The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

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

  1. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I think the funniest, and yet most discomforting line in the song is
    "The man in the raincoats pale faced glare"
    It brings to mind the dirty old man in the boiler suit offering candy to kiddies, which is terribly discomforting, but in the context of the song, it is very funny.
     
  2. Scottsol

    Scottsol Forum Resident

    Location:
    Evanston, IL
    Then I guess I’m useless cuz I can’t tell the difference.
     
  3. DISKOJOE

    DISKOJOE Boredom That You Can Afford!

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Could this be it?

     
  4. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    I think @donstemple found it on the last post of the preceding page when they linked to the full 1972 Beat Club show on Facebook.
     
  5. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    The dirty raincoat (or dirty Mac) is the well known uniform of dirty old men, perverts, flashers and the like.

    raincoat brigade - Wiktionary
     
  6. donstemple

    donstemple Member of the Club

    Location:
    Maplewood, NJ
    I don't think @joejo confirmed either way, but I will never be disappointed with anyone taking the opportunity to post that In Koncert video!
     
  7. The late man

    The late man Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    Well, we were expecting a ferocious battle over this song, but for the time being I see mostly unanimous praise.

    We may conclude, sadly, that this thread is peopled by perverts. A Mr Black is badly needed!
     
  8. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    Shepherds of the Nation
    This song is like Spinal Tap meets medieval courtly music.

    The deep notes of the bass are something else.

    I can't imagine being offended by the lyrics. It's hysterical and totally tongue in cheek. It may be too goofy for some, but obviously Ray is trying to illustrate the extremities of power hungry people.

    It's good to listen to it so you can sing along with your own silly voice. "Keep it clean". But Ray isn't being subtle at all with the humor...and I more enjoy Ray's lighter touch.

    It's not something I'd skip, but it's not something I'd put in the upper pantheon of Kinks songs.
     
  9. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    I concur. Good catch on that connection.
     
  10. Steve62

    Steve62 Vinyl hunter

    Location:
    Murrumbateman
    All countries have laws protecting public “decency” (eg against being naked in public places) which are enforced by the police. It seems to be the greater tolerance in modern societies for equality writ large (eg women’s rights, gay rights, non-discrimination generally) that runs up against “traditional” notions of religion and what constitutes a family. When such people are in power it can have serious consequences for people’s lives and freedoms - such as is happening with the ultra-conservative government in Poland.
    Bringing it back to Preservation, surely the hypocrisy of Black and Flash is a key issue. Neither are said to be pure of heart or deed: the Shepheards of the Nation is not unlike an adultering (?) leader grasping a Bible while preaching family values to the nation. That a large slab of people lap will lap up the message without seeing - or caring about - the irony or hypocrisy means it will keep on happening.
     
  11. San Antone

    San Antone Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tennessee
    I immediately thought of the Mothers of Invention.
     
  12. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Lol
     
  13. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    Over the course of history, extreme leaders and extreme thoughts are shown the door eventually - and the equilibrium is restored. But that equilibrium is always being messed with so it's always a battle to remain there. That's where the tension comes from in our society, in large part. I think most of us, if let alone, are somewhere in the middle. It's when things go awry (be it man-made or naturally occurring) and a portion of a population are looking for easy answers, and then a charismatic leader sees an opening...that's when we find ourselves in a bad place. Obviously I'm over simplifying.

    are we doomed as humans to always find ourselves eventually coming back to extremism? probably. History seems to prove that out.
     
  14. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    I had read the poster's request but didn't think of my original post so I'm glad you caught that. I didn't sleep well, so not as sharp today. :D
     
  15. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    That probably happened to all of us. :D
     
  16. joejo

    joejo Well-Known Member

    Location:
    toronto
  17. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    :D
     
  18. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Sounds like a song that could have been on this album :)

    I wonder if it was an outtake?
     
  19. ThereOnceWasANote

    ThereOnceWasANote Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cape May, NJ
    Boris sure looks a lot like a bit skinnier Biff from the Back To The Future(s).
     
  20. ThereOnceWasANote

    ThereOnceWasANote Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cape May, NJ
    If not perverted certainly into our Kinks.
     
  21. Luckless Pedestrian

    Luckless Pedestrian Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire, USA
    Glad to see some others that, like me, consider Shepherds of the Nation as their favorite song on the album. Everything is perfect: lyrics, music, production, performance, sound engineering. One of my all-time favorite "deep track" discoveries. I'm a Monty Python fan and it reminds me of the Camelot Song from the Holy Grail, or their Lumberjack Song, in that the lyrics are outrageously funny but at the same time the performance of the music is authentic, sincere and performed impeccably. I think it's the incongruities that appeal to me: modern, heavily processed electric guitar paired with medieval instruments, the sincere performance of silly lyrics, the comedy mixed with terror.

    I always start chuckling at the announcement: "The scene here is absolutely indescribable (proceeds to describe the scene in detail)". And of course the song lyrics are hilarious and have me laughing out loud until "we'll set the sinners free": after this chilling phrase, the tone changes, now it's not only a discussion of what the shepherds are against, but what they plan to do about it, including bringing back corporal punishment, "stocks and the axeman's block". At first we laugh at the ridiculous shepherds, but by the end of the song we see that they are dangerous and need to be taken seriously.
     
  22. idleracer

    idleracer Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    :kilroy: That opening riff has always sounded like an intentional parody of "Iron Man" to me. Musically, this sounds a bit like "Bark" era Jefferson Airplane. The Bridge utilizes a boilerplate chromatically descending bass line, but it's still nice to hear a song with a bridge at all in 1974.

