I’m very late on All She Wrote after being on trains for much of the day - the signal wasn’t good enough to play the song, and Mark’s lovely Aussie barmaids were blocked! Anyway, this is another decent song, especially the verses.
All She Wrote Like @All Down The Line, I heard a few strums that sounded like Sleepwalker in the intro. Musically, I really like this catchy rocker by Ray, and I like the playing by the band used on this one. The lyrics leave me a little unsure of what to think. At first I felt bad for the character of singer. The letter is a pretty brutal put down, though the singer does appear to admit to having been a bit of a phony. The suicide note reveal at the end always took me by surprise, but being at the end, while listening to the album, the next song would start and the end of All She Wrote quickly forgotten. In having to think about it a little more today, my first thought was that it was intended to be metaphorical, as some said being about the end of the relationship, but I think I agree with @Brian x interpretation that it was meant to be a literal suicide note. It fits in literally with the title of the song, of course that was the last thing she wrote. I never watched Murder She Wrote, but I would assume that one of the features of any murder mystery show would be some kind of twist, which Ray, maybe a little too self consciously, appears to have pulled off here. It sure is one brutal, spiteful suicide note if that is what it truly is, and awfully long to have been written on the back of an envelope.
All She Wrote Well, that's a tough one. 1st level: I'm not fond of the music. It sounds 90s and I don't like 90s. It could use a little counterpoint: the voice and instruments seem to be most of the time moving in the same direction, following this "V-shaped" thing. And the versification is still not good. 2nd level: I read the lyrics and @mark winstanley 's analysis, not being able to remember the music. I like the idea of the break-up letter, and the running gag of the "All that she wrote" becoming longer and longer on the back of the envelope. 3d level: I read @Fortuleo 's post, later backed up by @Brian x 's: the song gains depth with the idea of a suicide note. Actually, it's difficult to imagine how this last, great line, "a few killer lines in that suicide note", can mean anything else than what it literally means. Still, it could imply something like "she's dead to me", this note killed her presence in my life. To be sure, we must refer to the music: Ray always stresses the key lines by musical changes. There we have the song coming to a brutal stop just after the line. It's definitely in favor of the suicide thesis. But it's not that sharp or clever a musical accent. And that's another thing I don't like so much with this song: the music fails to embody the lyrics, whether by mimicking them or by contrasting with it. It's kind of generic and unrelated to the words, really. But maybe I feel that way because I never got to learn the 90s-00s rock musical idiom.
Let's remember it was a "brown envelope", so I think that means she had at least 8.5" x 11" of space to work with.
In re-contextualizing the song around it being a suicide note, it becomes more devastating for sure... but it also changes the idea of what she actually may have written. Perhaps the key to the lyric is the repeated " A Few Killer Lines To Get My Goat" It may well be somewhat like Art Lover in pushing the listener into the wrong corner. The layout makes you feel sorry for the guy, because it seems like she has just taken off and is saying she's met someone else... I think that statement coming at the very start sends us on the wrong path, much like the way Art Lover set us up to hate the person and make us feel cringey about him (I still don't think Ray made that song quite clear enough) This one is the opposite way around. We feel sorry for the guy being cheated on/deserted... But if the accusations sort of hidden and smudged in the smoggy lyrics are actually true, not just rationalizations... it's possible that this guy was a big time philanderer ... and more, possibly Perhaps she thought she could get hers with some revenge sex and was overwhelmed by guilt and shame and loss, and all those other emotions.... There are a lot of ways to read these lyrics ... perhaps All She Wrote, wasn't actually what we heard, but the thoughts going around his head, because unless he was a sociopath, he must have some crazy feelings running around, particularly if he was a philanderer... It's sung in a kind of detached way, which also sort of throws confusion into the mix I actually read some of the liner notes now I've finished going through the songs, and all he really seems to say about this song is it could be a composite of his relationships, and then goes on to describe that this album was scary, and he was lost, because he went from being a kid into being a Kink, and he didn't know who he was without the Kinks... and he wasn't sure if he should write lyrics that are personal..... I actually get the impression that the liner notes for this track are somewhat deliberately vague.... Listening to the song again, it seems more poignant that the intense singing section, that isn't detached is "Did you ever really love me? Did you ever really care? Now, you're free to live your fantasy And I'm not there To cramp your style and blow your cover Now, you're free to take your lover To titty bars and low life clubs" Then it's like he regains his composure and we get the opening section again. Like @The late man states up there, with the context of suicide, the ending is much more poignant. "In that suicide note" then pow go the smash of the drums on the final strike of the guitar... then like debris of the fallout smatterings of non descript pieces of music fall to the floor. I'm still not sure how it goes, but I think @Fortuleo and @Brian x led us in the right direction... It got completely by me, but I reckon I was deceived by personal baggage on that one. Really interesting song, that raises more questions than it answers, in some ways
To think that at 62 years old, 44 years into his career, he could write a rock song that does this... and now the mournful acoustic at the beginning makes more sense too
Yea, this is a cool song. I was locked into All She Wrote today, but listening now this is a very cool track. I could hear this being done by one of the sixties soul singers.... I can't really make out the lyrics well enough to get a gist of where it's going, but I assume the style and the title, it works as some kind of tribute type of song to Otis Redding. Using riffs in the sense that Otis riffed on the words and melodies and how to deliver them. The music builds really nicely. A cruisy kind of soul pastiche, of sorts, that incorporates a few bits and pieces that would definitely have been used in that style in the day. Nice work.
