Heart of Gold Growing up isn’t easy to do Right off the bat, I was all ears. Entering my teen years, craving some privacy, but your private life is always on view, whether you’re a Royal or not. This felt like Ray was speaking to me, in some avuncular way, and later in life, it spoke to me on much different levels. Any and every way I have processed and digested this song, carried it inside me my entire adult life, has made me richer; every person I’ve been through the years has cherished this recording. Ray has mentioned on numerous occasions that this was his favorite song on State of Confusion. It may very well be mine, too. The guitar parts are recorded to near perfection; the entire song is the best produced on the album. What can you say about the brothers harmonizing except that they should do it more often. This is another of Ray’s composite sketches; partly about Chrissie Hynde and partly about Princess Anne, though not equally. I’d say 80/20 in favor of the Princess. Which Princess?, I hear coming from the peanut gallery. The Royal. If one can imagine Ms. Hynde singing this song it may be because Ray seems to be channeling her vocal stylings in the verses. She’s reached that difficult age-uh. Same as Ray’s sister in ‘Come Dancing’ now has her own daughter’s to wait for, the precocious woman with the heart of gold now has her own quickly-growing Princess to care for. The inevitability of the cycle of life on display was enough to give pause to, and compel this thirteen-year-old to consider the prospect of one day becoming my parents. I don’t know if there’s enough here to konstitute a klassik, but there is enough to beatify.
Thank you. I love the name Salem Willows. Great stuff! That was my starting point on the Everly Brothers other than some inherited vinyl sides! A great collection. I'd also highly recommend "Songs Our Daddy Taught Us" for a good look at their roots.
That video bought me more time with my MTV. No but my dad had a great story about a girl getting mad at him and throwing his brand new dress shirt into a bonfire!
Heart of Gold: I was convinced at the time (probably still am) that this was about Chrissie Hynde. As ajsmith points out, this even sounds like a Pretenders song. I don't know a thing about Princess Anne. (aj, I think the reason Chrissie Hynde never got Yoko'd was that she didn't break up the band and came into this thing fully formed. I suspect Dave could sense this would all end in tears, and possibly felt threatened, as she was a famous musician in her own rite. But his instincts also proved correct ... maybe because he knew his brother, and his pitfalls, so well? As far as he was concerned, she was potential Yoko!) It's hard not to like a song this jaunty and positive. If I had to toss a coin between this and "Back on the Chain Gang" ... I believe "Chain Gang" is about James Honeyman-Scott's passing, basically her "Days" song, and it's hard to top something like that.
Princess Anne. Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise, was born August 15 1950. The second child and only daughter to Queen Elizabeth, and 17th in line for the throne. Quite a big figure in the equestrian world won a gold medal in 1971, and two silver medals in 1975 at the European Eventing Championships. She married Captain Mark Phillips in 1973, separated in 1989, and divorced in 1992. She had two children to Phillips - Peter 1977 - Zara 1981. Anne was always seemingly the odd one out, and was pretty constantly ridiculed from the memories I had.... over the long haul though, she seems to have been more honourable than her idiot older brother Charles. Queen Elizabeth's children in order were Charles Anne Andrew Edward. Obviously not in depth, but just a quick overview for those completely unfamiliar.
It speaks a lot of the Kinks' variety that this song follows "Young Conservatives". As I was listening to this this morning, I thought this reminds me of something and lo and behold, @ajsmith, I think you may have nailed what it was that it reminded me of. Of course, "Back On The Chain Gang" is one of Chrissie Hynde's greatest songs and this was the time when Ray and Ms Hynde were pretty close. Who writes songs about birth order and sibling rivalry (I would expect the Beach Boys and Kings of Leon to have a few but I am not aware of any)? Well, Ray does. This song adds to the overall variety of genres on this album and it is a well-written song. However, as a Canadian, there is only one song called "Heart Of Gold" (but it was written by a Canadian who has not lived in his home and native land since the mid-1960s).
What's all this about? Charles hasn't done anything more idiotic than having and affair and a divorce. By the standards of Ray Davies that's pretty humdrum.
Anne is so obviously the pick of the bunch. I think that's been acknowledged for a long time. Not that she's got much competition.
‘Heart Of Gold’: the second track from the album to make my playlist, this one is jangly guitars, fun choruses (easy to harmonize with) and just an all-around pleasant song. I have no idea where/why the Princess Anne talk is coming from but I do see the Chrissie Hynde parallel (‘Back On the Chain Gang’): “Watch out, don't get caught in the crossfire. Watch out, she's still growing up, she's in a rage, I guess she's reached that difficult age.” The cadence is very similar to The Pretenders’ song.
Tbf, If I was gonna pick a definitive 'worst son of the Queen', Charles wouldn't be my (or I suspect many peoples) first choice these days....
Heart of Gold: This one’s easy, it has turned out to be my “sleeper” favorite on the album. How this never got radio play or a video blows my mind. Who would’ve thought that I’d be listening to the Kinks for 40+ years and still be discovering “new” favorite songs like this one (although at this point, I might very well be able to complete a playlist of over 100 songs that were all brand-new to me out of the various albums we have covered that might very well qualify as favorites). Like Fortuleo, I am not particularly interested in Ray’s relationship with Chrissie Hynde, and it never even occurred to me over the past six weeks as I listened to the song that it was about her. Frankly, I’m happier with the song not knowing who is about, that way I can just project my own thoughts and feelings onto it. I have only read our fearless leader and Fortuleo‘s comments thus far, so I may be being redundant or leaving out others who have said the same thing, but this song really does hit all the classic elements that seem to make us all love the kinks of the late 60s and early 70s, ranging from the slightly sloppy but staggeringly beautiful brotherly harmonies, Dave and Ray’s jangly guitars and the incredibly catchy chorus which requires you to pay attention because it’s never really same every time it appears. This one will float right to the top of my playlist for the Arista period. It’s a beautiful, penetrating and thoughtful song while still being eminently catchy. Pure Kinks!
