Revisiting Elliott Smith’s cover of ‘Waterloo Sunset’ by The Kinks
Like most great bands, there are multiple pieces in The Kinks’ catalogue that you could argue to be their signature song. There’s the iconic, riff-heavy ‘You Really Got Me’, which showed off their mastery of rock and roll. There’s the twinkling and defiant ‘Lola’, the soft piano-led ‘Strangers’, and the enduring ‘A Well Respected Man’. But perhaps the most beautiful entry into their discography came in 1967 with ‘Waterloo Sunset’.
A gently descending bassline beckons you into the beauty of ‘Waterloo Sunset’, welcoming you into an enveloping soundscape of glorious harmonies, shimmering percussion and those iconic twangs. An ode to singer Ray Davies’ home in London, and to the sunsets that brought colour to it, the instrumentation bolsters the track’s nostalgic tones.
In the lyrics, Davies paints a picture of London as paradise. Even amidst the overwhelming nature of the city, the bright taxi lights and the inevitable lonely nights, the singer finds comfort and belonging in the sunset. Rather than forcing himself to venture into the chaos of the capital, he is content with watching the sun set on it. “Every day I look at the world from my window,” he sings, “But chilly, chilly is the evening time, Waterloo sunset’s fine.”
After it was released in the late 1960s, the beautiful track would become not just a staple in the Kinks’ catalogue, but in music history. It’s one of the most gorgeous compositions ever put to tape, a fact that has been reflected in its continued resonance decades later. Like all great sings, it has also attracted a number of cover versions.
From David Bowie to The Jam, artists across genres and generations have provided their own takes on ‘Waterloo Sunset’, celebrating the swinging sentimentality of the track. However, none of them have topped Elliott Smith’s take on the song, which he performed live on the Jon Brion show back in 2000.
Removing the instrumental layers of the original, Smith afforded the song just two guitars and his distinctive vocals for the cover. The lonely strums provide the song with a new sense of loneliness, a more melancholic feeling of reflection, which is only bolstered by the vocal performance. As Smith takes on the lead, his guitar partner backs him up with aching harmonies that stretch to reach the highest notes.
Smith’s voice, through his own catalogue, has become much more associated with melancholy than with calm. This stands true when it comes to his take on ‘Waterloo Sunset’. As he declares himself unafraid, contented in the face of a London sunset, his voice seems to hide something more.
The quiet trembles and bubbling emotion in his voice bring a new depth to the track, a sorrow that seems to lie beneath the surface. When the comfort of the original bassline and Davies’ delivery is removed, there is a much more melancholic feeling to ‘Waterloo Sunset’, one that few could eke out better than Smith did.
While The Kinks’ ‘Waterloo Sunset’ provides the perfect soundtrack for peaceful sunset gazing, for sunny strolls around London and for bittersweet feelings of nostalgia, Smith’s take on the track serves a different purpose. His beautiful rendition of ‘Waterloo Sunset’ is for the moment of darkness after the sun finally goes down, for a more melancholic form of reflection and longing. It’s an excellent ode to a classic, a version that brought the song seamlessly into his own style and opened it up to new interpretations.
