Had a long, awesome yet exhausting weekend so playing catch-up here. State of Confusion(song) I was well aware of this song and video playing on MTV. Because I was such an MTV obsessive at the time(would call friends on the phone and we'd just sit on the phone for hours and talk about the videos), I know every nook and cranny of this video. But did I love this song and video?...not really. I liked it well enough, but it didn't stand out for me. I know there's a divide on shouty Ray...and I usually think that voice is ok in most songs. It doesn't grate on me normally...but in this song it does. And I don't like the howling wolf vocal much either. For me this song didn't stand out against everything else I liked at the time. It was just ok. And I am all about humor and it's one of the things I love about the Kinks and in particular Ray's writing, but the video was a bit of an eyeroll. Maybe Ray and the band trying to be too cool for the times was a turn-off. It didn't fit together in my mind. Maybe I would have liked the song more if not for the video?! One will never know. Even though I wasn't perceptive enough at the time, today I don't think this song has much of that indescribable Kinks Magik.
Right?! No doubt that had something to do with me not loving the video. I don't claim to be a very deep person...a visual of something I don't like can throw a whole video/song into question and a muscle shirt would certainly do that. and I think someone mentioned about the fist pumping in the early part of the video. That was just a big NO for me. Reminded me of the dopes I grew up with who liked their fist-pumping music. Obviously the video has created a huge bias in me that I can't get beyond.
Labour of Love Pretty much any thought I had about this song was already covered; from the Hendrix inspired intro @Zerox and others mentioned; to the similarities to Mirror of Love that @Fortuleo and @Smiler noted; to the dislike of calling the couple Mr. and Mrs. Horrible that @donstemple mentioned; to even the first thing that came to mind about a person having two heads being The Thing with Two Heads, brought up by @DISKOJOE . Funnily enough, I never would have been reminded of that movie, except for the fact that I just recently watched a documentary on Netflix called Sample This, which is about how the sampling of the Incredible Bongo Band's version of the instrumental song Apache came to become a big part of early Hip Hop. Unfortunately, I can't un-see the image of Rosie Grier and Ray Milland. I listened to the whole of SOC, with the volume turned up, on the way home from an appointment, and, while Labour of Love may not be my favorite song on the album, I like it just fine as an album track. "One head wants to go to a movie, while the other wants to stay at home." sounds like my wife and me a lot of the time. There's definitely some labor, lol, in a long term relationship, we've been married for over 30 years
He was well known in the late 70s. I remember seeing pics of him in his "grape smugglers" and going "whuh?"
I LOVED Blood and Chocolate. I have a distinct memory of listening to it while at college. "I Want You" is a killer tune!
Forget if I mentioned this in the course of this thread...doubt it though: I met Elvis C on Kings Road(London) about 2 or 3 days after Live Aid in 1985. IT was my first visit to London and I was with the world's biggest Costello at the time. in my friend's purse she was carry around a Japanese single of his for just this happenstance. So when we stumbled upon him in a store (where he bought a fez), my friend whipped out the single to have him sign it. Weird, huh?
Glad someone else mentioned this, as that's been bothering me for years about the "two-headed transplant"!
Definite Maybe This is a song that's pretty new to my ears. It's growing on me. Head office thinks I'm dead, But I'm not even ill. How do I get attention, Tell me who I have to kill. Pretty funny. I know I've been this frustrated in dealing with "customer service" whether it's something little or something important (like Mark's trying to get to the US). Sometimes I feel enraged! So the lyrics are pretty spot on in being stuck in the bureaucratic hamster wheel. Love the beginning of the song...with the bass, guitar and clicking sticks coming in. Makes me want to stay tuned to see if this song delivers. And I think it does. I'm not a huge fan of the keyboard initially, but then it turns into a more palatable piano sound. And the backing vocals are very appealing. "all he wants is a yes or no". cute. So I give this one a thumbs up. Not a Kinks classic, but good.
Just relistened to the album to participate in the thread. Overall it's better then I remember there is a few clunkers but overall it's a good album
I understand exactly what you are saying though i am only a relative beginner of 10 years of matrimony.
Labour of Love, Take 2 This morning I said it's a fine song, but not a must play for me. But after listening to the song this morning and participating in the discussion, I had it stuck in my head all bloody day! That's okay, even a lower tier kinks song is infinitely preferable to some of the junk that gets lodged in there. In particular, I kept humming the line One head wants to go to a movie While the other wants to stay at home, I'm not sure if Ray is being just mundane (or even inane) here or deliberately but subtly and deceptively clever. It seems ridiculous to use something so meaningless as whether or not to catch a movie creating a rift in a marriage. But then most of us know that these arguments over such mundane things are usually just a proxy for deeper underlying issues in the marriage. Being that this is Ray Freaking Davies, I'm going with deliberate but subtle brilliance, so good is he at distilling big things into seemingly simple daily events.