    This is essentially the opposite of "The Village Green Preservation Society." That song lists everything that needs to be preserved while this one attempts to list everything that should be gotten rid of. It's the song that strays the most into Gilbert & Sullivan territory on the LP. It's a "Show Tune" in every sense of the word, that works within the context of the plot, although as a separate entity it would sound a bit weird on the radio. People would be wondering if they had actually stumbled on to a religious station by accident.
     
  23. All Down The Line

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

    Location:
    Australia
    It's possible though it's just impossible for many to pick up on it but that's another state of affairs!
     
    DISKOJOE and mark winstanley like this.
  24. GarySteel

    GarySteel Bastard of old

    Location:
    Molde, Norway
    Keef 4 prez or PM!
     
  25. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Scum Of The Earth.

    stereo mix, recorded Jan-Mar 1974 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London

    Sung by Flash, Spivs & Floosies.

    Flash: They call me the scum of the earth.
    They say I'm the scab of the nation.
    But deep inside I'm only human.
    Just an ordinary man.
    With ordinary plans.
    They say I'm crooked and bent,
    They call me a rogue and a villain,
    But if they could see deep inside me
    They'd see a heart that once was pure
    Before it touched the evils of this world,

    For if I cut myself I bleed
    And if I catch a cold I sneeze.
    Have I not eyes to help me see?
    Have I not lungs to help me breathe?
    Have I not hands, organs, senses
    And affections just like you?
    Stop the music.
    Well ain't I human
    Like everybody else?

    Before you condemn me my friends,
    I suggest that you look deep inside you
    For good and evil
    Exist in all of us,
    And no man is a saint
    And each creates his heaven and his hell.

    Chorus: We know that he's only a man.
    He's got feelings and faults
    Just like everyone else.

    Flash: So don't put me down because I've done well,
    For even wide boys, hoods and spivs
    Have got the right to live.

    Chorus: We know we're the scum of the earth,
    We know we're the scab of the nation,
    But we're your enemies and your brothers
    And no man is a saint
    And deep down we're all the same as one another.

    Written by: Ray Davies
    Published by: Davray Music Ltd.

    This track is a journey in itself.

    Here we start with Flash pleading for understanding. This almost works as a sort of confession, at the end of the first section we have the line that ties it to the ideas we have looked at in our discussions.
    They'd see a heart that once was pure
    Before it touched the evils of this world,
    and it somewhat looks to the idea that Flash was corrupted by the money and power that came with his position.

    In the second section Flash seems to plead for understanding, and throws it back at everyone else that he is human, and we all have flaws and failings that can lead to the type of journey he has been on.
    The thing is though at this stage, it seems more like someone who has been caught rationalising their crimes, and trying to throw it back in everyone's faces that they would have done the same thing.

    But We're Your Enemies and Your Brothers
    This is such a great line, and kind of sums it all up. Their actions have made them the enemies of the people, but they are still brothers in the universal family, so to speak.
    Rationalising again that we are all the same as one another .... as with many things we say as people, this is somewhat true and somewhat contrived.

    I think that Ray does a great job of the lyrics here. Essentially they are pretty straight forward, but there are still angles and shades to consider.
    On the whole I think this is the criminal having been caught, trying to talk everyone around to an understanding of where they are, and it is a sort of hunt for redemption without actually changing. There is a certain insincerity in the lyric and the way it's delivered. It is trying to suggest, well anyone else would have done the same, and of course we know that isn't necessarily true, yet we also know that it is certainly true of many, so it kind of straddles the line of truth in order to try and seek some mercy, without changing one's actions.... or something along those lines.

    Musically we start with this beautiful keyboard interplay. I think it's an electric piano, and a clavinet type sound. We get the tuba underneath playing the bassline, and for me it works really well.
    It sounds like some kind of baroque blues or something. It also has a sort of New Orleans kind of thing going on again in there.

    I really like the way the clarinet comes in, and Dalton does some really nice bass, and Mick pulls off some nice drums against a fairly difficult sort of structure.

    Ray's vocal all through is sort of over the top, and I love it. There is also some really excellent singing here. I also think the melody is awesome, and probably the main hook in the song to me.

    Then we bounce into this double time change, that speeds up in a kind of frenzy .... like Flash is frantically trying to talk his way out of the simple fact that he screwed everyone to enrich himself.

    Again musically this is quite unusual, it is kind of dixieland jazz meets the music hall, and creates something different all together.
    I think the "Stop The Music, Well Ain't I Human?" bit works as a nice link, and sort of breaks the fourth wall, so to speak. I could see Ray staring into the crowd, pulling some face with his arms extended in an exaggerated gesture at the concerts on thins bit.

    Then we move into the next section which is back to the original verse arrangement, but Ray delivers the vocal in a sort of incredulous way, that suggests that this isn't quite sincere.

    Then just to make the music even more complex in it's construction, we get the chorus singing a sort of rock and roll/doowop kind of section ... and it closes out with a big vocal from Ray that is pure stage and theatre, and it works wonderfully.

    For the record
    Wide Boy - A wide boy is a man, especially a young man, who has a lot of money but who earns it in a dishonest or illegal way. [mainly British, informal, disapproval]
    Spiv - a man, typically characterized by flashy dress, who makes a living by disreputable dealings.

    We end with Ray and the Chorus singing the chorus to take us out, and resolving nicely from the minor to the major.
    This is a really unusual song, and I think that is why I like it so much.... The song is sort of personality overload, and that is probably one of the things about it that appeals to me.
    The music is so well written and arranged, that for me it is hard to dislike it at all, and Ray's vocal performance is pretty sensational really.

    Probably an unusual one that isn't going to make a lot of the playlists I hear about..... but if I did them, it would probably make mine, just because I find it so entertaining. :)

     

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