Kinks Weeks – Living On A Thin Line …christiansmusicmusings.wordpress.com

Christian and I share a lot of the same musical tastes. It’s odd because neither one of us grew up with The Beatles in real-time or that great 60s generation. We both grew up in the 80s but share a lot of the same likes. He has a very cool informative site that is a must if you are a music fan. He goes over older music and newer music much more than I do. Go see him at https://christiansmusicmusings.wordpress.com/

A Kinks Song I Dig: Living on a Thin Line

When Max, who writes the great PowerPop blog, came knocking to see whether I’d like to participate in a song series dedicated to The Kinks I replied, ‘sure!’ After all, next to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who, they are my favorite ‘60s band.

I also knew right away what my pick would be, which may seem a bit strange. After all, the British group has many great songs. As an ‘80s song, it’s also not the most obvious choice, especially considering I tend to favor the band’s ‘60s output over what they released in subsequent decades: Living on a Thin Line.

One distinct feature of Living on a Thin Line is that it was written by Kinks lead guitarist and backing vocalist Dave Davies instead of his older brother Ray Davies who penned most of the group’s songs. The track first appeared in November 1984 on the Kinks’ 21st studio album Word of Mouth. Two months later, it was also released separately as a 12-inch promotional radio single in the U.S., backed by Ray Davies track Sold Me Out.

Living on a Thin Line, one of two songs Dave wrote for the album, was a reflection on the Kinks’ long and difficult career, as well as his disdain for politicians, he noted in his 1997 biography Kink. Another influence was what he viewed as the deterioration of English identity in the 20th century and a sense of nostalgia for the old days.

In a July 2022 interview with UK paper The Independent, conducted in the wake of Dave’s memoir that’s also titled Living On a Thin Line, he gave a more narrow explanation of the song. “Living on a Thin Line is about us,” he said, meaning The Kinks. For context, the story notes at the time he wrote it, Dave had started to worry The Kinks had become Ray’s backing band and, quoting the article, poured his feelings about how their relationship had become an uneasy tightrope into lyrics ostensibly about the decline of England.

Here’s a live version of the song, which apparently was captured in 1984 during the Word of Mouth Tour in Frankfurt, Germany. Setlist.fm documents a concert The Kinks played at the city’s Festhalle on November 23, 1984. Damn, I wish I would have been there!

Living on a Thin Line has received praise from critics as one of the best songs written by Dave Davies who also penned some other Kinks songs, most notably the great Death of a Clown. “In ‘Living on a Thin Line’ – a dark variation on Ray’s own death-of-England’s-glory songs – brooding, goose-stepping chords and moping Pink Floyd synths underscore the desperate effectiveness of Dave’s nervous croon,” opined Rolling Stone’s David Fricke. Even Robert Christgau had something nice to say about the song, calling it the second-best on the Word of Mouth album after Come Dancing.

Living on a Thin Line also gained some exposure on TV. It was featured three times in a 2001 episode of The Sopranos titled University. According to Wikipedia, producer Terence Winter said it was the series’ most asked-about song. Living on the Thin Line was also used during the credits in the finale of HBO series Vice Principals.

Sources: Wikipedia; The Independent; Setlist.fm; YouTube

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

23 thoughts on “Kinks Weeks – Living On A Thin Line …christiansmusicmusings.wordpress.com”

  1. Thanks Christian! I appreciate you participating in this. I remember this song around the time of Do It Again. I’m glad we got a Dave song.

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    1. Oh, well, better late than never! Thanks for inviting me to participate in your Kinks series. It’s been very interesting reading the contributions from fellow bloggers. Even though I don’t hesitate calling The Kinks one of my favorite British bands, I know much less about their music than The Beatles, the Stones and The Who. Up to this point, all featured songs were new to me!

      I don’t quite remember how I first came across “Living On a Thin Line.” I think I was putting together a Kinks playlist in iTunes. Once I picked a specific artist or band for a playlist, the nerd in me “demanded” that it be career-spanning. Most likely, that’s how I got to “Word of Mouth” and the song.

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      1. Thanks for doing it! I really appreciate it. I’m glad you picked a Dave song…I do remember this one. Like I said…”Do It Again” was big in Nashville when it was released and it was on this album I believe and this was the second one I heard a lot.
        Yep…the 4 walls that held the invasion up for me was Beatles, Kinks, Who, and Stones…those are the top ones for me.

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    1. True, we all have our own vision and alternate takes on songs. A word nerd might favour the lyric and not hear a great instrumental flourish, the muso might hear it the other way round. Some just like the whole sound. Whatever floats your boat.

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  4. Thanks for that Christian. Solid pick & what’s more, reminded me I once had this album too. Totally forgot that, but I remember this song & the cover, so I guess I’ve owned 2 studio albums by them. Very good song and if it was Dave’s it suggests Ray might have actually had more competition in songwriting than we’d guessed

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  7. Great choice Christian. This song is such a cool Kinks song. Penned by Dave but still has the bands vibe. Always like when Dave takes a song. His guitar playing was standout for me but nice to see Ray give him the vocal focus on this one.

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  8. Yet another I’d never heard before. It’s certainly a grower.

    I only have one Kinks CD album – a compilation of the earlier hits. Max should be on a PR / publicity deal with the band for this series … I’m sure I’m not the only one gonna go check out more of The Kinks music.

    Great choice, Christian. I love this. 🙂

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  9. Excellent choice, Christian. I’ve heard this song before, not sure where, but did not know any of the background info. It’s deftly put together, with no instrument overshadowing any other, which could have been intentional considering what you learned about Dave feeling overshadowed by Ray in the band.

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  10. Never knew it was a Dave song, pretty decent too. It fits seamlessly in, so maybe the brothers share a songwriting talent than we might have expected

    Christian I also agree with your opinion of ‘Death Of A Clown,’ it’s as good a song as any from the bands golden era.

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  11. Well when the Sopranos come asking for the song you better give it to them. haha… I watched the live clip posted and its a good song as the brothers look to be getting along at that moment as well.

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  12. Pingback: Kinks Weeks – Living On A Thin Line …christiansmusicmusings.wordpress.com – MobsterTiger

  13. This one’s really good, I prefer the 1960s/early 1970s tracks, this is the first later song to grab me. Cool Dave got a track in there, I thought about Love Me Til The Sun Shines.

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