Labour of Love I want to like this one but I can't really warm to it except the lyrics which do have a certain resonance on those occasional low days in a marriage - which happily for me aren't every day. Thank you for mentioning this. I thought it sounded unusual. And thanks for this anecdote to brighten up my day. If it's true - and we have no reason to doubt you - it's brilliant.
Come Dancing. stereo mix, album edit (3:54), recorded Oct 1982 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London "Come Dancing" US 7-inch 45 Cover Single by the Kinks from the album State of Confusion B-side "Noise" Released 19 November 1982 Recorded October 1982 Studio Konk, Hornsey, London Genre Pop rock, new wave[1] Length 3:54 Label Arista Songwriter(s) Ray Davies Producer(s) Ray Davies This song is essentially a sort of homage to Ray's elder sister Rene (18 years older than Ray), who apparently died in a dance hall ... though Ray has said at one point that it was about Gwen (7 years older than Ray) .. so it is somewhat difficult, as always with Ray, to pin it down. It would be safe to say that in that era, having six older sisters, that Ray could equate it to being about one or all of them.... To some degree Rene makes sense. Rene bought Ray his first guitar, a Spanish guitar that he wanted. When Rene was young she had Rheumatic Fever, and it weakened her heart. As far as I can tell, on the same night that Rene gave Ray the guitar that he had been asking his parents for, she went to the Lyceum Ballroom and had a fatal heart attack..... Though equally it could relate to Gwen, because when Gwen was going out dancing Ray would actually have been old enough to have seen her do it, and come home for a "peck on the cheek". With Ray though, it is likely a bit of both, beautifully written and constructed especially as a nod of love for his older sisters. They put a parking lot on a piece of land Where the supermarket used to stand. Before that they put up a bowling alley On the site that used to be the local palais. That's where the big bands used to come and play. My sister went there on a Saturday. Come dancing, All her boyfriends used to come and call. Why not come dancing, it's only natural? Another Saturday, another date. She would be ready but she'd always make him wait. In the hallway, in anticipation, He didn't know the night would end up in frustration. He'd end up blowing all his wages for the week All for a cuddle and a peck on the cheek. Come dancing, That's how they did it when I was just a kid, And when they said come dancing, My sister always did. My sister should have come in at midnight, And my mum would always sit up and wait. It always ended up in a big row When my sister used to get home late. Out of my window I can see them in the moonlight, Two silhouettes saying goodnight by the garden gate. The day they knocked down the palais My sister stood and cried. The day they knocked down the palais Part of my childhood died, just died. Now I'm grown up and playing in a band, And there's a car park where the palais used to stand. My sister's married and she lives on an estate. Her daughters go out, now it's her turn to wait. She knows they get away with things she never could, But if I asked her I wonder if she would, Come dancing, Come on sister, have yourself a ball. Don't be afraid to come dancing, It's only natural. Come dancing, Just like the palais on a Saturday. And all your friends would come dancing While the big bands used to play. Written by: Ray Davies Published by: Davray Music Ltd. Although this wasn't the kind of song that I would generally love when I was ... what? about 14.... I did always love this song. I have heard about the death of Ray the writer in various parts of the thread, due to his changes and explorations, but I think this song, and several others, actually prove that the idea that sixties Ray, as a writer, had passed, is not really very accurate and fails to understand the way writing works. I think this is a thoughtful, and intentional return to a whimsical style of song, and I think that is what is so attractive about it. Ray has said "I wanted to regain some of the warmth I thought we'd lost, doing those stadium tours. 'Come Dancing' was an attempt to get back to roots, about my sisters' memories of dancing in the '50s." and personally I think it works beautifully. Thematically this could have been a track off Village Green, musically not so much, but Village Green was now about 15 years old, which is longer than the lifespan of most bands. Ray has also said "Back when the Kinks were recording 'Come Dancing,' which was a big hit in the States, the record company actually asked me to sing it in more of an American accent. I just refused." "Just keep Mick Avory nervous, and you'll get great performances from him. He's responsible for some of the great comedy drum parts. His drum roll into 'Come Dancing,' ... it's totally a beat late. It's totally unplanned, and that's what was so magical, when we were rolling." Interestingly "Come Dancing" which Neither Ray nor Clive were confident about releasing as a single in the US charted at number 6, equalling "Tired Of Waiting For You" as the Kinks highest charting single in the US. It isn't the band's biggest hit, but it was very successful across the board, and to me it is understandable why.... As the song was about British Dance Halls, predominantly, but not only, in the fifties, Ray sang it in a British accent to retain the Englishness of the theme, and this is the main reason they thought it wouldn't translate over in the US. Lyrically the introduction is wonderful, and almost has a sort of Don't Tear It Down (Spy Vs Spy) sort of feel to the theme. It acknowledges the ever changing landscape of local communities, and I am sure most of us have seen our local areas change many times over our lives... I've always found it a little sad when a grand old building, or even a place I used to frequent gets torn down... I remember my first real record store, that I haunted around the time this came out .... well, in 1986 Boans (essentially an older version of the big department store) Morley, the suburb I lived in, burned to the ground. There was a dogleg coming off the main Boans building, and in that dogleg was Atlas records, my beloved record