The Kinks- Waterloo Sunset(REACTION//DISCUSSION)

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Song Link: • The Kinks - Waterloo S...

[@markspooner1224]

One of the most beautiful songs ever written. Ray Davies is a master songwriter and paints wonderful pictures in his songs. Although the rumour of Terry and Julie being Terence Stamp and Julie Christie has been debunked I find it difficult not to think of them. So glad you liked it JP.

[@dexstewart2450]

I've stood on that bridge with the Sun going down: I was at a meeting in London and made a point of getting there in time for the Winter Sun to go down. Special moment.

[@JustJP]

Nice! And how was the view?

[@SorgFamily]

I think it was Paul Simon who said he went to the same bridge because of this song but the view was very unsatisfying and that there was trash everywhere. He said it was then that he realized that the “Waterloo Sunset” was all in Davies’ mind and what a great writer he was. I’ve never been there so I can’t comment on it personally but I always thought that was an interesting tidbit.

[@iluvausten40517]

This is my all time favourite Kinks song! Also, it is often considered one of the best songs ever recorded about London . . .

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

One of the sweetest songs the kinks ever recorded. I always thought of the scene as less than idyllic but that people can find love and beauty in places that are a bit harsh and busy or by being a somewhat removed observer of life. Great reaction.

[@JustJP]

Good point Hartlor!

[@thomassharmer7127]

Ray Davies perfectly manages to combine the folk/singer-songwriter sensibility of deeply personal story telling with supremely catchy pop delivery.

[@Glyn75]

Never fails to make this Londoner emotional. Just to help with the visualisation, Waterloo Station is just beyond the South Bank of the Thames. Waterloo Bridge has amazing views of the City Of London (skyscrapers, St Paul's Cathedral) in one direction and Big Ben and Westminster in the other, so it's a very picturesque spot. Being a North Londoner, I assume Terry and Julie are crossing over the river from South to North, "where they feel safe and sound".

[@highpath4776]

Even though Ray was a good Londoner from Muswell Hill, I dont think the song was written specifically for the area and misses some of the south of the river geography , but certainly Friday night into the west end - I think this was pre National Theatre on the South Bank - which was the bright lights of theatreland and main restaurants - would have been from Leicester Square etc, but there were / are some good food places down Lower Marsh and Upper Marsh - and the Old Vic Theatre of course. Was the Shell Centre completed on the south bank - the Royal Festival Hall was up by 1951 of course , I feel the bridge they would walk over is not Waterloo Bridge but the pedestrian walkway on Hungerford Bridge into Charing Cross. The London Council Council Building was just about to be transformed into the GLC , the area having previously being ? The Lion? Brewery, but the Shot Tower might still have been up.

[@1nelsondj]

@@highpath4776 Originally he was wrote it about Liverpool and the Mercy river.

[@1nelsondj]

The melody alone is enough to get to me, love that descending bass line too. Ray's vocals are perfect, they convey his sensitive/vulnerable side, he's introspective and lonely while denying he's afraid and doesn't need friends. I feel he's whistling in the dark.

[@robertm7071]

Waterloo is a bridge and railway station in London. To me, this evokes the beauty of London at that time. A blessing to have lived there in the Sixties. This is regarded as one of the classic songs of that period.

[@MTB-Idle]

As someone who has commuted to work in central London including Waterloo underground for over 25 years this is a beautiful & evocative song

[@jeremyb5640]

Thanks for doing this Justin, a beloved song over here in the UK, almost an unofficial national anthem. An ode to London when the city was at the forefront of music, art and fashion in the swinging sixties, so it holds deep emotional resonance both in pop culture and in the national psyche. The dirty old river is the River Thames running through the centre of the city. Waterloo is a large overground rail station on the south side of the river with an underground station below (I think you'd call that a subway station in the US). It's kind of idealistic, sixties London was still being rebuilt after the damage of World War 2, but it's endlessly hopeful and dreamy and still played regularly on radio stations here. Ray Davies fittingly sang it at the closing ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics.

[@pleasantvalleypickerca7681]

Truly one of the most beautiful songs ever written. The way the song is constructed is masterful. It's a perfect little gem!

[@mickcapewell6369]

The Jewel in the Kinks crown. 👍 Days is another good one in the same type of vein

[@gerald112b]

Beautiful immortal song. Thank you Justin.

