Mr. Songbird
"Mr. Songbird" | |
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"Mr. Songbird" is a song by the English rock band the Kinks. Written and sung by Ray Davies, it is about a songbird whose call helps the singer's problems go away. Its recording features session musician Nicky Hopkins on Mellotron, duplicating a flute which mimics the call of a bird. Davies included the song on the original 12-track edition of The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968), but removed it from the LP in a last-minute decision to expand the album's track listing. Because the original 12-track edition had already been sent to several European countries, the song's first release was in Sweden and Norway in October 1968. It was first issued in the US on the 1973 compilation The Great Lost Kinks Album and was not officially available in the UK until Village Green's 1998 CD remaster.
Composition and recording
Author Johnny Rogan characterises "Mr. Songbird" as a light lilt,[1] while author Christian Matijas-Mecca compares its bouncy sound to the music on Donovan's 1967 album Mellow Yellow.[2] Composed by Ray Davies, the song's lyrics describe how a songbird's call helps the singer's problems go away.[3] Author Nick Hasted suggests it is about "how songs can save you",[4] while author Andy Miller sees it as reflective of Ray Davies' state of mind while enduring personal and professional hardship, furthering the theme of escapism common in his contemporary songwriting.[5] Miller writes Davies employs his "one hard line" technique in the song, with its final lyric about keeping the devil at bay containing genuine fear.[3]
Though
Release and reception
Davies included "Mr. Songbird" on the original 12-track edition of
On 20 June 1968, the Kinks' US record label, Reprise Records, entered "Mr. Songbird" and 16 other new tracks into their tape vaults. The label planned to use the songs on an eventual September 1968 release, Four More Respected Gentlemen, though they postponed the album before eventually cancelling it in October 1968.[19] On 2 July 1969, Davies' delivered another copy of "Mr. Songbird" to Reprise with 11 other "spare tracks", likely out of a contractual obligation.[20] Many of those songs, including "Mr. Songbird", were first issued in the US on the compilation album The Great Lost Kinks Album, released on 25 January 1973.[11] Critic Richie Unterberger of AllMusic counts the song as among the highlights of the compilation, writing that an earlier release of the song "would hardly have embarrassed the group".[21][22] Rogan instead finds it "a light and delicate piece, hardly crucial but most attractive."[1] "Mr. Songbird" went unreleased in the UK for over 30 years, being first issued in May 1998 on the CD remaster of Village Green.[23]
References
Citations
- ^ a b Rogan 1998, p. 171.
- ^ a b Matijas-Mecca 2020, p. 108.
- ^ a b Miller 2003, p. 107.
- ^ Hasted 2011, p. 130.
- ^ Miller 2003, p. 31.
- ^ Hinman 2004, p. 111; Jovanovic 2013, p. 143.
- ^ Hinman 2004, p. 106.
- ^ Hinman 2004, pp. 106, 121.
- ^ a b Miller 2003, p. 87.
- ^ Hinman 2004, p. 101.
- ^ a b Hinman 2004, p. 170.
- ^ a b Miller 2003, p. 108.
- ^ Miller 2003, p. 39n5.
- ^ Altham 1968, p. 10.
- ^ a b Hinman 2004, pp. 119–120.
- ^ Rogan 1984, pp. 95–96.
- ^ Miller 2003, pp. 107–108, 144.
- ^ Himes, Geoffrey (12 February 2019). "The Curmudgeon: Ray Davies—Preserving Old, Rural Ways as a Kind of Rebellion". Paste. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021.
- ^ Hinman 2004, pp. 116, 120.
- ^ Hinman 2004, p. 130.
- ^ Erlewine, Bogdanov & Woodstra 1995, p. 451.
- ^ Unterberger, Richie. "The Kinks – The Great Lost Kinks Album". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ Miller 2003, pp. 108–109; Rogan 1998, p. 185.
Sources
- Altham, Keith (21 September 1968). "Kinks Reminiscing on the Village Green" (PDF). New Musical Express. p. 10. Archived(PDF) from the original on 31 December 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-87930-376-1.
- Hasted, Nick (2011). The Story of the Kinks: You Really Got Me. London: ISBN 978-1-84938-660-9.
- Hinman, Doug (2004). The Kinks: All Day and All of the Night: Day-by-Day Concerts, Recordings and Broadcasts, 1961–1996. San Francisco, California: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-765-3.
- ISBN 978-1-84513-671-0.
- Matijas-Mecca, Christian (2020). Listen to Psychedelic Rock! Exploring a Musical Genre. Santa Barbara, California: ISBN 978-1-4408-6198-7.
- ISBN 978-0-8264-1498-4.
- ISBN 0-241-11308-3.
- Rogan, Johnny (1998). The Complete Guide to the Music of the Kinks. London: ISBN 978-0-7119-6314-6.
External links
- The Kinks – Mr. Songbird (2018 Mono Remaster) on YouTube
- The Kinks – Mr. Songbird (2018 Stereo Remaster) on YouTube