Kinks – 20th Century Man

This is the twentieth centuryBut too much aggravationThis is the edge of insanityI’m a twentieth century man but I don’t want to be here

This song is for Song Lyric Sunday for Jim Adams’s blog. This week’s prompt is (drum roll please…) a song from a concept album. 

This song came from the album Muswell Hillbillies. A blogger friend of mine halffastcyclingclub, wrote up a post about it when I had the Kinks Weeks last year, it’s right here. Muswell Hillbillies is one of the many concept albums The Kinks did in the late sixties and early seventies. 20th Century Man kicks off the album. 

The song is an anthem of the over-civilized, over-documented, over-saturated age. Davies isn’t just annoyed by technology or bureaucracy; he’s exhausted by the entire machinery of progress. X-rays, radiation, political ideology, Big Brother watching from the corner of the room, Ray sees it all and wants out. Half a century later, 20th Century Man sounds eerily current. All those worries about surveillance, conformity, soulless routine? They didn’t go away, they just put on a fresh coat of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Musically, it’s a leaner Kinks, with no horn section, no vaudeville flourishes, and no trimmings. Just guitars, grit, and a message that cuts you like a cold wind. Even the production feels lived-in, like it’s already been through the wringer. At the end of the song, it comes to life with a frustrated Ray Davies singing that he cannot keep up and doesn’t want to be there. 

I can really relate to what he is going through in this song. This was before the 24/7 news cycle and advertising chasing us everywhere we turn. It peaked at #106 on the Billboard 100. The album peaked at #100 on the Billboard Album Charts in 1971. Lola just came out the year before, but it would be in the mid to late seventies when they returned to more commercial success. These albums, though, were great. 

20th Century Man

This is the age of machineryA mechanical nightmareThe wonderful world of technologyNapalm hydrogen bombs biological warfare

This is the twentieth centuryBut too much aggravationIt’s the age of insanityWhat has become of the green pleasant fields of Jerusalem

Ain’t got no ambitionI’m just disillusionedI’m a twentieth century man but I don’t want, I don’t want to be here

My mama said she can’t understand meShe can’t see my motivationJust give me some securityI’m a paranoid schizoid product of the twentieth century

You keep all your smart modern writersGive me William ShakespeareYou keep all your smart modern paintersI’ll take Rembrandt, Titian, Da Vinci and Gainsborough

Girl we gotta get out of hereWe gotta find a solutionI’m a twentieth century man but I don’t want, I don’t want to die here

Girl, we gotta get out of hereWe gotta find a solutionI’m a twentieth century man but I don’t want, I don’t want to be here

I was born in a welfare stateRuled by bureaucracyControlled by civil servantsAnd people dressed in greyGot no privacy, got no liberty‘Cause the twentieth century peopleTook it all away from me

Don’t want to get myself shot downBy some trigger happy policemanGotta keep a hold on my sanityI’m a twentieth century man but I don’t want to die here

My mama says she can’t understand meShe can’t see my motivationAin’t got no securityI’m a twentieth century man but I don’t want to die here

I don’t want twentieth century, manI don’t want twentieth century, manI don’t want twentieth century, manI don’t want twentieth century, man

This is the twentieth centuryBut too much aggravationThis is the edge of insanityI’m a twentieth century man but I don’t want to be here

…

Unknown's avatar

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.

36 thoughts on “Kinks – 20th Century Man”

  1. This song still has a very relatable theme, as people are still struggling with alienation and other troubles of the modern world. The beat in this song reminds me of a slower paced Ape Man, thanks for sharing your music, Max.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. Great song and the only track I can confirm I know from “Muswell Hillbillies.” While I’ve listened to music from throughout their career, it comes down to only a couple of their albums in their entirety. The Kinks had some great songs through their career. That said, I’m mostly drawn to their ’60s output.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. My goal is to get you to listen to the 70s material lol…no I love their 60s stuff as well. It’s funny…they were bigger in the UK in the 60s but bigger over here duing the 70s and 80s

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  3. Lol. ‘A fresh coat of WiFi and Bluetooth’ yep, nice Max, that about sums it up. At least AI thinks so. 🙄

    This is articulate Punk, seven or eight years before Punk.

    Ain’t it great that in the 54 years since this came out how much we have progresse- sorry, regressed? Nothing positive about progress in this song.

    Sonically the music matches the message. No frills, flat, hard.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. I agree…we are now so well informed but we don’t know whats up. Too much every single day….Ray had it right and it would only get worse.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  4. Pingback: Kinks – 20th Century Man – MobsterTiger

  6. I don’t know if you planned it that way, but yesterday was Ray’s 81st birthday, so perfect timing. Great song from a great album. He puts the frustrations of the modern world into incredible lyrics. Good post.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I’ve always liked this one. You are right…it’s like they were between the 60s and 70s…which I guess they were.

      Like

      Reply

  8. We saw the Kinks perform live at least 8 times. They have a very distinctive sound and always stood out from the rest of the groups. The thing I love most about this song is the drums; it’s a constant beat throughout and impossible not to move some part of your body.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. I’ve seen them only once…and live I personally I rated their concert over McCartney or the Stones….they were that good. Thanks for the comment. The drums are great in this one…

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  11. Max, you are on today! “They didn’t go away, they just put on a fresh coat of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth….Just guitars, grit, and a message that cuts you like a cold wind.”

    This album is a masterpiece. With this song and Muswell Hillbilly as bookends, it is a tour de force. If the narrator of this story is out of touch, he ain’t alone in his alienation. How’s that for a paradox for Sunday morning?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. [Comment disappeared. I’ll try again.]

    You are on today, Max! “They just put on a fresh coat of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth…Just guitars, grit, and a message that cuts you like a cold wind.”

    This was a masterpiece. The bookends of 20th Century Man and Muswell Hillbilly surround an exploration of alienation. Our Sunday morning paradox – if we’re all alienated from Modern Society, are we really alone? (In 1970, Dave Mason released an album called Alone Together.)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much for noticing. I’ve tried to spruce up the posts with some humor since I have longer to work on them now not posting everyday.
      That is a paradox and I agree. I think we cut ourselves off from the world because of a constant message of one thing or another. Alone Together….makes complete sense.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a comment