Young and Innocent Days This is a very beautiful tune and though the song fits well in the story it could also stand apart and could have fitted well on any number of other Kinks albums. A welcome dose of softness on what is quite a rock-infused album.
Don’t think The Kinks ever did it live, but Dave played it often solo. This version takes on an extra level of poignancy in retrospect being as he’s performing it outside the WTC in summer 2001.
Young and Innocent Days I've always thought this was one of Ray's most beautiful ballads, though it's not that highly regarded. In the context of this album, it's an opportunity to pause and reflect. That said, I'm not as convinced by the sequencing of tracks on the second side of this album as I was on the first. That may be more a fault with the final two songs than this ballad though. I'll be interested in hearing what others have to say on this song, including the music - which as Mark says, has a baroque feel to it. To be baroque and not to roll.
A few random thoughts about Young and Innocent Days. - I love the title. It's evocative, aching, everybody knows what's on Ray's mind, everybody can relate. The beauty of it : we know what "innocent days" would mean, but i think "young days" on its own would be improper. But put them together and you get poetry. - Come to think of it, any "days" songs by Ray is something special, especially the one before (the unsurpassed Days) and the one after (the sublime Schooldays). Something about the plural make them even deeper and more nostalgic. - If I'm not mistaken, this is the first bona fide ballad on any Kinks LP since So Long on Kinda Kinks, and only the second proper one they ever released in the sixties. All their other "slow" songs display agressive guitar and drums, and are not that slow in the first place. Again, if I'm not mistaken, this is almost unbelievable. - With Marina, this tune forms a sort of harpsichord combo. Of course, it was a Kinks specialty, but Nicky Hopkins' unique way of playing it is sorely missed, Ray being no match for his former key keys man. Nevertheless, the solo is restraint but exquisite. - I enjoy the faux medieval / classical verse, but the song really comes alive with the chorus, and the inimitable Davies bros. blend (let's call it a blend, even if it's anything but), with Dave all but screaming his part, adding passion and pain to Ray's charming prettiness. This song almost invents that sound (at least in a ballad setting), that will be an integral part of the Kinks' appeal for the years to come, especially on Lola. - All in all, this often neglected tune has a lot to offer, plenty of musical grace and lyrical depth, without even trying to compete with all the multipart epics that form the backbone of Arthur.
"Young and Innocent Days" Little to add to what has been said so far. You can seldom go wrong with a Ray acoustic ballad, and this is one of the best. There are a few more to come on Lola and Percy, and we also get the Ray/Dave vocal combination here which is also all over the next album. It's a moment to reflect on how far we have come and how many years we have travelled through on this album before concluding what we have learned on the final two tracks.
"young and innocent days" one of those kinks songs that i had difficulty getting out of my head once i heard it. i used a bit of it as the quote under my graduation picture in my high school year book.
Young And Innocent Days This is a song I didn't really notice that much before, but hearing it on its own here it stands out more than it has for me in the past. Perhaps because it doesn't start great it never "hooked" me. The 2nd verse is better than the first and the finish has a very nostalgic feel. This thread has lead me to realize I haven't given ARTHUR nearly the number of listen I have to VILLAGE GREEN, SOMETHING ELSE, and FACE TO FACE. I aim to change that.
I know this is a stretch but Young and Innocent Days reminds me of The Days of Wine and Booze by The Minus 5. Maybe because of ‘days’ and the overall mood? Not sure. (Obviously, Young and Innocent Days came out decades earlier! )
Let's just say that Ray's relationship w/money is the same as Chuck Berry's was. Nicky Hopkins: "Ray is so tight that his a** squeaks every time he turns around."
"Young and Innocent Days", a very beautiful song that proves that you can so much w/few lyrics. Again, my fellow Avids have been astute in their thoughts & insights on this song. It's probably the Arthur song that could also fit on VGPS. I'm thinking out loud now, but I was thinking that maybe it could have slotted in after Victoria as a sort of farewell to the pre WWI era since it does sound a bit Edwardian w/the harpsichord and all. That performance by Dave at the World Trade Center in 2001 reminded me of a Kinks song that constantly ran through my head during 9/11. I was going to wait until we discussed the album the song came from, but since the 20th anniversary is coming up this weekend, I might as well tell you now. I spent most of 9/11 at the office I used to work at. We had no TV & I received the news of the events via radio. Two songs were going through my head while listening to the horrow show that was unfolding. One was the theme for the 70s sitcom Barney Miller, which featured the Twin Towers in the opening credits. The other song was a Kinks song that I previously really didn't care for too much, but now fitted all too well w/the events of that day. It was "(Catch Me Now) I'm Falling" from Low Budget. Those two songs were constantly on my mind that horible day.