[@jasperdevries1726]

Probably the most inspired song Ray Davies has ever written (and there's been quite a few). Is Ray a genius? Oh yes, he is.

[@WTFungus]

My favorite Kinks song for sure.

[@avantprog6902]

When I think of beautiful tunes, this one always comes to mind.

[@tallykev6608]

Great song from the Kinks. They had such a distinctive sound and that goes for Davies' vocals as well. Nice review.

[@bryanforis1839]

One of the best 1960 s songs

[@johnharris666]

In 2010 Ray Davies stated the song was originally entitled "Liverpool Sunset". In an interview with the Liverpool Echo, he explained: "Liverpool is my favourite city, and the song was originally called 'Liverpool Sunset'. I was inspired by Merseybeat. I'd fallen in love with Liverpool by that point. On every tour, that was the best reception. We played The Cavern, all those old places, and I couldn't get enough of it. I had a load of mates in bands up there, and that sound - not the Beatles but Merseybeat - that was unbelievable. It used to inspire me every time. So I wrote 'Liverpool Sunset'. Later it got changed to 'Waterloo Sunset', but there's still that play on words with Waterloo. London was home, I'd grown up there, but I like to think I could be an adopted Scouser. My heart is definitely there.(waterloo is on the banks of the mersey and where he stayed)

[@maartenmouton9257]

Celluloid heroes is also an amazing song.

[@mikemccool4073]

Ah, memories of living near the Kinks in Muswell Hill, London during my university days in the late Sixties.

[@gaiaeternal5131]

Hi JP. Dave from London. Sun Goes Down... over the river Thames at Waterloo Bridge, that is, and I was there to see it a few weeks ago from the balcony of the Royal Festival Hall before the show by Mew. Absolute classic 60s song, and one of a varied string of hits by Ray and the boys. It has been said that Terry and Julie were 60s actors Terence Stamp and Julie Christie, but I think Ray has since denied this. Lovely, evocative song. P.S. My song ref Sun Goes Down is an excellent one-off 90s soul hit by David Jordan.

[@annother3350]

Perfect place to watch it. Did you have a glass of something special to wash it down with?!

[@gaiaeternal5131]

@@annother3350 Not this time, Ann. Just water (as I was on medication).

[@davescurry69]

One of the most beautiful songs ever written, performed by arguably the most under appreciated bands of all time.

[@MrDSC2011]

I actually got a compliment on the vinyl/Japanese shirt a couple days ago.It is such a cool design. This is one of my favorite Kinks songs

[@JustJP]

Awesome Mark! I love that :D

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

By the way, the Kinks are a major influence on one of your other favourite reviewing bands, XTC. You can clearly hear that influence on this track.

[@kenl2091]

A couple of things: It was the Kinks' first single in true stereo, not THE first single and, if you read further on Wikipedia, it indicates that the track was no. 14 on Rolling Stone Magazine's Greatest Songs of All Time (not that I respect RS mag all that much!). It's very well regarded in the UK as a beautiful, nostalgic glimpse of London in the sixties. It's very pleasant but doesn't really thrill me as much as its reputation suggests it should. I do respect its class though.

[@highpath4776]

Unless you count Embankment Gardens on the North Bank or the Square Bit of Grass just to the east of the GLC building (now a hotel and aquarium) there are no parks around Waterloo near the underground entrance. (Actually I think at the last count there were 3 main entrances to the underground - two within the main line station one on Waterloo Bridge Road, one nearish Platform 15 (see Geoff Marshall Video possibly), and the Shell Centre Entrance.

[@nobrains6107]

Saw Ray and his son in a small London theatre in the 90s, doing a mix of stories and covers of Kinks material. A great evening.

[@highpath4776]

For the area take a look and see if John Rodgers has done a walk around Waterloo on YT. Otherwise there is a fairly recent walk along the thames Battersea to Vauxhall in which the present day London Eye Ferris wheel can be seen to give some idea of the thameside.

[@jmpmusva]

nicely done JP

[@nickbrough8335]

This and Mungo Jerry's in the Summertime and a few other late 60s and early 70s songs were regularly played on the radio when I was growing up as a pre-teen in early 1970s Britain. Peter Sarstedt's Where do you go my lovely is another one. Its a pretty eclectic bunch of songs, that you hardly hear at all these days. I do wonder whether the same sort of thing will be true for many today when they find themselves a bit older.

[@dalebaker9109]

Love this song, from the year that I started school. How can anyone not like this great song. Fabulous band, from London. Glad you enjoyed this Justin.

[@An_Cat_Dubh]

One of the most inspired Kinks tracks. The "Something Else By The Kinks" album is among their very best too. Waterloo Sunset features what I call the clanging "train on the tracks" sound at the end of the track, which is first(?) heard at the end of The Beatles' Strawberry Fields Forever. And then in April of 1967 both The Kinks and Jimi Hendrix use the effect (Hendrix for the main rhythm of "Are You Experienced?")

[@richardlawrence6619]

Sung at the London Olympics. Very nostalgic song.

[@jeffschielka7845]

Hey Justin! The Kinks! My brother's favorite band of all time. I lost my brother in '97. Still can't listen to a Kinks song without sheading tears.😭

[@glenndespres5317]

Love that you finally got to do this. I have requested this so many times (and not Just.. to you.) it just has a place in my heart.

[@zenpuppy6025]

Celluloid Heroes is another great song by the Kinks 😎

[@777petew]

Great interpretation. Very accurate. Thanks.

[@dennispower5362]

MORE..KINKS..SONG.. ALL-DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT..BANGER ☮️

[@stlmopoet]

Liked your description of the music. Just reading all the replies I've learned about the song's place in London history.

[@sjames1955]

Waterloo Sunset was a major hit throughout much of the world, coming in at #2 in Great Britain but failing to dislodge the Beetles All You Need is Love from the top spot. The US was deprived of lots of fabulous Kinks songs around that time because the Kinks were being punished for being naughty boys. Waterloo Sunset is #14 on Rolling Stone's list of the most beautiful songs of all time. Many top British artists have called it the most beautiful. It's been covered by David Bowie, David Essex and Peter Gabriel among others.

[@peterandrews4866]

Hi Justin,wasn't sure you'd get the Kinks as Ray Davies' songwriting is so quintessentially English...I should have known you'd appreciate it. Interesting fact..the " Terry meets Julie, Waterloo Station every Friday night" refers to Terence ( Terry ) Stamp and Julie Christie who had recently starred together in a film adaptation of Thomas Hardy's " Far From The Madding Crowd" ...... this is in the days when Swinging London was the centre of all pop culture. . .. Oh yeah..and this was 1967 and I was 12 years old and seeing miss Christie made me realise I was heterosexual!😊

[@Bermondseybites]

Hey JP, love your appraisal as always & think am right in saying the Terry & Julie in question here are Terrence Stamp & Julie Christie- two of the “it people “ of swinging sixties London. Have you tried “you really got me” by The Kinks? Classic Mod track but birth of heavy / rock music also. Ray Davies so astute. Bless you my friend.

[@stevebradley704]

It's an urban hymn to London and it's people.

[@malekmo64]

Ray actually never liked going to all the parties in Swinging London like his brother Dave did, he actually did go home at night, definitely slightly autobiographical!!! He wrote it about Liverpool but changed it to closer to home for this Muswell Hillbilly boy!!! 🤣😊 After writing it he actually then went down to Waterloo station to see if he got it right, he did!!! 😊

[@Young_Jim]

The Kinks certainly had their unique sound and Ray Davies was a great frontman. I was a bit young for some of their stuff but I love ‘You Really Got Me’ and ‘Lola’.

[@clivegrant4225]

Kinks massively under rated band. Right up there with the Beatles in my opinion!

[@GrilloTheFlightless]

Many may disagree with me, and I’m not knocking the Beatles, but I always preferred The Kinks to The Beatles.

[@MickBokulich-gg1ro]

Better than the Beatles

[@mattjohn4731]

Waterloo underground I assume is their subway. Also known in the UK as the tubeway, tube station ...

[@Pjaypt]

a perfect 'feel good' song!

[@NickBR57]

Not heard it JP? Where have you been living? (Don't tell me, Florida...) Beautiful vocal scoops. Waterloo is the next bridge along from Westminster which Wordsworth wrote about London: "Earth has not any thing to show more fair: Dull would he be of soul who could pass by A sight so touching in its majesty" Also, the meeting on Waterloo station plays to an English stereotype - "meet under the clock at Waterloo Station" is a classic romantic movie thing. Shame postage is so expensive from the US [edit: just checked, yours is very reasonable]

[@JustJP]

Haha, living under a rock and by the sea :D

[@johnmavroudis2054]

Up there with "God Only Knows" as one of the most beautiful songs ever written. (I hope that shirt is for Yoyoka! She's AMAAAAAZING!!! If you haven't seen her videos, it would be a REMARKABLE reaction video... you can pick out any one of the songs she drums to... Rage Against the Machine, Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel, etc... so many choices and she's the BEST)

[@nj1639]

If you've not heard it yet try "Twentieth Century Man".

[@michaelmiller6709]

Bob Geldof did a solo song called, "Love Like A Rocket," which picked up this story some 30 years later. It's a pretty good song and worth a listen. Nowhere near at the level of Waterloo Sunset, though......which is really a masterpiece.

[@mgwatson26]

To many Brits, the greatest pop song ever written. 1967 was a great year for British pop - Strawberry Fields forever/Penny Lane, All you need it love, A whiter shade of pale, I can see for miles, Pictures of Lily, Itchycoo Park, great singles by The Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, even the first three Pink Floyd singles. I feel 'Waterloo Sunset' beats them all, even pipping 'Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane', to the post, and that's a very tough task.

[@highpath4776]

I would drop in the singles out by The Move, The Hollies, DDDBM&T, Procul Harem, Plus the Girl Singers like Sandie Shaw,

[@mjp3186]

This must be remastered. It sounds great.

[@davidmaholchic6146]

Kinks may be top 10 bands of all time so much to explore my Favorite albums are there 70s arena rock albums like low budget misfits and sleepwalker Krista love you

[@delllittle5692]

I think Yes vocals do the same thing. I always appreciate where "lead" vocals and backing vocals are placed at the same importance.

[@halcyon289]

Check out the beautiful , sublime Autumn Stone by The Small Faces. It's just on its own.

[@kbob1163]

I'm making this comment based on the Greg Hinman book, which was published 20 or more years ago, so perhaps there's better information out there these days, but otherwise the Wikipedia article is misleading when it comes to the stereo mix. It was indeed their first A-side to be mixed for stereo, but you'd have to buy the album to hear it. The single was still in mono.

[@sylvanm4216]

VERY high up there on the list of "beautiful, elegiac pop songs" - off hand, the closest thing I can think to put there with it would be Van Morrison's "Madame George", although that's such a different kind of song in some ways.

[@maruad7577]

A beautiful song but there is a subtle undercurrent. Fear, loneliness (?) and isolation. Why is this person afraid and socially isolated? Great song and review.

[@sicko_the_ew]

You might enjoy the cover of *Susannah's Still Alive* by *Cardiacs* kzbin.info/www/bejne/boqwpGiHrK2gg8U (it's by the "classic lineup" - with sax, keyboards and tuned percussion - and it's a kind of role play within a role within some role, so the people portraying the protagonists probably have as much compassion for the Susannah character as the Kinks did, when they wrote her. Or maybe not. Could be they needed someone to maintain control over their decorum, like their story tells us.)

[@ludolamot1043]

There is a great live version with Damon Albarn.

[@JamesFricke777]

I think WATERLOO SUNSET is on the same level as BECAH BOYS' GOD ONLY KNOWS and BEATLES' ELEANOR RIGBY...

[@rustynail3743]

Good chioce. Check out Powerman and Strangers.

[@1after909]

a perfect pop ,song... I put Ray Davies right up there with Lennon / McCartney as the finest writers of English pop music

[@Stuman57]

We did it again. I left KZbin option on when I turned the tv off last night. Good Morning! Maybe it’s just me. But I feel like all the Brits started the same. If you listen early Floyd, Who, Beatles, Kinks, The Animals, etc. Etc. Even bands like Strawberry Alarm Clock or “less iconic “ bands. They all sound the same on the first couple albums. Some went “punk”. Some went Metal, some went psychedelic. Again. Maybe it’s me? What do you think? Anyone?? Any others to add?

[@maruad7577]

For some reason Mersey or Liverpool sound comes to mind when I think of the British Invasion bands. Maybe it worked so they all copied it then built off that to become something more. That is just what I am thinking but, as per usual, I could be completely instead of just partially wrong.

[@highpath4776]

@@maruad7577 Dunno, Brumbeat never quite got to the USA , in record sales it followed what Liverpool generated though the live scene was pretty contemporary all along. London Bands of course - The Who, Shepherds Bush, The Tremelos - Dagenham , DC5 - Tottenham, Kinks - Muswell Hill , Status Quo ,

[@maruad7577]

@@highpath4776 Shows what little this colonial knows. I had thought the initial invasion was Liverpool based.

