Ray Davies – The Big Guy

I first heard this song a few years ago on someone else’s blog. After hearing his lyrics, I knew there had to be some big influence around it. The song was about three different things. One, his bodyguards who would save him from himself on tour. Two, Davies nearly lost his life in New Orleans when he chased a man who had stolen his girlfriend’s purse and was subsequently shot in the leg. Three, the title also alludes to God. The track explores the idea that you are never truly alone or abandoned “as long as the big guy” is there.

It comes from Ray Davies’ 2018 album Our Country: Americana Act II. Like much of the album, the song draws from Ray’s own life and experiences in America. By this point, Davies had little left to prove as a songwriter. Instead, he was looking back on the people and events that shaped his life. That gives “The Big Guy” a personal feel that makes it stand out on the record.

The inspiration for the song goes back to a frightening event in 2004. While in New Orleans, Davies chased a man who had stolen a purse from his companion and was shot in the leg during the confrontation. Years later, he reflected on waking up in the hospital and thinking about the bodyguards and friends who had looked after him over the years. The “big guy” of the title was partly inspired by those men. There is humor in the song, but there is also gratitude. Davies was looking back at a moment that could have ended very differently.

The album was recorded with members of the Jayhawks, who also played on Americana. Their playing gives the song a warm sound. The sessions focused on storytelling rather than a big commercial production. That approach fits Davies perfectly. He has always been one of rock’s great storytellers, and this album shows that.

What I like about the song is that it shows another side of Ray Davies. It’s thoughtful and reflective in a way that is a little different from the Kinks.

Ray Davies: “‘The Big Guy’ is reflections on waking up in a hospital with gunshot wounds. The big guys in the book [2013’s Americana] are my bodyguards, a guy called Tony and a guy called Bobby. The song is about them and what they meant to me, because I have a tendency to self-destruct on tour, like most musicians. Tony was under instructions that if I had more than two pints he could break my arm – or threaten to.”

Ray talks about writing the song here:

The Big Guy

Everybody’s afraid of the big guy called the gorilla
Wish you could be here today now I’m lying in the gutter
Though the cop car surrounds me I feel afraid
Now I’m lying here staring at the pearly gates

Tony, Tony you gave me security
You were a minder extraordinaire
And I miss you now that you’re not there

Terrified and in a fret
Like a child who’s lost his mother
Shivering in a cold, cold sweat
With my face in the gutter

Bobby, Bobby you gave me security
And Tony, Tony you did the same for me
Now you’re both sadly demised
I can’t believe I’m still alive

Bobby came out of Chicago
To give me a helping hand
He sat me down when I acted so sloppy
And he did the same for my whole band

Tony came out of South London
He was a cockney boy
He saved my ass back in ’82
When I acted such a silly boy

Come on man, don’t be a fool
Come on man, you’re gonna crawl
One day you’re gonna fall

Everybody’s afraid of the big guy called the gorilla
But he was never heavy, out of hand
In fact he was as gentle as a lamb

Tony, Tony you gave me security
You know
Tony, Tony you gave me security
Minder extraordinaire
I miss you now that you’re not there
Yeah I miss you now that you’re not there
No you’re never alone as long as the big guy’s there