All She Wrote This track is one of the album highlights. I like how it starts with a lone acoustic guitar before the other instruments join. Musically, it is very catchy and the chiming guitars and the shuffle-ish drumming give the song a sense of real urgency. The lyrics are interesting and at first it sounds like the other person has, in a state of anger, scribbled down the reasons she is now breaking up with him, aiming to insult and hurt the narrator as much as possible. If all of these things she's written are true it is not hard to understand why the relationship is ending, it is more surprising that it didn't happen sooner. In a way, her words are so petty and vindictive that it is like dark humour. "Pick up lines that will impress young schoolgirls or big Australian barmaids" sounds a bit like she is saying "you think you are so sophisticated and classy and that women find you so charming but you are just clumsy and embarrassing". On the other hand, her words on this brown envelope are so furious that it is easy to sympathize with the narrator. The last lines change how the listener hears the song. If these words on the brown envelope are her suicide note then it seems the narrator's behaviour has caused her considerable anguish which perhaps he hadn't realised and he appears stunned and saddened. The fact that the song ends quite abruptly immediately after this makes it rather haunting. It is a song that stay on the mind long after it has finished. A very well-written and well-produced track.
You rang?! Hey everyone. Yep, I flaked. No excuses to offer. Hated saying goodbye to the Kinks. I know a fair amount of the solo stuff...and, man, I do miss the magic the Davies Bros made. So someone tell me a few of the songs of late that most liked (if there is such a thing) and I'll give them a listen.
Hey mate, you're under no obligation lol Pleased to see you... Dave - Fortis Green Ray - The Morning After - All She Wrote
Nice to have you back, Avid Wondergirl. No problem w/you “flaking out”. I was doing a bit of “walkabouts” myself on some of the Dave stuff, especially the live stuff. Anyway, we generally liked Bug. My particular favorite was “Flowers In The Rain”, as well as “Fortis Green”. Now we’re doing Ray’s Other People’s Lives, which has been generally favorable so far, although everyone is noticing Dave’s absence.
Thanks for the brief overview. I know I bought Other People's Lives earlier this year. Will try to dig it out and get it playing in my car.
“All She Wrote” – I am attempting to get back on the bus here. The 90s-early 00's may have been when I was last in tune – somewhat - with current rock music (I say this with some embarrassment, not with pride as some on this forum might). So I really like this musically, especially the guitars, drums, chorus, and how the ending reflects how “that’s all she wrote” for the last time. Lyrically – Wow, there is a lot packed into this tale of a nasty kiss-off: her jabs, stabs, and put downs, some painful self-admission (yes, he had turned into someone else, and not someone better), and some implied backstories (“gay cafes,””blow your cover,”"big Australian barmaid”). I‘m drawn into wanting to know more, like I've heard rumors of my next door neighbo(u)rs’ ugly breakup and can't help craving more lurid details. At first I thought “suicide note” might have referred to killing off the relationship, or it felt like an (emotional) suicide note she’d written for him. But I think @Fortuleo and @Brian x are on target, it was her suicide note. On one hand, it’s odd because she’s got this new guy who “laughs a lot, not like you” (ouch). But if she’s become mentally unhinged, it makes more sense as hysterical rambling and a final lashing out prior to a sudden tragic act of despair on her part. In the lyric booklet, there are several lines that Ray doesn’t sing (forgive me if others mentioned this and I missed it): “All she wrote all those goodbye letters Little girl hopes and big girl fears Mascara runs and floods of tears on the pages that she wrote” We get more of a glimpse of what was going on for her emotionally, and not just from the words she’s written. This isn’t the first time she's written a goodbye note, and we get the sense that she (and they) have been headed down this road for a while. Maybe Ray decided not to use these lines because he wanted to keep the story focused only on what she wrote. But it strengthens the suicide angle for me. A strong song, but, yes, rather dark. As an aside, thank you @StefanWq for your honest and stirring account of life and of the power of music the other day. I felt privileged to read it.