Young and Innocent Days This is such a beautiful song. Such a beautiful nostalgic lyric, that (as @mark winstanley mentions in his intro) evokes the theme of missing the Village Green. It also fully encapsulates the theme of Arthur itself. It harkens back to Victoria, when life was clean, sex was bad and called obscene. Those Young and Innocent Days. It also evokes the days before Yes Sir No Sir, Some Mother's Son, and Drivin'. Before the horrors of war. Before needing to escape. Those Young and Innocent Days. It brings to mind Brainwashed and Shangri-La -- what we go through when we grow up and work hard to afford that indoor lavatory, that car and that house. Before we had to work 9-5 (or 8-8 perhaps) and sacrifice living just to earn that paycheck. Those Young and Innocent Days. It also brings up She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina, where people are living in poverty while trying to hold on to that one thing that makes them feel good, while cleaning the windows and scrubbing the stairs. Remember when you didn't have those responsibilities? Those Young and Innocent Days. The lyrics are few, but they evoke so much. Again, such a beautiful song. The guitar work is gentle and lovely. I love hearing Ray and Dave's shared vocals on this. For that reason, I sometimes get confused when I think of this song and place it on "Lola", but the harpsichord puts me back into the (very late) 1960s instead of 1970. This song holds a special place for me because I saw Dave perform it live in 2018. I was not expecting it, so it was perhaps the most surprising song of his set for me. I honestly never thought I'd hear a song from Arthur performed live.
Young And Innocent Days While I knew from the beginning that Arthur was a special album, there were a few songs that just would not resonate with my younger self, this one chief among them. Now, I have a whole new appreciation for it. What a difference a few decades of life can make! What's really astonishing is that Ray could pen something like this at such a young age rather than at a more... shall we say "reflective" age. I like Mark's observation that this could be an individual reflection, or a metaphor for the nation as a whole. It then suddenly strikes me how often a "decline and fall" is correlated with the loss of innocence.
“Young and Innocent Days” is an absolutely gorgeous song. It’s another Kinks song that touches on universal themes: aging, the passage of time and yearning for the past, and loss in general. I think this song exemplifies the Portuguese concept of “saudade” (a word we don’t really have an equivalent for in English—maybe “bitter sweet”): “a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for something or someone that one cares for and/or loves. Moreover, it often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might never be had again.” Saudade - Wikipedia I like the sparse arrangement. The delicate, almost classical guitar duet is wonderful. I love when the harpsichord comes in. I think what really makes the song is the bridge. The choral arrangement is lovely. So plaintive. The bass is subtle but adds so much to this part. And then that guitar outro is beautiful too. Some have compared at least this song’s vocal arrangement to songs on Lola Vs Powerman. I agree. I think this song is a precursor to the sublime “A Long Way From Home,” especially in terms of how Ray’s and Dave’s vocals work together. Compare “it was great, so great, young and innocent days” to “so you think you’re wiser because you’re older.” I guess thematically the songs are somewhat similar too. Another Kinks song this reminds me of, in terms of music and theme (but not vocals) is “Nothing Lasts Forever.” Another really nice song.
It's Liz (Derek's wife) and Rose (Arthur's wife), apparently: Julian Mitchell: "Nothing happens very much--everyone has Sunday dinner together, then Ronnie turns up and the men go to the pub where Ronnie gets all worked up about The System, while Liz and Rose talk about the past, and then Arthur takes them all to the boat, and they have a picnic on the way, and all the time Arthur's remembering his life and... It's a sad day for Arthur, seeing them off." The haunting moment for me is the wordless vocal in the break, which breaks out of the quiet we've heard up until then. That's the part that's been getting jammed in my head this week.
such a beautiful song, the sentiment of the lyrics, the guitar playing and the Davies Brothers harmonies are top notch. i saw dave play this at his Bottom Line shows on his first solo tour and it was such a moment for me since i never thought i'd hear it live. it was a mistake for the song to be left off Dave's Rock Bottom live album, it should have been on instead of Psycho Lounge. Rock Bottom is a great live album, unfortunately largely unknown except to Kinks fans.
"Young And Innocent Days" Something about parts of this melody and vocal annoys me when he sings "It was great, so great, young and innocent days." Even though Dave comes in and almost saves it with his beautiful harmony. All the glowing comments have me listening closer and hearing some beauty in the music. A nice baroque feel with the harpsichord and I love the instrumental section in the middle from 1:30-2:00. I also love that bass sound again and it's always nice to hear the brothers singing together. I like the idea of the song and the musical style that they chose for these lyrics, but it still falls a bit short for me.
