{"id":546050,"date":"2026-04-23T07:51:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T07:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/546050\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T07:51:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T07:51:12","slug":"the-1968-kinks-song-ray-davies-wants-played-at-his-funeral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/546050\/","title":{"rendered":"The 1968 Kinks song Ray Davies wants played at his funeral"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

(Credits: Bradford TImeline)<\/p>\n

Thu 23 April 2026 6:28, UK <\/p>\n

It was the 1960s, and the world was in the midst of a very apparent cultural revolution. Sex, drugs, and rock \u2018n\u2019 roll were all the paisley-clad rage. Then, a group of local lads called The Kinks<\/a> from Muswell Hill roared onto the scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With a vivified sound, they heralded the coming of heavy metal, thanks to Dave Davies\u2019 mutilated amp, singing songs about\u2026 well, cricket, pleasant sunsets, and quenching cuppas. With that unique constitution, it was clear that Ray Davies and his cronies answered their own critics.<\/p>\n

Those critics were not the cool kids trying to arbitrate culture, but rather his parents. \u201cUnlike many other rockers, I always cared what my parents thought of my music,\u201d Ray Davies recalls. The revolution might have been one fuelled by the next generation, but Ray Davies says, \u201cI was writing songs for older people\u201d.<\/p>\n

After all, what sort of liberated utopia has no place for a Test Match or a trip around gran\u2019s house for a sandwich? Sex, drugs, and rock \u2018n\u2019 roll without those gentler pleasantries thrown in would be nothing but a carnival of carnal sin. <\/p>\n

Now, Davies is an older person, and he\u2019s recently been reflecting on the music that makes up his life. Even in 1968, he had this mindset, commenting on his songwriting at the time, \u201cI think every band goes through a phase where they sit back and think about what their future\u2019s going to be.\u201d So, when speaking to the Los Angeles Times about the track he wants to be played at his funeral, god forbid that day should ever come, he opted, rather fittingly, for \u2018Days\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>(Credits: The State Register-Journal newspaper)<\/p>\n

The apt song has an air of finality. Davies equates this to the tempestuous bay that The Kinks found themselves docked in. They knew an end was neigh of another sort back then. Now, years on, the frontman found himself maturely reconciling the situation and looking at the glory days with gratitude. \u201cPop musicians aren\u2019t meant to go on forever,\u201d he said in 2004. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd around this time, whenever I finished a session, I thought maybe this is the last record I\u2019d ever make. That\u2019s why it has this strange emotion to it. Fortunately, though, the Kinks went on to make other records,\u201d he added. That seems all the more prescient given the noise a lot of artists are making about their future feeling perilous.<\/p>\n

And so, with humility, Davies sang, \u201cI\u2019m thinking of the days \/ I won\u2019t forget a single day, believe me.\u201d Given the circumstances, the song arrived seamlessly and then was doled out with the same air of ease, being dished out as a single without much of a second thought. \u201cThe song has grown in intensity over the years,\u201d Davies opines. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think much about the song when I wrote it. Sometimes, songs occur like that. You don\u2019t think about it, but it\u2019s built up quite a lot of mystique over the years. It certainly left me. It belongs to the world now,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

This sort of transcendence typifies the music of The Kinks<\/a>. Now, over half a century later, it still sounds fresh, perhaps on account of its individualism. As Noel Gallagher said of their influence played forward in the Quietus: \u201cThe Kinks, like The Who, are one of those quintessentially great English singles bands but I\u2019ve listened to this album so many times and I just fucking love it. It\u2019s obviously such a big influence on Damon Albarn\u2019s writing. You know the song \u2018Big Sky\u2019? \u2018Big sky, too big to cry.\u2019 You can almost hear someone shouting \u2018Parklife!\u2019 at the end of it, do you know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

This was at the core of Davies\u2019 thinking in \u201868. As Sgt Pepper and gaudier psychedelia rose up around them, the songwriter was resolute. He told Uncut<\/a>, \u201cI wanted to write something that, if we were never heard of again, this is who we are. It was a final stand for things about to be swept away, ideals that can never be kept.\u201d<\/p>\n

In part, this is symbolic of the honesty and sincerity that abounds in all the best Kinks work. Whether grovelling with his brother, breezing through juvenile angst, or taking a beat on a park bench, whatever the mode that The Kinks were writing in, you always got the sense that it was a remembrance of things past, driving Davies\u2019 pen. Safely assured by this mindset, they rattled off punchy playing and singular singing that defined the sanguine side of the British Invasion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thusly, it would seem that if funerals are all about legacy, then Davies picking one of his own is apt. Nevertheless, he wryly added: \u201cBut that\u2019s only if I have to pick one of my songs. If not, I choose \u2018SOS\u2019 by ABBA.\u201d Which is, ironically, a very similar song when you take away the stark differences in production.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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