[@highpath4776]

@@maruad7577 I think the first main group appearance on a TV show was The Dave Clark Five from Tottenham, London. Overall the music business was complex, In the UK we had the likes of Eddie Cochran, Bill Haley, Buddy Holly tour. The British tended to send a few big band singers and a bit of modern jazz. In part the US is so large that it takes forever to tour plus the air/sea distance, Slade in the 1970s said they did OK in america but by the time they returned to UK the music scene had changed ! A USA artist could come to the UK , do two weeks and 22 shows selling out to 5000 seat theatres or 20000 seat stadiums and probably cover only 6000 miles max 300 miles a day and more like 120 to 180 miles to the next venue, AND go onto Europe and do another 10 days and be back before the USA knew they had gone !

[@highpath4776]

@@maruad7577 I Forgot the Rolling Stones - From Dartford, Kent. (and a few years later Moody Blues from Birmingham Area). A lot of UK groups covered US songs - most publishers had agents in London at the Likes of The Searchers would add them to their acts and so were difficult to sell them back to the USA ! (Needles And Pins" on The Ed Sullivan Show 1964 is on YT

[@michaelbedford8017]

I'm from manchester, so we don't have a lot of time for londoners, but, I've always made a big, big, exception for this song; really so evocative of london in the sixties. Absolute tearjerker.

[@thomassharmer7127]

I thought Northerners were supposed to be open and friendly, that"s what they always tell us, but perhaps they only mean they're welcoming to each other 😉 .

[@carterlink]

@@thomassharmer7127 I’m northern. I have time for anyone.

[@whu1001]

Great song but waterloo station is definitely not idyllic.

[@1nelsondj]

Many won't get the subtlety of this song. What's the singer doing sitting at home gazing out the window on a Friday night, not needing friends, not being afraid? He's isolated and maybe contemplating something. There's just something about this song that brings me to tears, just a snapshot of life from 2 different angles. I'm glad you picked up on the focus of the singer. Some have called this the Anthem of London, Pete Townshend calls it divine and a masterpiece and he should know.

[@avantprog6902]

Seems that I heard Pete call Ray Davies the Poet Laureate of the British Invasion.

[@murdockreviews]

To many one of the most beautifully crafted songs from the 1960s. The Kinks were great and are absolutely worth diving into.

[@donaldanderson6604]

A perfect song. I'm glad I'm not the only Londoner who feels in paradise listening to this song. I've walked over Waterloo Bridge thousands of times and I never get tired of the view. The best view is definitely walking north towards The Strand. The dirty old river is actually a lot cleaner than it was in the 60s.

[@carterlink]

By the way Justin. If you ever do a complete run-through of a Kinks album, The Village Green Preservation Society is undoubtedly their masterpiece. It was criminally ignored on its release, because it was so out of kilter with what every other band was putting out at the time. Deemed completely unfashionable. It didn’t take long before it started to develop cult status and it’s now regarded up there with The Beatles Sgt Pepper. Beautiful album. Conceptual, but the tracks stand on their own.

[@warrenbutson349]

Brilliant songs horribly recorded. Wish they had used whoever produced Waterloo Sunset but yes it’s one the essentially English albums ever made and I see a massive link to XTC in Ray Davies and Andy Partridge

[@carterlink]

@@warrenbutson349 I think the remaster has decent quality sound, but I agree, at the time and actually for the whole of The Kinks 60’s output, they could have used someone like George Martin. Would have made a big difference.

[@Steve_Stowers]

I go back and forth between "The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society" and "Arthur, or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire" as being The Kinks' masterpiece. Village Green is pastoral, pure, perfect, loveable. Arthur is more ambitious, sprawling, varied, and it rocks. Both great in their way.

[@carterlink]

Steve Stowers In all honesty, they had a run of five albums between ‘67 and ‘71 and you could easily pick any of them as their best. It comes down to your own personal taste. I guess it’s Village Green that is universally regarded as their best though.

[@joebloggs396]

@@Steve_Stowers Village Green is ambitious for me as well and a fair variety from Wicked Anabella, Last of the Steam Powered Trains, Big Sky to Phenomenal Cat. Mixing nostalgia and cynism, past and present, fantasy and reality. Their second best for me is Something Else. Waterloo sunset Is on it but there's other tracks I like even more.

