The album Ray Davies called a reckoning of “lost childhood”
Social realism is a tricky thing to master in music. While the likes of Ken Loach, Andrea Arnold, and Mike Leigh have things covered on the cinema side of things, it takes a very special kind of songwriter to reflect both their life and surroundings while also creating records that resonate with mainstream audiences. Ray Davies is one such songwriter, whose tales of working-class life in London made The Kinks a household name back in the swinging sixties.
During the early days of The Kinks, Davies’ songwriting found a home with the rebellious post-war youth dominating England’s capital during the mid-1960s. A disciple of the mod subculture, raucous works like ‘You Really Got Me’ and ‘All Day and All of the Night’ earned Davies a reputation as being the voice of a new generation. At the same time, however, the songwriter was keen to cut through the sheen of the era, wiping away all of the commercialisation and rose-tinted images in an effort to reflect working-class realities at the time.
‘Dead End Street’ is a particularly notable early example of Davies’ knack for social realism within his songwriting, but The Kinks quickly moved on to more profound and expansive projects. In 1967, the band recorded the track ‘Village Green’, a baroque sideswipe at the images and expectations of middle England.
This single eventually formed the basis of The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, a groundbreaking yet woefully underrated concept album containing various character studies and portrayals of England.
At the heart of the record was Ray Davies’ real-life experiences living in London, particularly during his childhood in a period before an influx of commercial and Americanised influences were fully introduced to English society. The songwriter manages to weave these social comments and childhood memories seamlessly throughout the tracklisting, and ‘Do You Remember Walter’ is a particular stand-out for its ties to Davies’ early life.
“‘Do You Remember Walter’ was inspired by a close friend of mine who met me once I’d had success, and we didn’t really know each other any more,” the songwriter once revealed to biographer Nick Hasted. Using that fateful meeting as a means of exploring themes of nostalgia and personal growth, the song is essentially about growing up and becoming your own person. This inherent theme is, of course, present throughout the entire album.
Theorising about the true meaning of the record, Davies pondered: “The Village Green itself could be the youth I wish I’d had, after which I would have been something else. Probably, it’s saying goodbye to youth, as well – that I’m a grown-up person now, and these are my childish thoughts about steam-powered trains, and playing cricket in the thunder and rain – what it was like, before I forget about it. Before I lose my memory.”
“The record’s about childhood, really,” he continued. “Lost childhood, but also just being a kid, and the naivete. Being naïve was something I found I needed to touch upon again.”
As far as time capsules or fading memories go, Village Green is as profound and expansive as they come. The power of Davies’ songwriting is that these deeply personal experiences, memories, and musings on lost childhood are made relatable for multiple generations; Village Green has certainly stood the test of time.
