Funny how music wise the more recent years and decades are (for many) the ones more likely to Blur together.
Maybe it was to make the kid seem perhaps more socially awkward, uncool and or reserved as possible as after all for one he couldn't show confounding mental illness.
"Property" A really great song and beautifully delivered. One of the most devastating lyrics that Ray has ever written - particularly the last section about the useless objects outlasting the relationship. It somehow manages to sound timeless despite the vocoder and other 80s sounds trying their hardest to timestamp it. Love the epic bridge section, and the cold ending.
There's a wonderful subtlety and restraint to 'Property' which allows it to creep up on you, gradually revealing its strengths. After yesterday's song, I am glad they didn't make a video for this one! It's a favourite of mine which, as Mark said in his great opening, really resonates as you get more of life's experiences thrown at you. I can't add much to what's been said already except that this is another top notch song.
"Property" - I must say that songwriting carries the day here because this is just a well written song. Because it was not in the Kinks show, this song is less familiar to me but hearing it now and paying attention to the lyrics, it is clear to me that this is a song written with real skill and craft. And it is a very melancholy song indeed as it mines a situation familiar to many - the long relationship that has gone on for too long in order to keep up appearances but it is over and it is time to divide up the "property". It is an interesting way to approach a song - the title "Property" could refer to many things but when you hear the song, you realize that in this case, when a couple has to deal with their "property", it means they are no longer a couple and even if both partners want to be free, it is still a sad and difficult experience for both to disentangle their lives. Ray found a unique way to illustrate that situation. Musically, I am surprised in this thread how much the Kinks absorbed the current influences. So "Property", indeed, sounds very 1983 (the vocoder! - Neil Young caused quite a stir in 1982 with Trans and live shows that used the vocoder on some songs to very audible boos in Dortmund, for example). The Kinks use of current sounds was less jarring to fans, I think, than Neil's approach as the Kinks just add enough of the current trend to flavour the song. Bottom line - 1983, Ray still had his songwriting chops in good order.
"Property" Who knew the Kinks of all people were so good at 80'es synthpop ballads? Another track that drags me deep into 80'es nostalgia of a scene that I haven't really inhabited. From the sound of this track I immediately picture neon-lit town streets full of anonymous people, cabs and deserted railway stations. The melody simmers deep below and as the track progresses becomes more and more poignant and melancholic. Even without the lyrics, it's so evident that this track is about loneliness, sadness and a sense of closure. The actual lyrics, I just read them for the 1st time remind me of some Genesis songs like "There must be some other way" or "Like it or not" and "Please don't ask" and evoke a similar feeling of being lost. I really wish the Kinks would have explored the synthpop genre even further, they're too good at it. "Don't forget to dance" is a kind of twin sister of that song which is even better.
Haven't been keeping up with the thread in the last few days but this song is a definitely a good one.
Property Ray captured the dissolution of a relationship so perfectly that even at thirteen, without any relationships under my belt, or any on the near horizon, I got it! This is what happens when things go south, and very rarely are there any Hollywood endings. Now, forty years on, I’ve my own archives of ephemera from affairs that didn’t pan out. Part of me always played (and still does) the role of curator, and given 48 hours or so, I can track down that slip of paper with your phone number on it, or that movie ticket from our first date. So this song can still crush. It cuts to the bone (more so than ‘To The Bone’, from ‘96). Lyrically, Ray has done it again; that bridge, that final verse. I only wish the arrangement was more in the vein of ‘To The Bone.’ ‘Property’ is claustrophobic, almost suffocating, and maybe that was the idea, but I’d prefer there be some space in the track, some room to breathe. I know Andy Partridge used to describe what he required from fellow musicians by telling them the color he was imagining for a particular sound. He, and many other artistic types, profess to experience synesthesia. Of course, Ray and Dave have telepathy, but if I was assigning a color to this mix it would be onyx; while maybe what I’m hoping for is emerald green. I think this was another song that Dave claimed to have a ‘mental block’ about and never wanted to play live, and with such a synthetic, inorganic sound, maybe there was no blaming him. Of course, since he wasn’t around while everything on State of Confusion was being laid down, Ray didn’t leave any room for soloing on most of these songs (on purpose?, as a form of punishment?). Even amidst the limitations of the music, it’s peek into the world of grown-ups was eye-opening to a newly minted teen, and continues dispensing its sobering advice to the ‘adult’ I’ve become.
Actually, while I'm thinking about it I have that 7 cd, but if you prefer records, 7 is also on a double ten inch.... I have it at home, and it has the singles added to it also... pretty sure it sounds really good too.
Which CD? There are a couple of Various Artists CDs out there I never acquired where the mix of Come Dancing is unconfirmed. What have you got? I may track that down.