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

London's unofficial anthem. Magnificent. An eye-in-the-sky view of the city in microcosm and macrocosm, seen by someone sitting alone in their window, perhaps dreading the night but enjoying the evening light (and possibly in a "mellow mood", shall we say...). There's even more beauty to the song when you realise that the view to Waterloo Bridge is pretty, but not that spectacular. English singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock took members of the band REM to see the bridge, and REM's Peter Buck declared "for Ray Davies to turn a fairly typical urban view like that into such a beautiful song - he is a genius. "See my friend" or "Celluloid heroes" next?

[@jamespaivapaiva4460]

Woodbury sunrise, for me. Walk to the barn, on old man's knees. Morning feed for the birds and the beasts. Come on home to Kinks harmonies, and now I know where to get monogrammed Tee's. Peace to you and your family.

[@craigfazekas3923]

Q: Beatles or Stones ? A: The Kinks !!! I am very proud to be able to say I saw The Kinks in concert. Dave Davies never gets enough credit, IMO. One of my favorite guitarists.

[@jonnno2439]

Like Lowry, Ray Davies paints pictures in his words and music.

[@-davidolivares]

This song was a grower, since I loved so many other Kinks songs ahead of this gem. Tired of Waiting See My Friends Lola Victoria Sunny Afternoon Picture Book Days so many… I actually got more into The Kinks from hearing and replaying a live recording from the radio back in the late 80s early 90s, not sure. They are a great live band. Also, sooo many have covered this song, the last one I dug was The Temples version done live. Speaking of The Temples, Sun Structures is pretty good. Shelter Song, Sun Structures and others have vintage tinge. Rather lovely. Most of my concert T-shirts cover my guitars, since I only wear them on weekends at home mostly. We’ll see. Peace and radio concert Music

[@Pcrimson1]

I have loved this song for so long. When I finally got to London, I made sure I took the Tube to Waterloo Station and soaked it all in. Eventually, I made it over to Abbey Road...

[@davidlynch433]

I don't care what anyone else thinks this is one of the finest and most beautiful songs ever written and recorded .

[@alva1370]

I've been listening to The Kinks a lot this summer. This song and Sunny Afternoon.

[@amnril]

When I was a child back in the early 1970’s I used to play this (7” single) on my mums HMV record player. I always loved this song.

[@richardnanian6075]

The Kinks were the most quintessentially English of the 1960s bands. They should have been bigger in the U.S., like the Beatles, Stones, and Who, but some bands just are so English that something doesn't translate. Squeeze is a great example. It's something to do with a mixture of wit, class anger, and a kind of literary background. Many songwriters have called this song a masterpiece, even as perfect a song as popular music has ever produced. I saw an interview with Bob Geldof (of the Boomtown Rats, but probably most famous as the organizer of Live Aid) in which he compared this song to William Wordsworth's great sonnet "Composed upon Westminster Bridge." That is high praise. Earth has not any thing to show more fair: Dull would he be of soul who could pass by A sight so touching in its majesty: This City now doth, like a garment, wear The beauty of the morning; silent, bare, Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie Open unto the fields, and to the sky; All bright and glittering in the smokeless air. Never did sun more beautifully steep In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill; Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep! The river glideth at his own sweet will: Dear God! the very houses seem asleep; And all that mighty heart is lying still!

[@thereunionparty]

They probably would have been bigger in the US had not the American Federation of Musicians, in 1965, banned them from performing there for four years because of some phoney-baloney charge of bad behaviour.

[@richardnanian6075]

@@thereunionparty Yes, I should have mentioned that. But the effect of that ban can also be over-stated. The Kinks' first album after the ban was lifted was "Arthur" (subtitled something like "The Decline and Fall of the British Empire"). Critics loved it, but American audiences were confused. Then they had a hit with "Lola," but followed that album up with "Muswell Hillbillies" and "Village Green Preservation Society" - both of which I love, but which again were more critically acclaimed than popular in the U.S. My own recollection, as an American just discovering popular music in the late 70s and 80s, was that everyone owned the live double-album "One for the Road" because they thought it was cool to know the group Van Halen had had two big hits covering. But again, real songwriters loved the Kinks and consider Ray Davies one of the great geniuses. I was a huge fan of Adam Schlesinger (his death from Covid last year gutted me) and he and the rest of the Fountains of Wayne guys did an amazing cover of "Better Things" in the wake of 9/11 on Conan O'Brien's show. Worth watching.

