Tag: A Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy

Kinks Weeks – A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy …jimadamsauthordotcom.wordpress.com

I want to welcome my friend Jim to Kinks Weeks. Jim’s site is https://jimadamsauthordotcom.wordpress.com . I hope you can check it out. He has music and other subjects and…when I have a question about The Grateful Dead…Jim is the man I go to. He tackles one of my favorite Kinks songs today. He also has Song Lyric Sunday that is fun to participate in…and I have on a few occasions. Take it away Jim…

Still Have a Way to Go

Ray Davies wrote the Kinks song ‘A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy’ which was released on their 1978 seventeenth studio album Misfits and the single charted #30 in the US.  The lyrics to this song are written as a one-way conversation till the very end when he finally gets a response, where a musician (let’s assume, this is Ray Davies) is talking to another member in the band and Ray is trying to convince them not to quit, but the other musician lets him know that he doesn’t want a rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle.  Ray wants the guy to hang in there, because this could just be a bump in the road and if they can get through this period, the sky is the limit.  Ray relates a story to this band member that is thinking about leaving the group about a guy (most likely, Dan the fan) that he knows who lives on his block that lives for rock and plays records all the time.  When this neighbor of his feels the world is closing in, he turns his stereo way up high in order to live the rock ‘n’ roll fantasy on the edge of reality.  Davies tells this wavering musician that he has nothing left to prove, because the King is dead, and even if the undecided musician quits the group, that he will still be playing in it, as he feels like he has just begun since there is plenty of life left in him.  While Ray was writing this song, he learned that Elvis Presley had died, which influenced the “the King is dead” lyrics.  He was in New York at the time, and when he looked out his window late at night, he saw a single light on in one of the buildings.  Davies imagined that light being the apartment of an ardent Elvis fan, which became the character Dan the Fan in the song.

The Kinks were going through a rough period around this time, with their guitarist Dave Davies wanting to quit touring, and their keyboard player (piano, organ, synthesizer) for the past 8 years John Gosling and bass player Andy Pyle leaving after only one album, both decided that Misfits would be their last album with the group.  For a long time, the Kinks were immersed in concept albums and theatrical rock operas where they stopped making hit songs, till their 1977 previous album Sleepwalker.  Davies learned his lesson and although Misfits didn’t have the punch like their earlier songs, it did feature a more rock-oriented style giving the Kinks a commercial rebirth.  The Kinks signed with Arista Records in 1977 and Misfits was the second of 6 albums recorded on this label. 

‘A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy’ was the Kinks best showing on the charts since their hit with ‘Lola’ eight years previously.  

Hello you, hello me
Hello people we used to be
Isn’t it strange, we never changed
We’ve been through it all, yet we’re still the same

And I know, it’s a miracle we still go
For all we know, we might still have a way to go

Hello me, hello you
You say you want out, want to start anew
Throw in your hand, break up the band
Start a new life, be a new man

But for all we know, we might still have a way to go
Before you go, there’s something you ought to know

There’s a guy in my block, he lives for rock
He plays records day and night

And when he feels down he puts some rock ‘n’ roll on
And it makes him feel alright

And when he feels the world is closing in
He turns his stereo way up high

He just spends his life living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy
He just spends his life living on the edge of reality
He just spends his life in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy

He just spends his life living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy
He just spends his life living on the edge of reality
He just spends his life in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy

He just spends his life living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy
Look at me, look at you
You say we’ve got nothing left to prove
The King is dead, rock is done
You might be through, but I’ve just begun

I don’t know, I feel free and I won’t let go
Before you go, there’s something you ought to know

Dan is a fan and he lives for our music
It’s the only thing that gets him by
He’s watched us grow and he’s seen all our shows
He’s seen us low and he’s seen us high

Oh, but you and me keep thinking
That the world’s just passing us by

Don’t want to spend my life living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy
Don’t want to spend my life living on the edge of reality
Don’t want to waste my life hiding away any more

Don’t want to spend my life living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy

…

Kinks – A Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy

When I was 12, I was in a Dime Store in my small town (long since gone…another WalMart casualty) walking by the Mynah Bird all of us kids talked to in 1979…looked down at the record rack and I saw this record by the Kinks. When I first saw it I thought it was the Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy I’d been hearing on the radio…by Bad Company.

I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the record and liked it more. I had a Kinks greatest hits album and knew some about them but this record got me into them heavily.

This song peaked at #30 in the Billboard 100 in 1978. Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy was on the Misfits album and it peaked at #40 on the Billboard Album charts in 1978.

Inspired by the death of Elvis Presley and the departures of bassist Andy Pyle and pianist John Gosling from The Kinks, Ray writes about whether rock and roll is something mature adults should do.

From Songfacts

Kinks leader Ray Davies wrote this song, calling it a “Method acting songwriting job.”

While he was writing the song in 1977, he learned that Elvis Presley had died, which influenced the lyric. He was staying in New York at the time, and when he looked out his window late at night, he saw a single light on in one of the buildings. Davies imagined that light being the apartment of an ardent Elvis fan, which became the character Dan the Fan in the song.

The Kinks were falling apart around this time; guitarist Dave Davies wanted to stop touring, and keyboard player John Gosling and bass player Andy Pyle had decided that Misfits would be their last album with the group. Ray Davies explained in Rolling Stone: “The song was almost a homage to them; if you listen to the lyrics, it’s about someone leaving the band because they’ve given up the cause, and the two brothers will find a way through this.”

The line, “The King is dead, rock is done,” is a reference to Elvis.
The lyrics go on to describe a man named Dan living in Davies’ block who is a huge fan of The Kinks. Whenever he feels unhappy, Dan loses himself in their music, “living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy.”

By 1978 The Kinks may have been selling out Madison Square Garden, but they weren’t altogether happy. “A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy” details Ray Davies and his brother Dave considering breaking up the band. “The song is about two guys,” Ray told Q Magazine. “Shall we call it a day?”

Released as the first single from Misfits, the track was The Kinks’ most successful single in the US since their 1970 top ten hit “Lola.”

A Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy

Hello you, hello me
Hello people we used to be
Isn’t it strange, we never changed
We’ve been through it all, yet we’re still the same

And I know, it’s a miracle we still go
For all we know, we might still have a way to go

Hello me, hello you
You say you want out, want to start anew
Throw in your hand, break up the band
Start a new life, be a new man

But for all we know, we might still have a way to go
Before you go, there’s something you ought to know

There’s a guy in my block, he lives for rock
He plays records day and night

And when he feels down he puts some rock ‘n’ roll on 
And it makes him feel alright

And when he feels the world is closing in
He turns his stereo way up high

He just spends his life living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy
He just spends his life living on the edge of reality
He just spends his life in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy

He just spends his life living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy
He just spends his life living on the edge of reality
He just spends his life in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy

He just spends his life living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy
Look at me, look at you
You say we’ve got nothing left to prove
The King is dead, rock is done
You might be through, but I’ve just begun

I don’t know, I feel free and I won’t let go
Before you go, there’s something you ought to know

Dan is a fan and he lives for our music 
It’s the only thing that gets him by
He’s watched us grow and he’s seen all our shows
He’s seen us low and he’s seen us high

Oh, but you and me keep thinking
That the world’s just passing us by

Don’t want to spend my life living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy
Don’t want to spend my life living on the edge of reality
Don’t want to waste my life hiding away any more

Don’t want to spend my life living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy