Song of the Day 11/12: The Kinks, “Victoria”

Guest post by Nathan Arizona

A lot is going on with the British monarchy. There’s a third King Charles after 337 years. The second Queen Elizabeth, it turns out, couldn’t live forever. The “red-headed stepchild” is still sulking loudly in California. Diana fixation is coming back with a new season of “The Crown,” although she’s no angel there and Charles gets to be played by a handsome actor.

In the season’s first episode, Queen Elizabeth worries that, like Queen Victoria, she will outstay her effectiveness and popularity (not expecting to live another 31 years in which neither happened).

So there’s no better time to listen to the best song from the best album about the British monarchy — the Kinks’ rocking “Victoria” from 1969’s “Arthur.”

The album reflects on life during the reign and aftermath of the ancestor who haunted Elizabeth (at least according to “The Crown”). Things weren’t so great. “Long ago, life was clean/Sex was bad, called obscene/And the rich were so mean.”

But Ray Davies at the same time seems nostalgic for the simpler days of his early youth, when the “Victorian” mood was not entirely obsolete and Elizabeth was not yet Queen. “I was born, lucky me/In a land that I love/Though I’m poor I am free.” It was a time of “croquet lawns, village greens.” Tongue in cheek, sure. But the Kinks really did miss village greens, or at least the idea of them.

The “I” in this song is the Davies’ brother-in-law, who chose the conventional way of life. He was married to their beloved older sister, who brought new music into the Davies home as a teen-ager. They liked and understood him even though they chose a different path. So the critique was light and punches were pulled.

“Arthur” was meant to make a huge splash as a “rock opera” like “Tommy,” with a movie attached. But complications during recording derailed that idea and it was finally released as just the next Kinks album. It was a moderate success, moreso in America, lifting them out of a period of commercial doldrums. It’s now often considered not only the best Kinks album but one of the best of its era.

And now, Her Majesty.

Folks like Arthur dutifully answered the call to war. Here’s “Mr. Churchill Says.”

Let’s finish with “Shangri-La,” a pretty song with a nostalgic tone that seems to contradict the ironic lyrics.