There's something evocative and powerful in place names. I don't know why, but I do know it's true, at least for me. In literature, history, movies and songs, place names call out for a visitation. When I first went to London, for instance, it really was like a magical mystery tour and I felt that I'd already been there. I had: in my imagination.
One powerful little Kinks ditty may serve as an example. "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" is set in the Swinging London of the mid-1960s. Despite its light satirical feel, the lyrical place names etched their way into my conciousness, so when I actually arrived there, I felt heady:
'Round the boutiques of London Town. . .
They seek him here, they seek him there,
In Regent Street and Leicester Square.
Everywhere the Carnabetian army marches on,
Each one an dedicated follower of fashion.
Sounds like "Lestah' Square;" and there was Savile Row, Picadilly, Soho, all that good stuff.
Another song that primed me was The Rolling Stones' "Play With Fire:"Your mother she's an heiress, owns a block in Saint John's Wood
And your father'd be there with her
If he only could
But don't play with me, 'cause you're playing with fire
Your old man took her diamonds and tiaras by the score
Now she gets her kicks in Stepney
Not in Knightsbridge anymore
So don't play with me, 'cause you're playing with fire
One day, there it was: Saint John's Wood, and then Knightsbridge. And Chelsea, the Punk and New Wave boutiques on the King's Road, way beyond Sloan Square and the Sloan Rangers. I loved it!
Today's Rune: Signals.
Okay, I'm off. Toodle pip!
4 comments:
I love the Kinks, especially Lola.
I think they were part of the "British Invasion." I like them and the Dave Clark Five.
Eternally under-rated is Ray Davies. Those songs he wrote up until 1974 were incredible. 'Dedicated' is so right, so sarcastic but so true, as well as celebrating the pursuit of fashion. Dandy is wonderful, but check out Days and Wonder Boy. Man - Blur ripped them off so much, though it seems Ray D and Demon Alburn get on well. Country House is so Village Green era Kinks it's untrue.
I'm gonna put the Lola LP on now. Cheers for changing the mood - was listening to Radio 3...!
Hey Gloria, EM, and Richard,
Thanks for the comments! Richard, I agree wholeheartedly. "Days" is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, and "Wonder Boy" is great. Love all those songs and albums from Face to Face right into the 70s. They were lucky to stay clear of the US for a while to develop; the later albums are more Americanized, brasher, and less eloquent. But their live shows were still worth seeing.
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