"Come Dancing" is a good song but I've never liked the arrangement that much, that keyboard does remind me of Dire Straits' "Walk of Life", a song I absolutely loathe. I just don't like the sound of mainstream rock from the 80s, to be honest, that "Born in the USA" sort of thing, ugh! As for "Definite Maybe" and "Labour of Love", shouty faux punk/arena rock Kinks is not for me.
Property: I'm not sure why, but this song has resonated through the years. There's a languid sort of broken-heartedness I also associate with "All About You" by The Rolling Stones. This guy's not angry ... he's had it. Just take what you want, not going to fight you over it. When things go that far south, the sense of defeat has fully settled in. Compare and contrast with a song like "It's Over" by Roy Orbison, where the world is ending. This is more of an adult song about what happens after the world ends. Even at the time, I really liked this song. But I guess as the years went on, and having similar experiences, more so watching a few friends go through some really bad divorce scenarios, the song makes even more sense. Perfect song for the end of the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial!
Lol To be honest, all morning I have been thinking about the absolute opposite scenario that was portrayed in the movie War Of The Roses, from 1989, with Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas....
Property I had forgotten this song, but I kind of like it. It has a very different sound for a Kinks song. I wouldn't care for a full album of the Kinks using that synthesized echo type effect, but for one song it is a pleasant diversion.
Property Great lyrics, OK music, lazy arrangement. Good words, music that falls short of quite carrying them: the pattern of this album for me. And, I fear, of most of the remaining ones. But then, this song depresses me, which means it gets its point across! Maybe I'm a bit harsh.
Sorry it seems i have mislead you as i decided years ago to ditch the single as i later got the track on the Come Dancing Best Of The Kinks CD and silly me never checked out that it was a different mix. Konfession: N.b. As much as i really like Come Dancing for its lyric and video i don't play it all that often and though i would never skip it i don't seek it out and even if the keys have lost some favour with me you will see i don't forget to dance!
Property Never heard this but listening 4 times tonight and I really feels a grower. What Ray describes really puts you in the picture and for anyone of such experience I am sure it resonates, percolates or reverberates depending on the individuals memory, rawness of feeling or recentcy (is that even a word?) of event. The scene is set and there's just the formality of leaving and your mind playing over past events that may seek reason, salvation, forgiveness or a slew of other salves but the constant from here on in the lyrics, outlook and musical bed is the inevitable road the protagonist walks. The car has crashed but the wreckage is still slowly expanding and travelling with and alongside you and at the time of rising crescendo's the deepest emotions pour forth and one can't but help convey their own truth. Funnily enough i was talking to a client today about marriage and we were agreeing about a true partnership in sharing the load allowing quality alone time, working ongoingly at the relationship and not expecting people to change implicitly due to their union. I mentioned the song Labour Of Love and it seemed we had a basis of agreement. Anyhow the song to me echoes my father's position in my parents divorce and I instantly relate to the songs lyric, build and emotion despite agreeing with @The late man that the arrangement could have been improved. N.b. Ray's vocal meter reminds me very much of another Kinks song i can't button down (as I believe the tempo of this pressing is a tad slower) and the main riff and it's production has me thinking of another 80's cut by a contemporary artist that may be as disparate as Eric Clapton. P.s. One thing I definitely (not maybe) recall is that in one of the live concert versions of Come Dancing posted upthread, the coda jamming adopts a groove not unlike Otis Redding's I Can't Turn You Loose!
Property As usual, the early birds (or those a few time zones ahead of me) have already given relevant and insightful commentary. Gold Medal today in particular to @Fortuleo for such a well written and personal account of this song. One thing that struck me anew this morning was the reappearance of the slightly sarcastic take on the family photo album. You take the photographs, the ones of you and me, When we both posed and laughed to please the family. We have a flashback to Picture Book/People Take Pictures of Each Other. Now with the photo album as "property," Ray takes another opportunity to mock this family ritual, cleverly showing how the contents are often an idealized front and do not reflect the underlying reality. Another devastating line in a devastating song.
I haven’t read through all the comments, but I second this opinion (or if others have seconded it already I fourth or fifth or whatever it). I don’t
"Property": This song was the one that popped out to me when I first got this album. As I said before, when this album came out, I was dealing w/an attempted relationship that didn't work out as well as transferring to a new college and wondering what was going to happen next, so this song resonated w/my melancholy mood at the time. Our Headmaster, Avid Fortuleo and other Avids have expressed why this song is so great. I especially loved the ironic use of the base line from "My Girl" in the beginning and the concept that the tacky souvenirs out lasted the marriage.
