I don’t know why but for the better part of my life I have felt some sort of kinship to England. I have been fascinated by the traditions and culture of our cousins across the sea. While their power and reach has basically collapsed in a new World order, they still hold a place in nearly a billion and half people’s hearts. The people of India may hate the British but they still are part of the Commonwealth and there are still plenty of things that tie India to Great Britain.
Musically, Englands impact on the World can not be overstated. From the Beatles, Stone, Led Zeppelin, The Who to the Sex Pistols, The Clash and finally Harry Styles and Adele (did I just do that? Put Styles and Adele in the same sentence as the Beatles?. WTF is wrong with me). The British invasion in the 60’s changed music forever. We may have started New Wave/Punk, the English perfected it.
With all that being said, today’s column is more about the English music that was about England. There really isn’t an exact theme to this list but after reading it, you will get the idea.
The first song has to be “Victoria” by The Kinks. The Kinks never really received the accolades of other British bands but they were every bit as good. I think it had to be partially because Ray Davies lyrics were sarcastic (in the English way) and he did not hide his North London accent. “Victoria” is a sarcastic tribute to his Queen(long gone by the time the song was written) which the poor and downtrodden still loved their Queen, no matter how repressive she was.
Hard to actually pick a particular Clash song that didn’t tear at the fabric of England but “This is England” probably tops the list. Listen to the lyrics and you can see that The Clash felt strongly about England fading into history. As depressing as it might be, this is a great song.
Even though they should never be mentioned with The Kinks or The Clash, Herman Hermits were about as British as you could possibly be. Peter Noone (same birthday as me) never hid the fact that he was from Lancashire England and every song that the group did sounded totally English. Too poppy for some, they were huge back in the 60’s and were constantly on one show or another almost every week. He may not have sung directly about England but you got the feeling it was always about England.
Another artist who never hid his English accent was Long John Baldry. English rockers loved him. Every major artist in England during the late 60’s and early 70’s played with him, played some of his songs, or just wanted to be like him. Of all the great music he made, “Don’t Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on The King of Rock of Roll” is by far my favorite. The story leading up to the song is hysterical and the song itself is kick ass. No way anyone can listen to this song and not want to explore the rest of his catalog.
This next song is admittedly a stretch but listen to it and tell me you don’t get a sense of England from it. “Fearless” by Pink Floyd is a sort of dreamy song that periodically in the background you hear football chants from some stadium in England. It’s acoustic which is unusual for Pink Floyd but it works here. At the end, you know that this is an English band.
“Invisible Sun” by The Police is 100% English. Your first thoughts while listening is that this is some guy who wants to get out of the Hell hole he is living in. Maybe a mine or a factory in England or Northern Ireland but in reality it was more about living in a war-torn country and that there is some hope at the end of the day.
“Avalon” by Roxy Music is another very British song about a very British seaside town. Roxy Music made some very well crafted music back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Never really New Wave but they were lumped into that category because of the timing and because they came out of England during that first New Wave rush. Different from the other songs on my list because it actually is a fairly positive song about a place Bryan Ferry spent many a happy summer.
This might be a stretch but for some reason side one of Moondance by Van Morrison just reminds me of England. Even though Morrison is as Irish as they come, this whole album just makes me feel I am back in some English countryside back in an another time. I will go out on a limb here but I also think that side one of this album is probably the best side of any album ever recorded. Nowhere can you find five songs in a row that are as good as you have here. If you can think of another album as perfect please feel free and email me.
Yes, there are probably hundreds of other songs that could be included here and I am always willing to listen to my readers opinions so feel free to reach out to me. In the meantime “Hail Britannia”
Again, you never fail us. Enjoyed today's treasures and I'll be listening to them over the weekend, Hail England!