And he goes to work at nine
And he comes back home at five-thirty
Gets the same train every time
'Cause his world is built 'round punctuality
It never fails
And he's oh so good
And he's oh so fine
And he's oh so healthy
In his body and his mind
He's a well respected man about town
Doing the best things so conservatively
And his mother goes to meetings
While his father pulls the maid
And she stirs the tea with councilors
While discussing foreign trade
And she passes looks as well as bills
At every suave young man
And he's oh so good
And he's oh so fine
And he's oh so healthy
In his body and his mind
He's a well respected man about town
Doing the best things so conservatively
And he likes his own backyard
And he likes his fags the best
'Cause he's better than the rest
And his own sweat smells the best
And he hopes to grab his father's loot
When Pater passes on
And he's oh so good
And he's oh so fine
And he's oh so healthy
In his body and his mind
He's a well respected man about town
Doing the best things so conservatively
And he plays at stocks and shares
And he goes to the regatta
And he adores the girl next door
'Cause he's dying to get at her
But his mother knows the best about
The matrimonial stakes
And he's oh so good
And he's oh so fine
And he's oh so healthy
In his body and his mind
He's a well respected man about town
Doing the best things so conservatively
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm and blues and Merseybeat, and were briefly part of the British Invasion of the United States until their touring ban in 1965. Their third single, the Ray Davies-penned "You Really Got Me", became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States.
The Kinks' music drew from a wide range of influences, including American R&B and rock and roll initially, and later adopting British music hall, folk, and country. The band gained a reputation for reflecting English culture and lifestyle, fuelled by Ray Davies' wittily observational and satirical writing style, and made apparent in albums such as Face to Face (1966), Something Else (1967), The Village Green Preservation Society (1968), Arthur (1969), Lola Versus Powerman (1970), and Muswell Hillbillies (1971), along with their accompanying singles including the transatlantic hit "Lola" (1970). After a fallow period in the mid-1970s, the band experienced a revival with their albums Sleepwalker (1977), Misfits (1978), Low Budget (1979), Give the People What They Want (1981) and State of Confusion (1983), the last of which produced one of the band's most successful US hits, "Come Dancing". In addition, groups such as Van Halen, the Jam, the Knack, the Pretenders and the Romantics covered their songs, helping to boost the Kinks' record sales. In the 1990s, Britpop acts such as Blur and Oasis cited the band as a major influence.
The original line-up comprised Ray Davies (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Dave Davies (lead guitar, vocals), Mick Avory (drums, percussion) and Pete Quaife (bass). The Davies brothers remained with the band throughout its history. Quaife briefly left the band during 1966 and was replaced by John Dalton, though Quaife returned by the end of that year before leaving permanently in 1969, once again being replaced by Dalton. Keyboardist John Gosling was added in 1970 (prior to this, session keyboardist Nicky Hopkins played on many of their recordings). After Dalton's 1976 departure, Andy Pyle briefly served as the band's bassist before being replaced by Argent bassist Jim Rodford in 1978. Gosling quit in 1978 and was first replaced by ex-Pretty Things member Gordon John Edwards, then more permanently by Ian Gibbons in 1979. Avory left the group in 1984 and was replaced by another Argent member, Bob Henrit. The band gave its last public performance in 1996 and broke up in 1997 as a result of creative tension between the Davies brothers.
The Kinks have had five Top 10 singles on the US Billboard Hot 100. chart. Nine of their albums charted in the Top 40 of the Billboard 200. In the UK, they have had seventeen Top 20 singles and five Top 10 albums. Four Kinks albums have been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and the band has sold over 50 million records worldwide. Among numerous honours, they received the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding Service to British Music". In 1990, the original four members of the Kinks were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2005.
I suggest a listen to 20th Century Man, another song by the Kinks which is on RP's playlist. You might find it pleasantly surprising.
And he likes his own backyard,
And he likes his fags the best,
'Cause he's better than the rest,
And his own sweat smells the best,
And he hopes to grab his father's loot,
When Pater passes on.
Great lyrics. Love the Kinks even if the Davies didn't exactly get along.
Other than the British accent, I don't find it to sound "very much like The Beatles", but we all hear different things. Musically, it's a kind of traditional "music hall" melody, and lyrically, it's very different from what The Beatles were writing about at that time.
And he likes his own backyard,
And he likes his fags the best,
'Cause he's better than the rest,
And his own sweat smells the best,
And he hopes to grab his father's loot,
When Pater passes on.
Love the Kinks...More, More!
Muswell Hillbillies1."20th Century Man"2."Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues"3."Holiday"4."Skin and Bone"5."Alcohol"6."Complicated Life"1."Here Come the People in Grey"2."Have a Cuppa Tea"3."Holloway Jail"4."Oklahoma U.S.A."5."Uncle Son"6."Muswell Hillbilly"
Interesting fact: "Dream On" is the only Aerosmith song in the RP catalog. OK, that's not quite true - there's another one with the Sierra Leone All Stars with a rating of 2.6.
"Dream On" never struck me as a Led Zep song or even one strongly influenced by LZ. Too repetitive and personal without a mysterious element, I think. Aerosmith was accused of being a Rolling Stones copycat when the band first hit it big, IIRC.
It'd be interesting to hear why the Goldsmiths don't have more Aerosmith here. Too much like stadium rock or too straightforward bad-boy FM rock? Those reasons might explain why there's no Van Halen here either.
Yes, there were similar instrumentation and 'production' sounds to many of the British Invasion bands, even if the subject matter differed. Many drummers played that way, there was not much that was unique about Ringo's style.
I always heard it as "his own sweat smells the best." In either case, Ray D. had quite a nice run.