The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

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

  1. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    ‘Sold Me Out’ section of the film: The punks boom box music, at full volume, sets The Traveler thinking about how he’s “sold out” and implies he’s acted in some sort of shifty way above and beyond a simple real estate transaction. The Traveler checks to see if anyone has noticed his clients entering the building and then is offered jewelry (which certainly must be a “little something extra”, beyond his commission). He’s all smiles after the transaction but it must be weighing on his mind per his thoughts triggered by the song.

    The punk with the shaved head triggers a thought of seeing a guy with his daughter kicking open the door (of the house he just sold? I’m not sure as I couldn’t catch what the sign said on the door).

    This is an interesting segment with his imagination running rampant.

    (Having grown up in Japan I’m an expert (self styled! :D ) on trains. Starting to roll without the doors closed…unbelievable. Fired! (Now, that same fired employee would make a terrific bus driver (in Japan) as that’s the kind of personnel the bus companies love. I watched one elderly couple attempt to board with the husband managing to step midway through the doorway. The door slid shut hitting him, opening and then slamming on him again before he managed to escape inside. The door closed leaving his wife on the street, hand reaching for the railing. And the bus took off. The first stop was a hundred yards away and I watched the elderly man get off and begin to trudge back towards his wife.

    Typical Tokyo area bus bs. Well, maybe an extreme example but the bus companies only hire bastards. That’s true!)
     
  2. Michael Streett

    Michael Streett Senior Member

    Location:
    Florence, SC
    Sold Me Out versions

    The version that appears on the Word Of Mouth album first released in Nov 1984 is the full length version where the first lyrics are "I always knew that they'd get me somehow sooner or later". An alternate mix and edit was released shortly thereafter on the original July 1985 Return To Waterloo soundtrack vinyl Arista LP.

    The version that appeared on that original ROW soundtrack LP has that first set of lyrics edited out. It starts with the same guitar intro, but then gets edited so the first lyrics you hear here are “Got no dreams, got no ambition”. In terms of the mix, the differences are the harmonica is mixed out of this version, and one line of lyric has been changed. The lyric that occurs in the WOM version "And now it's every man for himself" has been replaced with the previously sung "And now we want some of your precious wealth" for a second time. This is not a copy and paste from earlier in the song, but a newly sung overdub by Ray where you can clearly hear the edit, as it sounds very different in both articulation and sound. The version from the film matches this version in terms of the harmonica being gone and the lyrical change, so I guess that's the reason Ray changed it for the original RTW soundtrack LP album release, to match the arrangement in the film. Of course, the actors singing in the film are not on this LP version (thankfully!). The other elements and placement of instruments in the mix are the same.

    The 2005 Koch CD reissue of the RTW soundtrack does not accurately replicate the original LP release for this song as I describe above. That 2005 CD and the video posted earlier from that presents this edited RTW CD version and not the original LP version/mix. They simply edited the WOM version/mix.

    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    The alternate 1985 LP mix was only ever released on that original US and Canada 1985 vinyl LP (and cassette) and has not been reissued since, so never CD.


    Sold Me Out (Return To Waterloo Original LP Mix)

     
  3. Steve62

    Steve62 Vinyl hunter

    Location:
    Murrumbateman
    Sold Me Out
    As I mentioned during the Word of Mouth discussion I think this song comes to life in the movie. It's certainly a memorable scene. Despite his calm exterior the traveler's imagination is running wild in this segment - and shifts into full hallucinating mode in that murderous briefcase rampage. At first I thought the attempted toilet tryst with the girl was "real" but the lack of consequences from the bovver boys swings it into his imagination. The flashing images of his wife and daughter show he feels some remorse for having such lecherous thoughts about the punk girl. A very entertaining segment.
    But I can't get the image of the protagonist as Jesus out of my head thanks to @Luckless Pedestrian. Blessed are the cheese makers!
     
  4. fspringer

    fspringer Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    Sold Me Out: Punks ... in 1984? Maybe if they were going to a costume party? In all fairness, Tim Roth is wearing what I might have worn in 1984 and not punked up, just seems like an angry kid. But the other two are straight out of 1978, the kind of suburban kids who picked up on punk and adopted the broad strokes of the style and attitude more than anything. Were there kids still doing this in 1984 in the U.K.? Admittedly, in the U.S. a subculture of kids getting mohawks/crazy hair/safety pins and getting into hardcore punk was solidifying into a lifestyle choice that probably still goes on today (see the late 90s movie SLC Punk! depicting this mid-80s period, or Penelope Spheeris' 1984 movie, Suburbia ... a movie that found me empathizing with the local L.A. rednecks). I suspect if Ray really wanted to craft a song for these kids, something along the lines of Killing Jokes' "Eighties" would have fit the bill.