The question would be: was Ray deliberately ambivalent or cryptic? I don’t think so. The abrupt instrumental stop is supposed to make things clear, even though it’s designed to take us off guard. So is there anything wrong with the (song)writing then, that’d put a lot of us listeners on the wrong path? I think @Michael Streett and @The late man offer a good combined explanation: it’s quite unusual for Ray to be as blunt and use this kind of surprise pay off. And it’s also unusual for him to create a song where music and lyrics don’t seem to work together organically, either to complement each other or to contrast with one another in a specific pointed way. So is it somewhat a failure ? Not to me. Once you accept the outcome and listen again, the song works brilliantly, in its own devastating way. She’s not taking revenge. She’s not being “hysterical” or bitchy. “All she wrote” were signs of desperation and breakdown, after feeling completely negated by a guy who would indulge in partying and clubbing and flirting and whatnot, in a self-centered "narcissistic pervert" way. And the music’s supposed to paint the portrait of that restless guy, losing himself in precisely what her written words describe. After the sad acoustic opening and the slow first verse, their relationship history pass before our eyes (ears) while he’s probably doing it again and again and again, with her last words resonating in the back of his mind.
Creatures Of Little Faith. stereo mix (3:43), recorded 9 Apr, 2004 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London You caught me with my pants down But I was only taking a shower Still you looked for the evidence Like the smell of perfume, or lipstick on my collar You're always suspicious, I'm terrified I've made a mistake We are such creatures of little faith We are such creatures of little faith And when I come home late, you always ask me "Have you been drinking?" "I swear I've been working" You say I'm lying as if you know just what I'm thinking You say you don't trust me, and you quiz me till I finally break Oh, we are such creatures of little faith Such creatures of little faith You say that love is blind I wish you were out of sight, and out of mind I take you at face value But still I find you keep looking for those telltale signs I didn't mean to follow you But I suspected you were meeting somebody I was playing detective Thought you were fooling around, now it's too late to say I'm sorry Still I'm optimistic, my trust has not been betrayed Forgive me I'm still a sad creature of little faith We are such creatures of little faith And all we need All we need All we need is a little bit of faith We are such creatures of little faith Such creatures of little faith Don't you know that A little bit of faith can be such a beautiful thing? Written by: Ray Davies Published by: Davray Music, Ltd. We have a slightly unusual start. The drum lead in, is strangely detached, like there is a pause before the guitar chord comes in, but then we cruise into this really nice smooth moving track. I really like the two guitars kind of floating on the slow groove. They aren't the typical unison guitars. They are almost kind of each freeforming it, and it adds a really cool, loose feel to the start. This is a really interesting lyric to me in its subject matter... It isn't a song about love. It isn't a song about cheating. It isn't a song about breakups. This is a song about insecurity. I understand insecurity, I was pretty insecure when I was a young fella, thankfully these days I just don't g.a.f. Which isn't to say I don't care, just that I have no control over anyone else's actions, so what's the point in worrying about it? Absolutely zilch. I guess some may see it as silly, but I love the opening lines "You caught me with my pants down But I was only taking a shower" It's a brilliant way to open up the song, in my mind, because it instantly makes me think "where is he going with this?" Then we have the other person doing the Robert Palmer and Looking For Clues... One thing I have learned through life, is more often than not, the person who is obsessed with thinking their partner is cheating, is rather frequently feeling that way because they themselves are. Someone who is not in that mindset, isn't generally going to be even looking.... I mean unless they start finding strange underwear in the laundry, or you come home covered in bruises on your neck or something lol The next verse touches on the old idea of working late having some insidious meaning, but sometimes ... In fact normally it is just working late. Then we roll into this lush and beautiful bridge, and we get the reaction to constantly being quizzed about nothing. "You say that love is blind I wish you were out of sight, and out of mind" It's just that state of being flabbergasted by the constant attacks on your character, so you end up resenting the person who keeps implying and accusing you. The next verse could go two ways that I can see. After the bridge Ray could have changed characters, and found out their partner wasn't cheating on them, but got caught in the process or We have the great leveller. The accused has had their suspicions raised by the constant interrogations, and they have found that there was nothing going on, but were caught. Whichever person it is, they come to the conclusion that they are still a sad little person with little faith. Which really brings us to the underlying theme of the song, I think. Yes, we are such