store, and it all got closed down, and over the course of a couple of years we ended up with a huge shopping complex called The Galleria.... and it was fine, and the record store became Harmony I think, and Roseanne the lady at the shop, who interestingly to me at the time was a bodybuilder, was like a friend... even giving me free cd's for Christmas and such on occasion.... Anyway, sorry I fell into a nostalgia trip there... (big sigh) So, I love the way Ray sets up the beginning of the song. It is like walking down a city street with an older man telling you how such and such used to be here, but then this happened and they did this etc etc But he smoothly and effortlessly rolls us back to the point, a trick Dave rarely seemed to pick up on, "On the site that used to be the local palais. That's where the big bands used to come and play. My sister went there on a Saturday." Ray takes us on a little journey of how the buildings have changed, and manages to just roll into the point of why he is writing this song. It isn't about the buildings at all, it is about the feelings and the family and the experiences, but the buildings are often a physical representation we can touch to give us that little nostalgia trip. In true pop writing style we get to the chorus fairly early, to drive home what we are talking about here. Come Dancing, it's only natural. As uncool as dancing seemed to be made at a certain point, and some guys would stand rigid like statues refusing to move in case someone thought they were dancing, dancing is one of the oldest forms of communication, folklore and community interaction .... and it is good for your heart too... not just the circulatory system, but the untouchable core of you that needs to smile occasionally also. Singing and Dancing beat medication hands down every time. It is one of the rare occasions in modern society where you really can be uninhibited and be wild and free, if only for three and a half minutes.... Now I want to go and dance somewhere lol The humanity in the lyrics, she would be ready but she'd always make him wait in the second verse is beautiful. Apparently he didn't know the night would end up in frustration ... blowing all his hard earned brass for a cuddle and a peck on the cheek... It speaks to an innocent time, in many ways, when the majority, not the minority would be in that naivete zone, and as much as we need to harden up to survive the world, there is something stunningly beautiful about innocence and naivete that the modern world is missing too frequently... or so it seems..... Come dancing, That's how they did it when I was just a kid Ray reminiscing ... where is that sweet young boy now? Has the world diminished him, hardened him, how about me and you? Then we get to some real meat and potatoes... Mum would always sit up and wait..... It never ceased to amaze me that even when I was older my mum could be guaranteed to be sitting up waiting for her hatchlings to return to the nest after being out in the big bad world... My Mum wouldn't be in the lounge room tapping her foot, it was more a case of seeing the bedroom light go out, but it is the same kind of story. My older sister used to push the boundaries a bit, if I remember rightly, and they likely had arguments about it..... Again just the sheer humanity of the lyric is compelling to me. The little spoken bit with Ray looking out of his bedroom window to see what's going on, isn't all that dissimilar to adult Ray gazing across Waterloo at Terry and Julie, and I don't know if it is meant to relate or not, but it makes me think of the eternal observer, who can't help but watch people and the fascinating way they act and react and go about their lives. The bridge is devastating ... the day they knocked down the Palais ... the skating rink, put a new development on the park where you used to run around.... whatever it may be. The day that place was destroyed against your will, and a little piece of your life will never be the same. A lesson in the ever changing world we live. His sister stood and cried ... she knows it will never be the same again. Part of his childhood died ... he knows it is never going to be the same again Little pieces of innocence slowly stripped from us, via things we have grown accustomed to... Then we move into this next verse as though it is all business as usual, because we have hardened somewhat to the ways of the world. We move from the devastation of the child, to the "matter of fact" adult. Now I'm grown up and playing in a band.... But this verse manages to create some more beautiful humanity. My sister's grown up and it's her turn to wait for her kids to come home at night. That cycle of life in effect.... with a twist, "She knows they get away with things she never could".... but is that really a good thing? Then a beautiful closing sentiment "If I asked her, I wonder if she would come dancing?" Does she feel the nostalgia attached to this that I do? Has she still got that spark that made her special to me "when I was just a kid"? This is such a poignant lyric to my ears, and it is about much more than dancing, and it is about much more than reminiscing.... to me it is absolutely beautiful, and looking more closely at it has been quite a moving little journey, and I probably went on too long, but sh... you're all probably used to that by now, if your even bothering to read it lol The video was done by Julien Temple, and I think it is a really good video in itself, and Ray gets to ham it up. The slow fade in of the acoustic guitar into the steel drums sound is an instant hook... if I understand what a hook is lol. It gives it this joyous kind of sound that really suits the feel of the lyrical theme. I suppose the chords are fairly simple, but often that is all a song needs to share its feel or message, and I think it works really well here. I also like the way the distorted guitar works as an accent after the wonderful bridge that shows us the loss. Simple things like the change of the ending note at the end of the vocal section and then we modulate in the horn section that closes us out. I think it works beautifully, and I am reminded what a great song this is, and why it appealed to me all those years ago, even though my moderately old age sees more to the song now than then.
