#Examine struggle and loss and frustration. The peak is probably in this song‚ a deceptively bleak study of suburban drudgery and anonymity
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Infinite list of favourite lyrics: 196/?
The Kinks - Shangri-La (1969)
"And all the houses in the street have got a name
Cos all the houses in the street, they look the same:
Same chimney pots, same little cars, same window panes.
The neighbours call to tell you things that you should know;
They say their lines, they drink their tea, and then they go;
They tell your business in another Shangri-la.
The gas bills and the water rates, the payments on the car,
Too scared to think about how insecure you are -
Life ain't so happy in your little Shangri-la."
#favourite lyrics#shangrila#shangri la#ray davies#Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)#1969#Originally appearing on labels as one word (Shangrila) this is now most commonly styled as in the post#Taking its name from the mythical utopia in James Hilton's 1933 novel Lost Horizon#The name and the concept it becane synonymous with have both outlived the cultural impact of the novel and the author#(did you know American presidential retreat Camp David was originally called Shangri la? There's a fun little fact for you. Don't say I#Never give you anything) (also isn't that just a potentially disturbing insight into Roosevelt's self image?)#Anyway. The name is‚ of course‚ deeply ironic here; this was the second single from the band's satirical concept album Arthur#Which‚ with a mix of both affection and venom‚ turned a lens on little England‚ the so called Blitz spirit‚ and the emptiness of the#Middle England middle class lifestyle. Davies drew most of his inspiration from his brother in law‚ the real Arthur‚ who had emigrated to#Australia with the Davies' sister Rose some years prior; on a subsequent visit to their designer community home‚ a sceptical Ray had been#Inspired to write this anthem to suburban inadequacy. The lyrics are among Ray's most biting‚ a distorted mirror to the band's previous#Album of fond vignettes of English life‚ The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society. Whilst that album had gently nudged at#The idea of a former glory now lost in the English counties‚ albeit with a wry smile‚ Arthur would more pointedly#Examine struggle and loss and frustration. The peak is probably in this song‚ a deceptively bleak study of suburban drudgery and anonymity#Davies begins soft and slow‚ with mock praise for the 'kingdom' Arthur has built for himself (complete with indoor plumbing)#But the song speeds up until the fast and harder section quoted above‚ in which Ray rattles through the lines at breakneck speed: the great#Irony is that Arthur can never enjoy his modest kingdom‚ because he has bought his comfort with new pressures: societal‚ as well as#Financial. Having 'made it' by escaping his own working clas background‚ Arthur finds himself out of place and ironically out of his#Comfort zone‚ with mortgages and bills providing extra discomfort. Not‚ it should be said‚ that Davies is ever really poking fun at Arthur#Too badly. He's a victim; the villain here is the social pressure and consumerism that has pushed Arthur to this point‚ the great#Uniformity that is both the end product of middle class aspiration and the limit of stunted imagination: the death of art#Conformity for the sake of conformity: the great evil of the swinging sixties. And yknow the man had a point#Sad to say the message wasn't exactly well received; the single failed to chart‚ as had the previous effort‚ and although critically well#Received‚ the album sold poorly at home in the UK. Perhaps fittingly‚ it was across the pond in the US where the album found#An appreciative audience‚ their highest charting album since 1965
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