Because the UK heads to the polls right this moment, we watch because the nation brims with anticipation and uncertainty. Granted, Labour is poised for a major victory, however the confusion as to what comes after is foremost in any voters’ minds. There’s a sense of widespread dissatisfaction with the established order and a collective craving for change.
It’s a sentiment that resonates with the themes developed in Muswell Hillbillies, the eighth studio album by The Kinks, launched within the autumn of 1971. Whereas Marc Bolan was strutting his glam-rock stuff and Led Zeppelin have been changing into the largest band on the earth, Ray Davies, the ever-observant frontman of The Kinks, was quietly crafting a masterpiece that might stand the take a look at of time. Muswell Hillbillies is a touching, poignant, saddening, and, at instances, scathing reflection on the disappearance of working-class London, a spot Davies knew intimately.
Davies, a North London lad by means of and thru, grew up within the shadow of Alexandra Palace, a stone’s throw from the Muswell Hill of the album’s title. This wasn’t the London of vacationer brochures or Swinging Sixties postcards. This was the London of cramped flats, nook outlets, and pubs the place the pints of bitter flowed freely, and the music was a bit tough across the edges.
The album opens with ’20th Century Man’, a tune that completely encapsulates the period’s anxieties. Davies sings, “I’m a 20th Century Man however I don’t wanna be right here,” a line that might be a mantra for anybody who’s ever felt overwhelmed by the relentless tempo of contemporary life. This sense of dislocation and frustration is palpable, mirroring up to date issues about technological and societal change.
However Davies doesn’t simply wallow in despair. He’s bought a bone to select with the powers that be, those who bulldoze communities and displace folks within the identify of progress. In ‘Right here Come the Folks in Gray’, he sings of the faceless bureaucrats who “attempt to make you alter your thoughts / They’ll attempt to make you go their manner.” It’s a tune that also resonates right this moment, as gentrification continues to reshape cities not simply in Britain however around the globe.
Davies’ lyrics are stuffed with vivid imagery and Chaucerian characters drawn from his personal life. ‘Uncle Son’, for instance, is a tribute to his real-life uncle, a person who, in Davies’ phrases, “by no means felt fulfilled as an individual.” The tune captures the quiet desperation of a life lived within the shadows, a lifetime of unfulfilled goals and missed alternatives.
Then there’s ‘Alcohol’, a tune about Davies’ father’s struggles with dependancy. It’s a tune that’s each humorous and unhappy, with robust, simple traces like, “He’s at all times ingesting, he’s at all times ingesting / He’s gonna drink himself to dying.” However beneath the humour lies a deep empathy for a person trapped in a cycle of self-destruction; that is Ray’s dad, in spite of everything. This duality—humour interwoven with insufferable unhappiness—highlights Davies’ deft means to transmit advanced human feelings by means of his music.
One of many album’s most poignant tracks, and a type of sequel to the themes from ‘Uncle Son’ is ‘Oklahoma U.S.A.’, a bittersweet ode to escapism. The tune tells the story of a girl who goals of a greater life in America, a supposed land of alternative and infinite potentialities, or a minimum of the way it’s been bought to her. It’s a tune that speaks to the common human want for a recent begin, an opportunity to flee the mundane realities of on a regular basis life, which is able to, sadly, sooner or later creep up on you anyway. This monitor, specifically, showcases Davies’ lyrical prowess and his means to faucet into common themes.
Musically, Muswell Hillbillies is a pleasant hodgepodge of types. You’ll hear echoes of British music corridor, American nation and western, and even a little bit of New Orleans jazz. The album’s eclectic sound completely enhances all its lyrical themes, fusing genres to showcase The Kinks’ musical versatility and likewise mirror the cultural melting pot of London itself.
Muswell Hillbillies is a time capsule, a snapshot of a second in time when London was altering quickly. It’s an album that speaks to the common expertise of loss and the wrestle to carry on to 1’s identification within the face of relentless change. And it’s a reminder that even within the darkest of instances, there’s at all times room for a little bit of humour and an excellent outdated sing-along.
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Author: ” — whynow.co.uk ”