Counting down the Kinks 15 greatest songs

12. “Come Dancing” (1982)

“Come Dancing” was the final big hit. They would have one more minor hit in “Don’t Forget to Dance” from the same album (State of Confusion) which dealt with the same subject matter. This is Ray at his most wistfully nostalgic and in the hands of a lesser songwriter, this memory of the dance palaces of his distant youth might have turned sappy or downright maudlin.

But Ray, backed by both his band and a quartet of brass players, keeps the music spry and the lyrics sharp. Even his briefly spoken lines about seeing his sister and her beau in silhouette by the garden light have the air of poetry. As with all of his best pieces of nostalgia, there is sadness about what has been lost balanced by the understanding that life goes on, and things may not really be quite as bad as we think when we begin to wallow in the past.

11. “The Village Green Preservation Society” (1968)

There has never been a better concept album on the subject of nostalgia than the awkwardly titled The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society. There is not one song that really became a hit or even stood out from the rest. It is a brilliant depiction of an England that may or may not have actually existed in Ray Davies’ youth.

Throughout the album, he writes with compassion and attention to detail, while keeping the music energetic despite being rooted in old-fashioned traditions. The opening song – one of two that specifically mentions the symbolic village green – is a jolly, rose-lensed roll call of all that once made a certain type of Englander proud.

And it features Ray’s cleverest collection of rhymes. “We are the Village Green Preservation Society -God save Donald Duck, vaudeville and variety – We are the Desperate Dan Appreciation Society – God save strawberry jam in all its different varieties." Later, he will lavish equal praise on draft beer, custard pie, and virginity.

10. “Sunny Afternoon” (1966)

We’ve been dealing with the sentimental side of Ray Davies up until now. But he could get angry too. From the ominous descending chords that open the melody, we are in darker territory.

Of course, Ray rarely loses control and this remains restrained and philosophical as he recounts how he has been done wrong by his girl and by his government in equal measures. “The taxman’s taken all my dough – And left me in my stately home – Lazing on a sunny afternoon” is how he begins.

The second verse opens with “My girlfriend’s run off with my car – And gone back to her ma and pa – Telling tales of drunkenness and cruelty.”  One of the great things about the portraits painted by Ray Davies is that they never have to overtly state what becomes obvious. In this case, a whiney dude is probably getting what he is due.