[@donaldb1]

Next should be, _Dead End Street,_ or _Sunny Afternoon_ or _Dedicated Follower of Fashion._

[@rogerhennie8939]

Or Autumn Almanac, og Village Green , or Days or....

[@Macilmoyle]

The Terry and Julie mentioned in the song are usually thought of as being Terence Stamp and Julie Christie; two of the faces of the 60s. The view from Waterloo Bridge is one of the best in London. (Slightly spoiled by the carbuncle of Hungerford Railway Bridge to the West).

[@bobholtzmann]

I recall the British movie Billy Liar starring Julie Christie, but that has Tom Courtenay as the lead, and it's not set in London.

[@halcyon289]

They both starred in Far fom the Madding Crowd

[@bobholtzmann]

@@halcyon289 Interesting - that movie was released in 1967, but set in a previous century. Thought it might offer some insight into the song, but it's nowhere near the time and place. I really like the earlier 1960s B&W British films - one of my favorites is The Knack and How To Get It - a very surreal intelligent comedy.

[@halcyon289]

@@bobholtzmann They were both the darlings of swinging London at that time. The Knack is a really good film. Check out The Italian Job , it's a great caper movie.

[@donaldb1]

I've seen it claimed that Terry and Julie are Stamp and Christie, but I don't think there's anything to that. What would those stars be doing hanging around Waterloo Underground at all, never mind "every Friday night"? No, I think they are just ordinary teenage lovers.

[@robertsoden5068]

These days, anyone with a view of a Waterloo sunset from their window would need an oligarch level of income to afford the view !

[@highpath4776]

Not necessarily, Given the tall buildings I can think its the working class buildings around Webber Street or the LCC?/ Southwark Council houses just off The Cut nearer Blackfriars Road. The Coin Street Housing Co-operative has low rise only so the sunset is blocked by the present Kings College Student accomodation blocks and that private hospital building. Is that tall building near Waterloo East (decent pub next door then the church), offices or residential- the brick one ). If you follow the signs to Waterloo from Elephant and Castle it actually takes you up Westminster Bridge Road rather than to Waterloo Bridge, as both Lower and Upper Marsh are parts of the Waterloo Area - though it is an artificial construct of an area I am not even certain what the area was before the arrival of the bridge and station- Lambeth ? or Southwark ?

[@lawrencesmith6536]

So many Kinks records for you to discover. They were banned from performing in America for several years due to union issues. During that time....roughly 1969-1974, they released a string of wonderful concept albums. Perhaps the greatest run of concept albums in the history of rock and roll.....Arthur .Village Green, Muswell Hillbillies, Schoolboys in Disgrace, and my personal favorite, a 3 album masterpiece, Preservation Acts 1 and 2

[@rogerhennie8939]

One of the best pop Songs ever made.

[@daveking9393]

A classic for sure. Thanks!! Looking forward to it. Enjoyed as usual.

[@highpath4776]

Ditch the music on digital, get a decent (or even old cheap 2 valve amp) record player, get the LP and the Single, play with the needle in the groove , get the full rich sound.

[@semchen9]

"Waterloo Sunset", courses as a beautiful beautiful 60's English Pastoral Fugue.

[@halcyon289]

An absolute masterpiece.

[@wendyt7958]

One of my absolute favorite Kinks tunes....just lovely

[@stephanieo2509]

I'm glad that you mentioned harmonies. I don't think enough people mention how great Dave and Ray sing together. That whole brother thing.

[@yang-it-yin7002]

A Great Song from the most underrated influential Bands of All time!

[@SmartCookie2022]

Nah, I don't hear the Beach Boys listening to this... I hear the distinct sound of The Kinks. 😎

[@chicagoviking1]

Great album. This, Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur -- As good as any 3 albums in a row, ever.

[@chazblitz]

Totally understand your call out on the drums. Mick Avory is a phenomenal drummer in the Ringo sense. He also played with the Stones before Charlie.

[@therealtwiggyleaf]

Love The Kinks. They really should have been RIGHT UP THERE with The Stones and The Beatles. 😎 Thanks for the review.

[@barrowsb]

Shangri-la from Arthur should be next.

[@SpringCircleFun]

It reminds me of Traffic - Paper Sun song