting up the broadest possible dialectical poles and inviting us to work out our own take. Man's accumulation and transmission of knowledge might not be our salvation, but it might not be completely pointless either. He's not telling us what to think about education, he's offering us two almost equally compelling and provocative arguments, pro and con. And can't it be both, anyway, a blessing and a curse, a necessity and a burden? Maybe having irreconcilable, contradictory feelings about reason & progress is the real story here, not a mistake or a fumble but the emotional center of the song? Speaking of dialectics, the horns and female chorus are pretty Soap Opera, while the slashing guitar (and the beautiful, very '70s lead after "can't tell me why I am") portend Sleepwalker. Is it a stretch to think that Ray's ambivalence about progress/modernism is playing out musically at this moment as well? Side note: One unexpected joy of this exercise has been listening to these songs with my 12 year old while driving her to school. Her take on Education this morning was interesting: "the beginning is like elementary school where everything's great and you love your teachers. Then the middle part is when you're in high school and college and you don't know why you have to learn all this stuff and start thinking it's all kind of pointless. And the end is when you have kids and you're telling them that everybody has to go to school."
Just want to say…I’ve been following this thread for a while. Great contributions on a great subject. Long live The Kinks.
"Education" Excellent lesson today by everyone. I especially loved what @Fischman had to say. I didn't know this song would create such an interesting divide. This song is epic and I think it achieves what it was going for. There have been so many good points made already. The comparison to Elton John and "Love Lies Bleeding" is a good one. This is a beautifully arranged song. The piano and the bass during "Everybody needs an education" is spectacular with Ray's vocal giving another hint of Randy Newman. Someone mentioned "Shangri-La" and that's another great comparison in how it goes through all these musical changes to highlight the story. They crammed so many styles into this song and everyone is brilliant. I imagine this would have been incredible live. He even reminds me of Ozzy at one point, while Dave plays some sinister sounding guitar. Thanks to all the mathematicians And the inventors with their high I.Q.s And the professors in their colleges Trying to feed me knowledge That I know I'll never use This is an amazing vocal performance! For this reason alone, I would expect it to be a highly acclaimed Kinks song. I never fully realized it until this morning, but this is a freaking tremendous vocal by Ray! He changes it up flawlessly. He really sells the story with everything he's got. The ending with the horn stabs and Dave's guitar tone bring us back into a T.Rex boogie for a moment. I never realized it was the longest Kinks song because it never loses me and feels like a few different songs. I have listened to this song many times over the last few days, but this morning it sounds better than ever. This is a case where everyone's thoughts and insight have elevated this song to masterpiece status. Has anyone heard the band Foxygen? They put out one excellent 60s inspired album in 2013 called We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic. You can tell they definitely studied Ray Davies. I love this album, but they very quickly lost me with most of their follow up albums. They shifted to a 70s style going for more of a Todd Rundgren vibe, similar to another newer band called The Lemon Twigs, who were also produced by a member of Foxygen. I am bringing this up because this song sounds like what Foxygen wanted to be on the last few albums. It's like they based their entire change in direction on this song. So I think it's still out there inspiring someone!
I’m listening to ‘No Destruction’ at this very moment (on your recommendation). Nice! (Thankfully) this particular track doesn’t remind me of today’s track-of-the-day. I’ll have to listen to this entire 2013 album.
Worth pointing out Ray failed his eleven-plus, which may have contributed to his conflicted feelings about education. Eleven-plus - Wikipedia
I’ll join the loyal opposition. I’m certainly not as big a fan of the song as @Fischman in terms of the place of this song in the Kinks overall oeuvre, but it’s definitely one of the highlights of this album for me. I don’t mind the over-the-top going-to-church ending at all. It just makes me smile in the same way another over-the-top song like Bohemian Rhapsody does, which I believe was released in the same year. Lyrically going from a caveman to nuclear physics is pretty over-the-top for a pop song.
"Education" I've had three close listens and I'm not sure yet where I'll land on this one, though it gets a little better each time. I do agree with Avid The late man that for a song of this length it would have benefited from more melodic variety, especially in the verses. It reinforces my general feeling that post-Pye, Ray gets wordier, and the word-to-melody ratio (if that makes sense) goes up. I think I first noticed this on "20th Century Man" and then Preservation Act 2 particularly, and it applies to some of what I've heard from the post-RCA era. Compare to "The Moneygoround" from Lola Vs... for instance, which is a barrage of words with no lyrical repetition and a tenuous rhyming scheme, yet after three listens or so I found it quite hummable. There's a lot I like about this musically, especially the mini-suite nature of different sections. The "Education came that day" melodic riff is memorable (and reminds me of ELO's "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle"), even if it may be slightly over-repeated. The opening chord sequence seems to have been revisited in "Working in the Factory" on Think Visual. Lyrically, giving the history and extolling education and then turning around and saying formal education is pointless for him personally (I'm speaking broadly) gave me whiplash. But perhaps this is consistent with "Schooldays," in simply presenting the good and the bad rather than a definitive opinion. I don't know. But I have appreciated the thoughtful presentation of ideas from both sides by the other Avids, and it's made me pay closer attention in class.