creatures of little faith, but the sad reality is, time and time again through life it frequently seems that it would be ludicrous to have faith in human nature, but whether right or wrong, it really is a beautiful thing to show faith in human nature, even if it is only occasionally, and even when that faith may be damaged... Knowing that either way, whatever is going on with anyone in life, everything will be ok, one way or another. I think this is a beautiful song, lyrically and musically. My theory is very rusty, but I think we open on the IV chord, and i resolves to the I at the end, and it is always nice to mix up the pattern. The opening starts on a maj7 and we get the e string ringing through the change, and it is a sound I love, and have used often myself... I think it is Fmaj7 to a G6,... G6 is just a G chord with a ringin skinny E string, instead of a fretted G note. The verse starts off with the back and forth of the F and G, but to really open up into melodic beauty, the second half moves through a series of chords that run through a minor run, back to a major and eventually resolving to the I or C if I got the chords right so far lol The structure is actually almost like the chorus is the last line of the verse repeated, and I think it works beautifully. The bridge is the icing on the cake, with a delayed vocal entry, that allows the grand change to settle before the vocal comes in, and then the phrasing of the vocal is just perfection, even if it is slightly unusual, perhaps because it is. The coda, or extended chorus, depending on how you want to look at it is just beautiful, and again Ray just twists up the chord pattern a little to take it to the next level, and then we resolve beautifully to the I. Then we have the way he augmented the great writing with the great instrumentation. A little tremolo on one of the guitars, and just a very tasteful use of wah on another. A nice short and to the point sax lead break. This is a fantastic track, to me. Indeed a little bit of faith can be a beautiful thing, and at 3:40 Creatures of Little Faith is pretty much the perfect length for this style of song.
And in comes the sax which triggers my alert warnings. But once we get to those mid-seventies Bacharach-meets-over-the-hill-Beach-Boys major seventh chords, I'm more than willing to accept – even love – it. This is a wonderful arranger’s song, with chorus echo laden guitars, a torch song cabaret Twin Peaks kind of song, so the muted sax is almost de rigueur (I always hoped I could use this kind of anglo-french expression somewhere somehow, I hope I got it right). This one's unlike anything Ray’s ever did musically. Lyrically, it's quite unusual too, except from his old trick starting the song by a pointed “you” (you mistrust me, you misjudged me) before shifting gears mid-song to look in the mirror and find that he’s just the same jealous, possessive and controlling type as she is. Like our headmaster, I’ve been there myself as a late teen, jealous and controlling, and it’s a terrible place to be, like a disease. And it makes you impossible to live with. I’m so glad that I was able to leave that awful side of me behind… The song has the exact right feel of obsession. A late night paranoia blues, when the mind tricks you into rehashing ideas and scenarios. Thematically, it could’ve been on Sleepwalker. But I guess the writing's more mature, in every sense of the word. I think this is the best one since the opening track, and the band's really nailing it. A true grower, a slow burn success verging on semi-klassik status.
"Creatures of Little Faith" This is my favourite track on the album so far - it's also the closest to an early 70s feel of any of the tracks so far. These things may be connected. That wah-wah guitar in particular is a nice touch. However, it could also have worked on one of the Arista albums, in the "Art Lover" slot for example. It's a nice song with a more relaxed feel to the playing. I like the way it ends on what sounds like an unresolved chord. We never find out whether the narrator is actually cheating, despite their protestations that they're not, but we do know that their partner isn't.
"Creatures Of Little Faith" A little change of pace here with a ballad that feels like it belongs in a smoke-filled club. Having just seen the Elvis movie and listening to its soundtrack, I couldn't stop thinking about "Suspicious Minds" when listening to this. Yes we can be creatures of little faith but that's because we are pretty insecure. The song wouldn't work if Ray's narrator doesn't have a suspicious mind himself before the end of the song. Ray, I think, has a pretty good grasp of human nature. Here, I like Ray's voice as it fits the song well (as does the sax). An enjoyable, if unspectacular, song.
Tunewise, this kinda reminds me of 'Out Of The Wardrobe', (tho with a much better lyric of course).. I don't remember the arrangement being so 70s Adult Contemporary/Yacht rock with the sax and all.. kind of interesting contrast coming straight after the last track which was about as up to the minute musically as you could expect a 2006 Ray Davies track could be.. this is actually a more stylistically varied album than I remembered it being.
Creatures Of Little Faith - Wow, I really like this. A nice balance of Ray's vocals and the dare I say All Things Must Pass instrumentation. Not shot with that sax at all.
I'm enjoying this side discussion. I'm currently smack dab in the middle of the Robert Gordon Stax book!
