"Nothing Lasts Forever" This song reminds me of the Popeye soundtrack written by Harry Nilsson and performed by Shelley Duvall and Robin Williams. There is an unpolished sweetness to the vocals, and a I hear a bit of magic in this performance just like I do in the Popeye soundtrack. It's tender and vulnerable and I feel the slightly off key singing is part of its charm. I happen to love the Popeye film and soundtrack. It brings back memories of myself standing in the movie aisle and cheering as the credits rolled. It's one of my great childhood movie moments. I don't get the contempt for that film. I guess I was always a weirdo and still say it's brilliant in every way. This song has that musical theater quality that wouldn't be out of place in the salty air of Sweethaven. I hope to visit there someday.
But if she was only sticking with him for the financial perks.... which is what it ends up looking like, then they are as bad as each other.
Nothing Lasts Forever A beautiful song, that stands out as one of the highlights for me. The female vocalist has really got a quality I like. This time it's the Maureen Tucker-sung Velvet Underground songs (i.e. "After Hours" and "I'm Sticking With You") I'm reminded of, though I don't actually think their voices are that similar so it must be more the feel of the song overall. It's hard not to hear this song as being really about Ray and Rasa, and to sense the connection to the storyline as being tenuous at best.
Nothing Lasts Forever This is another beautiful track that sort of gets lost in this epic double album. I do love Maryann Price's voice here... to me, it has this softness not unlike She & Him's Zooey Deschanel, and I could imagine a She & Him cover of this song! Ray's vocals are also so delicate and gorgeous. This song seems to come from a sad place in Ray's heart. I also noticed the re-phrasing of the "and though your gone, you're with me every single day" line from Days. The guitar and overall style does seem to come from the similar bossa nova place as No Return.... it's lovely. As for the coda, that is also something special. To me, it has a very Brian Wilson/Beach Boys style with the heaver bass that straddles every other bar, the backing/harmony vocals, and those almost tropical guitar licks.... This coda has I think grown to be among my favorite 60 seconds on Act 2.
I'm not going to stay with someone if they physically or mentally abuse me. How much cash and power they have at any given time doesn't come into it. I understand your perspective, but frankly, anyone, male or female, that says how much they love someone one day, and then runs away when the money and power is gone, is pretty low in my book, and proves themselves a liar
I think this is the finest song on the album, certainly the one with the most heart, and there's no question in my mind it is about Ray and Rasa. Performance-wise, I love the jazz guitar feel of the intro, and I welcomed a different voice than Ray's, but the vocal (especially on the opening) made me cringe the first few times I listened and put me off the recording. I thought Mary Ann Price was singing the whole thing until the coda (and I couldn't figure out why she was singing Flash's lines!), but some of you have made me aware that is actually a high-pitched/falsetto Ray singing the Flash lines. The vocals are bothering me less today though I'm still on the verge of wincing at times... I agree. It sounds like the vocals are fighting it out with the drums, but then I am often not happy about Ray's recording/mixing of drums. Personally, I would have liked the song to stay more quiet until the coda, but Act 2 isn't that kind of production. The coda really is the payoff, with Ray's heartfelt goodbye to Rasa: "Your love will die but mine will last forever." The heartbreak of a split-up where the love dies in one of the parties but not the other.
Nothing Lasts Forever Sure, this isn't a traditional Kinks song, but I do love this song! I don't usually like sappy stuff or musicals, but this song hits me in all the feels. I think Marianne Price does a lovely job singing. I love her voice. Somehow it's delicate and strong at the same time. At the point where she sings "nothing lasts forever" and the horns come in...well, I tear up. It's certainly not a favorite Kinks song of mine, but I think it's lovely on its own.
Flash's Confession A great piece musically, and Ray employs several 'voices' for Flash, as he thinks back on various phases of his life. The sound is oppressive and intense. Flash has had quite the bad trip which has led him to this place of confession. Lyrically great too. Nothing Lasts Forever It's OK, and Ray sings well, but why oh why is the female lead so flat and off key. She must have been cheap to bring in. Ruins what could have been a good song. Would think more highly of it if it had been sung by Ray throughout.