Oops, I just realized that @The late man was specifically referring to harmonic variety, not melodic! I agree with him on that point as well, especially with regard to the two-chord sequences. But those would be easier for me to take if the melodies over them were more engaging.
If you say so. Not for me. From what I've heard, it seems that each songs main reason for existing is to get to the harmonies. The songs don't move me or catch me. I suppose I could commit to a deep dive, but have zero interest.
I love the Beach Boys, but there's no point in forcing yourself to try to like something if there's other music out there that appeals to you more! (That's how I feel about rap; I won't judge it, I'm just not going to force myself to try to appreciate it when there is so much to explore that is more interesting to me).
Education I've only read a few folks takes especially our Headmaster Mark's overview. I THINK I know what Mark may have problems with in the lyrics, but interesting that you can't find a way to address them. I'm just curious, I guess. Anyhoo... I've listened to this albums a handful of times and hearing Education today once again, I realize I cannot remember this song once I'm done hearing it. Musically it's very boring and I hardly ever say that about the Kinks. It's just D-U-L-L. and the lyrics are so ham-fisted. No Ray subtleties at all. or maybe one: "No you can't tell me why I am". that's about it. I know that there are some good songs coming up but this one is a total miss for me. I'd rather hear the "worst" songs on Soap Opera than to listen to this one again.
No. Though I will say that repeat focused listening will sometimes get me to that spot. It's certainly happened for me during this thread with some Kinks songs that I'd previously dismissed or underestimated.
This reminds me of a discussion I had w/a fellow employee at my library job. She graduated from high school in 1964 while I graduated in 1980. Her class reunions have been generally well attended while my class reunions have not (they had to combine the years 1980 to 1982). I told her that society had changed between those years. As an example, the big hit song about school circa 1964 was the Beach Boys' "Be True To Your School" while in 1980 the big hit song about school was "(Another) Brick In The Wall" by Pink Floyd.
Well… this is the song Christgau cited in his negative review of Schoolboys. “Yet another original cast recording - in the big production number, Ray Davies indicts “Education” for its failure to teach Ultimate Cause. Go get ‘em Ray.” Of course, Christgau gave pretty negative reviews from Preservation through Schoolboys. But here he’s got a point. I mean, Ray made the same argument in God’s Children (not that an artist can’t circle to the same themes) but that’s a beautiful song with an inspirational vocal. I would think there are far better indictments to make of the British educational system, say, in terms of class structure. The debate continues (certainly in the U.S.) whether it’s the job of government funded schools to teach “Ultimate Cause”, though it’s untrue that nothing of that is discussed in Philosophy class. Ultimately (see what I did there), the song is a bit boring. There are debates possible over the philosophical ramifications of Shangri-La, but it’s a great song musically and the performance is terrific. With Education. unfortunately neither is true. Jack the Idiot Dunce has more to say, and that’s saying something.
You're right, Headmaster. I've loved that song since I was 10. It still gives me the feeling of the last day of school before summer vacation.
untrue! I had your back Have Another Drink”. I love that trilogy and think all three songs should be heard together. Maybe I wasn’t effusive enough, I’ll work on that
@warewolf95 we will start moving into the Arista years Saturday the 19th, with Sleepwalker up to bat on the Monday. I can't help feeling someone else asked for a reminder..... if anyone can remember, please give them a plug for me
Education One of the first things I noticed was the He’s Evil chords. I assumed that meant that *this* was Flash’s backstory. But the lyrics aren’t that at all. It’s about how Apeman becomes Mr. Pleasant becomes a 20th Century Man. So why the re-use of the He’s Evil chords? Does education inherently make man evil? Perhaps. The “Teacher, teach me” recurring lines remind me of the “No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks” mantra by Alice Cooper. Dave’s solo sounds like it could be cut and pasted in place of George’s solo on Let It Be. I like the “no you can’t tell me why I am” part right after that solo. Overall though I do like how it builds up, comes back down, and then builds back up though the overly theatrical outro loses me towards the end. I am confused about why He’s Evil is in her, thought. Does make it seem like it’d fit on Preservation Act 2.
I have a lot of catching up to do. Darn, we're all the way up to Schoolboys. I will just briefly say that "Education" pretty much encapsulates this album for me. The song itself isn't Ray's best -- he's written and performed better suites like "Shangri-La". But Dave's guitar work is so phenomenal, as it is throughout the album, that the song is worth listening to anyway. Schoolboys is hit-or-miss when it comes to Ray's songs -- he's got some great ones and some meh ones. But I believe this album is Dave's finest sustained performance -- a perfect blend of his crunchy sixties riffing and the thicker seventies guitar sound. If I just want to jam, this is my go-to Kinks record.
I agree with @Endicott that this album constitutes a comeback for Dave of a sort, and his performance makes the album quite enjoyable. I suppose it’s part of the band’s move back toward “rock”, one that is built upon over the next several years. But we haven’t reached The Hard Way yet.
