"I am a dull and simple lad, cannot tell water from champagne..."
Something Else by the Kinks is the fifth studio album by The Kinks, released in 1967. It's a continuation of the more melodic and wittily observational songwriting which first emerged on their previous album Face to Face, the title reflecting the band's desire to be known for "something else" besides the raucous Garage Rock with which they'd first gotten attention. The album was a slow seller, partly due to the band's being banned from touring in the US.
Tracklist:
Side One
- "David Watts" (2:32)
- "Death of a Clown" (3:04)
- "Two Sisters" (2:01)
- "No Return" (2:03)
- "Harry Rag" (2:16)
- "Tin Soldier Man" (2:49)
- "Situation Vacant" (3:16)
Side Two
- "Love Me Till the Sun Shines" (3:16)
- "Lazy Old Sun" (2:48)
- "Afternoon Tea" (3:27)
- "Funny Face" (2:17)
- "End of the Season" (2:57)
- "Waterloo Sunset" (3:15)
Principal Members:
- Mick Avory - drums, percussion
- Dave Davies - guitar, backing and lead vocals
- Ray Davies - lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, harpsichord, organ, harp, tuba, maracas
- Pete Quaife - bass, vocals
As long as I trope on Waterloo sunset, I am in paradise:
- Alliterative Title: "Funny Face".
- Arc Words: Coincidentally or not there are three songs on here with "sun" or some variant in the title: "Love Me Till the Sun Shines", "Lazy Old Sun" and "Waterloo Sunset".
- Big Man on Campus: The title character in "David Watts":He is the head boy at the school
He is the captain of the team
He is so gay and fancy free
And I wish all his money belonged to me
And I wish I could be like David Watts. - Cannot Spit It Out/Oblivious to Love: A two-sided version occurs in "Afternoon Tea". A man meets with a woman, Donna, everyday for tea. He has deeper feelings for her, but never gets around to telling her. He's then shocked when she gets tired of waiting and stops showing up.
- Deliberately Monochrome/Retraux: The cover has black-and-white portraits of the band in curlicues that look like Victorian picture frames.
- Face on the Cover: The band appears on the cover separately.
- Intimidating Revenue Service: In "Harry Rag":Ah, bless you tax man, bless you all
You may take some but you never take it all
But if I give it all, I won't feel sad
As long as I got enough to buy a harry rag. - Lyrical Dissonance: Being in a hospital and having the doctors forbid you to see the person you're there for is not really a happy circumstance. Especially when you keep asking yourself "How can I live without her?" Yet "Funny Face" sounds downright upbeat.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: The mother-in-law in "Situation Vacant" pressures her son-in-law to leave his job and try to get a better one. When he can't, the marriage falls apart and his wife moves back in with her mother, which is what the MIL wanted all along.
- One-Man Song: "Tin Soldier Man".
- One-Woman Wail: Ray's then-wife Rasa provides the haunting backing vocals on "Death of a Clown".
- The Power of the Sun: "Lazy Old Sun":You make the rainbows and you make the night disappear
You melt the frost so I won't criticise my sun. - Record Producer: Shel Talmy, The Kinks' regular producer up to this point, helmed most of it. Ray Davies insisted on producing "Waterloo Sunset", and basically remained the band's sole producer afterwards.
- Shout-Out: The title is an echo of Bob Dylan's Another Side of Bob Dylan.
- Smoking Is Cool: "Harry Rag" is all about the joys of lighting up. "Harry rag" is Cockney rhyming slang for "fag".
- Step Up to the Microphone: Dave Davies sings lead vocals on "Death of a Clown", "Love Me Till the Sun Shines" and "Funny Face", all of which he wrote as well.
- Watching the Sunset: "Waterloo Sunset", of course. The singer avows that when he sees it, he's "in Paradise" despite his implied friendlessness and being out of step with modern life.
