Superlatives
A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers.
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Its not just about music, Davies told me recently.
Its also the art and the presentation.
Our other theory for their endurance: They were just really,reallygreat.
Its been quite a journey, and our work often suggests that theme.
How can you choose one song to embrace all that stuff?
Sometimes its best to just say the first thing that comes to mind.
I always thought that Dead End Street was the Kinks key that came through our work and Rays writing.
Our past, where we come from, and the key that we all created.
So its a lot of stuff.
It goes back to the beginning of our journey it was really all about family.
We grew up in a big family with six sisters and countless uncles, aunts, and family members.
I feel very fortunate that I was born into a family that had so many cultures to it.
Earthiness, emotion, and spirit.
They didnt have any money, but they had a lot of spirit.
There was so much material to draw from.
People can make their own corrections.
Song you now interpret differently
God, music is so personal.
Its proper for the listener to find out whats going on in me.
There are some songs that are so heavy about my awakening, my respect, and my enlightening.
I can pull out a page anywhere in the book.
Music is so in touch with our spirits and our souls.
Thank God theres music.
Obviously, you notice more when you get older.
Music is like magnetism information made into energy.
It makes you realize what an incredible world we live in.
Im flabbergasted how much information was involved in music and emotions.
Theres something special about the love connection coming through a family member who youre so close to.
You hate their guts sometimes.
Oh, fuck off.
Get out of here.
And other times you depend on each other to solve the riddle of life.
Ray was my mentor, my enemy, my teacher, my everything.
Through these songs, that only scratches the surface.
Thats why I think You Really Got Me is a good presentation to put together.
Its a good opener, really, for our work and our music.
Its in tune with our history.
Wed meet and talk about it.
There would be a lot of laughs.
It was information that we gleaned from just being at the pub with our dad or all his mates.
We learned a lot about the world from different generations.
They talked a lot about the war years and their mates dying.
All of this goes into the music.
It all goes in the brain, or soul, or whatever.
War was an inevitable thing to write about.
You write about what you know about it.
Thats a good starting point for any project.
We knew about our family and the conditions that surrounded our working-class life.
Things were happening, so you would sing about them all and how you react to them.
Life lessons are like an incredibly complicated school for us.
You dont always find out straight away.
Sometimes you look back at something and think its funny.
Song that gives you the strongest nostalgia
I tend to look at nostalgia as information.
If you go to the library, you look into specific stories or ideas.
Its not always nostalgia.
When we find the Kinks musical library, its a lot of information its about people.
Its about how people live, survive, live again, fall down, and stand up again.
Its a wonderful encyclopedia of survival.
Survival, really, is another foundation for us.
Wherever you kick off the book and turn every page, you think,Oh, wow.
Yeah, I know that feeling.
Ive lived that experience.It can resonate.
Were an open book.
I think the most important thing Ive learned in my life is the bond of family.
Humor provides a lot of solutions to problems.
Thats reflected in Rays great writing of observation.
Its what it means to be human.
Youve got a release; its an emotion and a problem solver.
My family grew up in the war years and the Blitz.
Not just for us, but for everybody.
Songs are keys to unlock memories and ideas.
Connecting the thoughts, connecting the ideas, you know how it goes.
Most combative album
Soap Opera.
I found that there were many aspects of making that record that I didnt like.
I thought back to the day, for me, would that be my swan song?
I wanted to venture into new things.
I didnt know whether I was happy at that time it was rather difficult.
It always seemed everything was a struggle for the Kinks, even from making the first record.
We didnt like the first version of You Really Got Me.
The record producers said, Well, thats it, then.
Thats what it is.
We said, Well, we dont want to put it out.
Many times the Kinks could have finished and ended, but we didnt.
I think the bond of family, and the love of music, helped see us through.
We should be grateful for our experiences, because it teaches us something we didnt know beforehand.
With Days, the lyrics make it seem like something is ending.
But maybe its just starting.
Thank you for something thats gone, but maybe thank you for something thats just about to happen.
It was people who were experiencing the message and feelings of the song.
Thats the power of music.
How retroactive Kinks praise has manifested over the years
Thats interesting to think about.
Maybe its because the good stuff gets better with age.
Good ideas, good stories, good people they get better with time.
It could be about the future as well as the past.
Favorite needledrop in cinema
Any of the Wes Andersonones.
Hes been very good to us.
