Ray Davies is one of the best songwriters of my lifetime. His body of work is amazing, and he is still going strong well into his Sixties. He may not have achieved the same level of notoriety as his peers over the years, but I challenge anyone who is a fan of rock music to sit down and listen to the vast collection of songs created by The Kinks and his solo work and not come away impressed. Pete Townshend has been vocal with his praise for him over the years, and Bruce Springsteen and John Bon Jovi are both avid fans. He recently released a collaborative album called See My Friends, in which many top artists (past and present) covered his hits with him.
A Songwriter of Great Range
Ray can be silly, serious, angry, happy, hopeful, melancholy, wistful, optimistic, etc. He can write beautiful ballads and rock with the best of them. He sometimes makes social commentary, but he does so in a clever way that captures your attention and encourages you to listen. What’s even more impressive is that the songs never get stale after repeated listening. The Kinks’ live recorded album, One For The Road, should be in everyone’s music collection.Growing With His Music
His songs run the whole gamut of human experience and have grown as he has grown. I have always appreciated artists who are able to capture the essence of life at any given point in time. Ray has been doing this effectively since the early 1960s. Sadly, due to the illness of his brother Dave and other complicated personal issues, The Kinks haven’t released an album in quite some time, but Ray has kept busy with his solo work. The two original and two retrospective albums created during this period have been nothing short of brilliant. Moreover, if you haven’t seen Ray live, I highly recommend it. He may not have the same vigor from his youth, but his stage presence is something to behold. I’ve chosen the new song from his solo period, “I, The Victim,” because it portrays Ray Davies at his best. It has thoughtful and direct lyrics supported by rockin’ music and effortless singing. We live and suffer according to our vision Of love and choices, romantic indecision Again, again, the same repetition We play the game but hate the condition We make mistakes without resolution Again, again, we do it to ourselves We never learn, we scream and we yell Then walk the streets in a solitary hell ‘Tis I, the victim of these self-afflicted wounds And I’m a victim of these self-afflicted wounds Tis I, the victim Victim of a wanderin’ heart We are the victims of these self-afflicted wounds We cry despair, but ridicule and laughter Are everywhere, so you better not complain Spill your guts to an innocent bystander Pull out your hair, but they laugh in your face You are the victim of these self-afflicted wounds ‘Tis I, the victim of these self-afflicted wounds I, the victim Left you shiver in the dark In crimes of passion we are oh so vulnerable We can’t escape and it is so emotional And I can’t believe, no I can’t believe The devastation that it brings upon us all I stand convicted, the one who is addicted The person led to a solitary cell The judge, jury, cry of fury Somebody said, “why’d you do this to yourself?” We live and die according to our visions Of love and choices, romantic indecision Again and again, the same repetition We play with life and we gamble it away And cry the victims of these self-afflicted wounds We are the victims of these self-afflicted wounds ‘Tis I, the victim Left you shiver in the dark We are the victims of these self-afflicted wounds Yes we are…Related articles
- Liner Notables: Ray Davies – See My Friends (blogcritics.org)
- Ray Davies – How a lonely Londoner created one of the great Sixties songs (independent.co.uk)
- The Kinks: Life Goes On (davidjmarkowitzmusic.wordpress.com)
- AUDIO: Ray Davies finds lost Kinks demos (bbc.co.uk)
- You Really Got Me: The Story of the Kinks by Nick Hasted – review (guardian.co.uk)
- Ray and the Kinks (harmonyguy.wordpress.com)
- Kinks star writes school musical (bbc.co.uk)
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