I think the off-key female vocal was supposed to make the character sound like one of the “ordinary people” Ray would go on to investigate in Soap Opera.
Zooey Deschanel came to my mind as well! @palisantrancho I also get what you're saying in comparing it to some vocals I vaguely recall from Popeye. Good connection. Marianne's vocals are a case of her "under" singing the lyrics...if that's a thing. I feel like we're listening to two ex-lovers talking to each other in a very private moment. There's no yelling and screaming here. This is a parting of the ways and all the sadness and regrets that go with it.
I guess the female vocal works if you're invested in the story and the character, but it doesn't work if you're just listening to the album to enjoy a collection of songs.
The whole melody and chord structure (and to a certain degree, the lyrics) of this tune are very Mike Nesmith like. Done at a slightly faster tempo, it would've sat very comfortably on one of his albums from this period.
I was long lorking around this thread waiting to enter where my most cherished Kinks phase begins (Everybody’s in Showbiz) but missed the cue… I would never have thought that Preservation - Act 2 no less - could gather such praise as I‘ve read in those past pages. It’s not a critics‘ album, so long as the internet exists I have never read a positive review. Which always left me somewhat bewildered, since it’s quite melodic and entertaining. But I’m also aware you have to want to like it. Nothing Lasts Forever is so full of melancholy and sad closure that it gives me shivers. How cold women can be, and the guy all the more states that his love will last forever.
Very well put and I agree entirely. It's the female vocal that makes this song another one of those hidden gems.
G'day mate, welcome to the club. Feel free to go back and stick your two cents in on any of the tracks
I find Mary Anne/Marianne/Maryann's (I think it is the third version lol) vocal to be fine... I don't really hear it as pitchy. She has a slightly unusual timbre and a naivete, or innocence or whatever, to the vocal, and I find that it suits the song. It is interesting that so many find the vocal to be off pitch ... I don't really hear that, and I am normally pretty irritated by pitchy vocals
Having an obviously American vocal on a Kinks album is quite jarring plus I do think her pitching is quite strange, nonetheless it works.
As with many of the tracks on this album, there are aspects of Nothing Lasts Forever that are more of a deterrent to listening than other aspects are an inducement. The opening sections of the song call for voice and acoustic guitar, the annoying flute or clarinet on the left channel is, well, annoying. John Dalton’s newly aggressive and crunchy bass sound may have it’s place, but not on this track that begs for something well rounded and melodic. The result is another song I just can’t listen to all the way through.
Announcement 4. stereo mix, recorded Jan-Mar 1974 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London "At Six A.M. this morning the victorious People's Army overthrew the corrupt regime that has been ruling over our country. It is reported that Mr. Flash and his gang were all taken prisoner. They have been taken to a secret hideout where they will be tried for treason by a People's Court." Written by: Ray Davies So we get to the fourth and second last announcement, and the announcement is intro'd by a half length version of the horn arranged Salvation road theme, from the first announcement. Announcements 1 - full horn theme 2 - no theme 3 - drunken keyboard theme 4 - half horn theme Probably nothing significant, but interesting. As for the newsflash.... Obviously we could sit and try to pick holes in the thematic flow, and logical delineation, but more interesting to me here is that "Flash and his Gang" have been taken to a secret hideout.... They are to be tried for treason by a "people's court"... So the righteous and pure Mr Black takes the outgoing government and locks them in his secret hideout? After fanning the flames of the people's anger, and possibly initially lighting the match that set that fire, Mr Black is going to allow the angry people to try the ex-prime minister? for treason no less? It seems any supposedly puritan leader, that starts off his leadership by locking the opposition in "his secret hideout", rather than her majesty's prison, or holding facility, or whatever, as deemed necessary, is probably not really a very righteous dude lol If people that feathered their own nest, at the expense of the general public, were tried for treason (remembering that treason is a crime generally punishable by death) almost all businessmen and politicians would be lined up at the gallows, or the electric chair, or whatever the current form of disposal unit is.... A court of the people ... This is probably the most hilarious part to me. "Alright, let's get a bunch of riled up, pitchfork waving lunatics, who have been getting fed misinformation from a psychotic megalomaniac for quite a while now, because they are probably the best way to get justice implemented" lol