    It should be noted the American version of this was often an updated version of The Graduate, where one of the protagonists had a choice to make regarding the adulthood embrace of materialism vs. the concept of remaining true to one's self [cough, while not paying rent or in any way taking responsibility for one's financial well being, cough]. You can see the same theme in Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho.

    Mark noticed something I had missed: that's the guy's daughter pictured with the boombox carrying punk breaking into an abandoned house for sale, presumably to squat there? And as we're later shown, the "punks" are greeted by a limo at the London train station. Angry children of wealthy parents? Musicians in a band? Clothing designers? Ray's next girlfriend and her two mates? Who knows.
     
    Last edited: Jul 2, 2022
  5. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I think that is just another "everything isn't always how it seems" statement from Ray
     
  6. DISKOJOE

    DISKOJOE Boredom That You Can Afford!

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    I interpret that particular scene as them being a bunch of musicians since they guy letting them in is a cigar chomping vulgar suit wearing manager type, although by 1985 they should have dressed like New Romantics and carry synthesizers w/them.
     
  7. The late man

    The late man Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    For all we know, the movie might well be taking place in 1978.

    The kids get into the limo the traveler fancied himself in. They're up the ladder of success while he's down there, for all the efforts he made.
     
  8. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    But who would you cast as who?
     
    DISKOJOE and mark winstanley like this.
  9. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    What are they doing travelling by British Rail then?
     
  10. The late man

    The late man Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    How else do you get inside London at peak hour ?
     
  11. Paul Mazz

    Paul Mazz Senior Member

    I can’t help being reminded of this scene from Quadrophenia.



    Ray’s film had echoes of this movie for me, from the contrast of the establishment characters on the train with the disaffected Jimmy, to there being a scene with a character looking in the mirror in the train bathroom, to Jimmy sitting between two establishment characters. Even the actor playing Jimmy doesn’t look too dissimilar to Tim Roth.
     
  12. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    If the whole irony of the situation is that they might well be (clichéd) angry young punks but they've got a limousine waiting for them - in which case I assume they're in a band - I don't think they'd be travelling by rail in the first place. Not given the UK has probably the worst railway system in Europe.
     
  13. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    travelling to their first meeting with the fat cat whose intends to wine dine and sign them?
     
  14. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    You’re all jumping ahead! No idea what you’re talking about.
     
  15. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    I think Ray was at a point where he needed a known quantity or a better the devil you know guy, perhaps he said to Larry; "You have this strange effect on me and i like it?"
     
  16. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    Are you Mildly Cyrious?
     
  17. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    o_O You must rectify that! It's such a fun movie.
     
  18. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    I’ve seen The Help from 2011, but I imagine that’s not as fun as the 1965 film.
     
  19. DISKOJOE

    DISKOJOE Boredom That You Can Afford!

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Probably because the said cigar chomping manager for whatever reason (cheapness, lack of money) couldn’t/didn’t want to drive the Rolls all the way up to where they lived. The guy probably had the Rolls as a front.
     
  20. The late man

    The late man Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    Anyway we'll get there but the Rolls is within the station, if I remember correctly, so does it even exist ?
     
  21. Luckless Pedestrian

    Luckless Pedestrian Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire, USA
    There’s an interesting reversal or irony with the mannequin smashing scene - the Traveler, in his reverie, smashes the heads of the mannequins because at that moment he feels no connection to them as humans or even on an animal level - they are inert objects, which gives him the freedom to destroy them without reservation or remorse. Immediately after this scene, the old, blind woman gets on the train and the punk girl coldly implies the helpless woman should be put to sleep. Then the other punk says he would put the alleged rapist, who has a strong resemblance to the Traveler, up against the wall and blow his head off. The Traveler now realizes that in reality, to these kids, he’s the mannequin - and that unlike him, they wouldn’t hesitate to smash him to pieces.
     
  22. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Systematic dehumanization....

    Nice post mate, it rings too true to even follow up
     
  23. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    same
     
  24. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Have you tried Bulgaria’s? Hopefully it has improved, but it was pretty dire I the early 2000s! :p
     
  25. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    @palisantrancho you should be proud of your film experience and achievement and not hold it to comparison with someone who made it into their career and vocation.
    Your post reminded me that i once had a toenail on the bottom rung of the ladder as an (almost) silent film actor!
    The unglamorous truth was that in my early 20's I was filmed in some type of university studio for a short project whereby I was the only subject/person in front of the camera and had no lines.
    My only directive was to sit on a stool and improvise around any theme, song or piece i knew on my Fender Telecaster which was an interesting challenge to do for a good length of time without repeating myself.
    I was promised a copy of the edited and completed film but never received one but alas thems the breaks!
    Hey maybe it's not too late to get representation on my page, someone ring Larry!
     

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