Andrew is certainly problematic.... I should have just left that out. My context... All through the seventies, from my memory. Anne was ridiculed and Charles revered as this happy-go-lucky man of the people... Let's just leave it there hey. Heart Of Gold......
Heart of Gold I said a few days that there would be a character upcoming who would be even more meaningful to me. Well, we're there. But it's not just Ray's songwriting skill that makes this one so meaningful to me; so.... if you'll indulge me a very personal story here.... 1982 18 years old After an inauspicious freshman year,, I'm dropped out of uni for a year while I work at a mine, figuring out what I want to do with my life and trying to save enough money to go back when I get my act together. Early 1983 I meet and fall deeply in love with a beautiful young woman. My first big fall. (We're totally unprepared for the first time we fall in love) Overwhelming it was. It took me months to win her, but I ultimately broke through. We had an intense romance of about six months, but which ultimately had to end primarily for two reasons. First, our lives were inherently headed in different directions. Second, she had abandoned much of her self, completely attaching and subordination her life to mine, which I couldn't handle. Knowing this, I unilaterally decided we both needed to move on, which was probably the best decision, but I made it unilaterally and sprung it on her out of the blue. It was dreadful. That was September '83. I had returned to my studies in August. I bought State of Confusion in October. Now here's where it gets interesting. By outward impressions, she was a very cold fish. Very reserved, even standoffish. Definitely "aloof" and easily misinterpreted as "superior." Now here's where it gets really interesting. She had an older brother with whom she was very tight. When she was born, she was daddy's little girl.... until her little sister was born at which time she was largely set aside. The family dynamic I observed was identical to that of the character in the song. In retrospect, I could see how that upbringing had contributed to who she had become. To top it all off, yes, underneath that cool exterior, she most definitely had a heart of gold. She had the most beautiful, tender soul I've ever met. And I knew it from the second I first laid eyes on her. And I failed to properly care for the the sacred trust I demanded to take in the first place... I also added to the need for that heart of gold to turn further inward and the exterior to grow more cool. I'm very good at forgetting the past and moving on, but I still reproach myself for this at times. I literally can not listen to this song without crying. I pray that she, just as in the song, has found that dedicated, faithful man who truly treasures her heart of gold and has given her a beautiful little girl of her own.
Do you (or anyone else) know anything more about this project or why it was made? It's a very obscure and odd Ray acting role that you never seem to hear much about. I first became aware of it when a clip (the Arsenal bit) was included by Temple in his later 2010 doc on Ray. Is the segment you posted above the extent of Ray's involvement in it or is there more? I wouldn't say it looks that bad on the evidence of that clip: seems kind of intriguing, in that it (sort of) predicts the wireless digitally linked up house of today. Mari Wilson was also a pop star of the early 80s: I only know this song though.
Well, this is a first on this thread. No one's actually made me cry yet until today. We truly have it all going on in this thread. Great post.
Your dream reminds me of the Larry Sanders episode where he dreams that his ex-wife is in bed with a famous actor who is a guest on the show. He tells Artie "...and she was on top", to which Artie replies: "That lazy *******!"
Yes, two younger brothers but no sister so how on earth could the song be referencing her? Anyway, you omitted to mention she won Sports Personality Of The Year back in ??? '71 or '72?? Won it ahead of George Best!! Jesus wept.
Like @ARL I’ve thought that surely the ‘little sister’ bit has to be autobiographical on Ray’s part (using the ‘Two Sisters’ gender swop) and that the songs subject is a composite. It’s also possible Ray was thinking of /remembering his own children: Louisa (born 1965) had a younger sister in Victoria (born 1968) and the imminent at the time of writing Natalie would become a younger half sister to both.
Ray brought up Princess Anne. Apparently others have suggested there are Princess Anne connections, and folks this morning mentioned Princess Anne. Frankly at this stage I wish I'd stayed out of it.
Heart of Gold Here is Ray Davies the songwriter at his most charming. It is an irresistible acoustic guitar-driven song with great vocals and beautiful harmonies. I much prefer this style to the previous song, on which I didn’t comment.
That's really interesting. I'm working on some streaming project ideas with Catalyst Storieroads, early development stages.
Heart Of Gold This song has considerable charm and I blame Ray as again there seems plenty of personal investment to me. On the surface at least it is about a girl and i never thought of any similarity with Back On The Chain Gang (thank you @ajsmith) and on top of that there's no pretending in Ray's delivery. But then I am thinking of Sybilla and could Ray's some time nirvana be about a........ boy? Yes @ARL has already fingered Dave and he was the first person I had actually thought of of either sex! Speaking of Dave he repurposes a Lola styled cascading line throughout this song at for example 1:25 and 3:48 and following this I could imagine Ray going into; "I pushed her away, I fell to the floor, I got down on my knees etc" So my post also "resonates" with @Fortuleo 's link to a certain 1970 LP. I also hear a hint of the opening chords from Supertramps 1977 hit Give A Little Bit but don't know if anyone will Roger that? As I was saying, this does have considerable charm but I do find the chorus a bit clunky which I believe @croquetlawns has also in different words alluded to. Despite or because of what's on his Plate we've a happy song sung by a pleasant Mr and that's the way that I want it to stay! P.s. Did someone mention there's a track called Cliches of the world?
