Killing Time First seeing this title, I wasn't sure if this song was going to be about wasting time, or if it's literally time to start killing. After all, we've already looked into a Killer's Eyes. But after hearing that first great line about standing in line, I knew it wasn't about literal killing. I hear the Heartbreakers, but not so much in Ray's lead vocal to me, but rather in the "Killing Time" backing vocals and just the overall feel of the musical background. A nice competent rocker. I don't hear classic Kinks musically, but it sounds great and does have Ray's distinctive lyrics. Also just noting that the lyrics mention previous Kinks efforts such as Brother, Soap Opera, and Property.
"Killing Time" I don't have much to add after all the great posts. Another pleasant song that fits the bill, but doesn't quite reach classic status. Many good observations already made. It does have the jangle of bands like REM and Tom Petty. It also somewhat reminds me of a band like The Waterboys. I'm not very familiar with them, but the abrupt start to the song is reminiscent to the start of "The Whole in the Moon". I also hear a slight Celtic style vocal delivery from Ray in a few parts. I really like that song "The King of Carrot Flowers" and can make the connection that @mark winstanley brought up. A nice tune before we get to Dave's closing song that has me wanting to join an 80s aerobic dance class. Sweating to The Kinks!
I was wondering, isn't there something of an ambiguity there? Killing Time and Time killing you in the end?
"Killing Time" - I appreciate @mark winstanley's and others' take on this. I will have to listen to it more because the music has not held my interest up to now. I can definitely hear Petty & Co. on the "killing time" part. Thanks for the nice comment on my edits! I was going to save this observation until we got to Phobia, but since you brought it up: Other than the short "Opening" intro, there is only one song on Phobia that's under four minutes long ("It's Alright (Don't Think About It)" by Dave, 3:34). On the other hand, there was only one song on TKATVGPS that was over three minutes ("Last of the Steam-Powered Trains," 4:07). I daresay this supports your assertion... Yes, thanks, I did that with my garage band The Usual Suspects. I posted it to coincide with the new Elvis movie, in case the King needs a song for his next comeback. I will have to check them out. I still have my 8-track reel-to-reel, which is not fully functional and gathering pounds of dust but it's too heavy to haul off! Thanks! Don't yet know if I'll tackle Phobia! Thanks, and yes, I definitely hear LMLOtD now!
Killing Time - Another nice surprise. I do like the jangly Ray sound. This still sounds like solo Ray to me but what the hey! It’s a little long, I could go for a 3-3:30 version, hey @Smiler maybe give it a shot?
I didn't pay attention to Killing Time before the Headmaster alluded to it a few weeks ago, saying it had retained his attention. It does have a special vibe, and the lyrics have a certain "life's but a walking shadow" let-it-loose feel that rarely fails to get me. The bridge (or whatever) makes me think of another song but I cannot put my finger on it now. The words make me think of a text that most of us French used to study in high school, Blaise Pascal's take on "diversion" (the French word "divertissement" is more readily translated as "entertainment" nowadays). Today I turned 51, and I was by the seaside only with my number 2 and 3 kids (10 and 2,5 years old), wife in Paris. I had a lot of work long overdue and planned on getting rid of most of it. I sent all the work to hell and killed time with my kids all day Best murder I ever performed Let's kill as much time as we can before it kills us! @Smiler: actual horns? Funny, since "revolutionary" initially meant "circular"!
I've jumped ahead and started listening to the Kinks studio album following Think Visual. A few songs in and production aside surprisingly I'm not hating it.
I have run through it a few times now. So far, I like it.... so far, two songs have really grabbed me, and nothing has particularly bugged me yet.
Joyeux anniversarie, Avid The last man and may you have a splendid one. Are you in Normandy? Is it hot over there also?
We had 2 very hot days on Monday and Tuesday but otherwise it was the best place to be in France during the heatwave! Which seems to be over in the northern half of France as far as I know. Right now we just had two very Normandy days, where as the saying goes the weather is fine several times a day! Is it getting better on your side ?
No, it hasn’t and it may get a bit worse through Sunday in the mid 90s, although it may be a cooler here near the coast. Hopefully there may some rain on Monday.
I snagged a promo copy from the radio station where I was working at the time (its not like we were ever going to play it). I liked it at first but it didnt hold up to repeated listenings. We'll see if my opinion changes all these years later. Saw them on that tour.
Bon anniversaire! (Confession: I had to use Google translate. I took one week of French in 10th grade, but the class had too many students, so they went alphabetically and moved the bottom 10 or so last names over to German. Der Schweinehunds! Oh well, Comme si, comme sa. Here’s a birthday gift of “Rock ‘N’ Cities” in edited form so you can now slot it back into your album and it won’t offend too much. (I heard this edit was what Ray secretly gave to MCA US to release as the single but Dave got wind of it and got it stopped at the last minute. Who knows? Might have been a hit in this form). OK, sorry. With our edits talk, I’m just having some fun and killing time at the same time.
Killing Time I think Ray is trying to write an epic like "Celluloid Heroes" or "Misfits" here, but it just doesn't pack the weight of those songs. Ironically this is more a case of Ray "killing time" to fill out this album.
New twist on an old subject - I thought this particular community might be interested in my experience at a Lucius concert last night. When the ladies aren't touring with Roger Waters or singing 'Strangers' in a Super Bowl commercial, they're giving a free show in the little town of Bethlehem PA. I first heard their Strangers cover on the ABC TV series Big Sky and was intrigued. Turns out that song has been their encore for many years. And so it was last night too. It had extra meaning for me because it was at the venue where I saw Dave Davies twice. By the way, the whole show was terrific - Lucius are the real deal. Very sweet and approachable as well. Here they are with Wilco performing Waterloo Sunset.
