Song of the Day 6/4: The Kinks, “Sunny Afternoon”

The Kinks had a string of hits during the original British Invasion that became instant garage-rock classics. “Sunny Afternoon,” released in the summer of 1966, continued Ray Davies’ move toward more sophisticated music and socially conscious lyrics that had begun with “Well Respected Man” the year before. It also demonstrated his strong music-hall leanings. Davies recalled writing it while recuperating from an illness on an old upright piano. “The only way I could interpret how I felt was through a dusty, fallen aristocrat who had come from old money as opposed to the wealth I had created for myself.” Worried listeners would sympathize with the narrator, Davies said, “I turned him into a scoundrel who fought with his girlfriend after a night of drunkenness and cruelty,” which became the lyric’s transcendent line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIKsHh3BFPI

Asked about the “big fat mama” line by Q magazine, Davies responded, “My mother was quite large. But that also alludes to the government, the British Empire, trying to break people. And they’re still doing it… (sighs) How are we going to get out of this fucking mess?”

The B-side was “I’m Not Like Everybody Else,” which enjoyed a renaissance when a live version was used to great effect in “The Sopranos.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmb7TU0OrOI