The Kinks - Sunny Afternoon | Reaction!

[@glynjones2587]

One of their greatest songs.

[@StevenCorr]

A wonderful thing I discovered in the late 90s was that Ray Davies ran songwriting workshops in the mid-90s. One of his students was a young Damon Albarn of Blur.

[@TT-fq7pl]

Fantastic song! Love the Kinks. Good reaction!

[@pattyg8464]

Such a fun, witty song. One that, for me, sounds as fresh today as it did when I first heard it in the 1960s.

[@winnywin]

I always assumed that the 'big fat mamma' was the government (or Inland Revenue - as the tax dept. was named at the time). Great song - and nice review.

[@InsignificantNick]

@winnywin I might have taken that too literal lol. The government makes sense there.

[@kenhewitt7357]

Always great lyrics with the Kinks.

[@3CatAlfie]

I love Ray's voice and Dave on backing vocals should also get some credit. David Bowie and Paul Weller were big Kinks fans. The Jam recorded an excellent version of The Kinks' David Watts. Worth a listen.

[@rayutube]

I believe Morrissey, and for sure, Marr were big fans. For a self-loathing deep cut from 76-77 Era, try Misfits (although the best song from that album was A Rock n Roll Fantasy).

[@colindonald3161]

kinks are legends, lots of great interesting songs

[@Debcatawba]

When I saw The Kinks in concert they were the opening act for Hall and Oates. Really?? Even back then, and still today, I think they had the concert lineup in reverse. Hall and Oates should have been opening for The Kinks. Kinks are trendsetters, part of the British invasion. Gotta love The Kinks!

[@drg3712]

God bless Ray Davies. Great reaction.

[@StevenCorr]

You have to, and I mean HAVE TO, do Dead End Street next. It compliments this song so well. They wrote so many fantastic songs. Hollywood Boulevard (correction - Celluloid Heroes) and Sitting in my Hotel are also classics.

[@rayutube]

Yes to Dead End Street.

[@rayutube]

And Celluloid Heroes.

[@TT-fq7pl]

"I'm not like Everybody Else" is one of my faves.

[@StevenCorr]

@@rayutube That's what I meant, not Hollywood Boulevard. 🙄

[@jb8280]

I love the Kinks. A thousand great songs, but one of my faves is The Village Green Preservation Society. If you like Edgar Wright films(Hot Fuzz) then you might have heard a bit of it…;)

[@colindonald3161]

rays book is good if you like that kind of thing :)

[@Irene-lf4fr]

This is one of the best from the Kinks

[@peterhodges9113]

You nailed it.

[@InsignificantNick]

Well, thank ya!

[@LambriniSupernova]

Great reaction, very before their time lyrically imo. Apeman is also a great tune

[@steveshorrock]

Don't forget who wrote the songs, I saw them all xx

[@c.i.z.recordings8325]

The webman ... you know.

[@tomgribbin9531]

GOD SAVE THE KINKS (if you know you know.)

[@TheJazzper1970]

Enjoyable song and reaction. Tax rates were very high in the UK at the time. The Beatles complained about it too. John Lennon moved to the US, a number of high profile actors moved to the continent. I think Ray is on record as saying he didn't want the song to be explicitly about himself so he changed it to the viewpoint of an unsympathetic aristocrat. Though Ray has a tendency of explaining the meaning to his songs differently depending which side of the bed he got out of that day.

[@darrellwhitman4756]

The Stones too. They took off to the south of France to record Exile on Main St for tax reasons.