What you need to know:
“Waterloo Sunset” is a song written by Ray Davies of The Kinks that has been covered by artists such as David Bowie. A whole British anthem.
Damon Albarn, one of today’s most prolific and effective songwriters, would like to have a song by The Kinks in his repertoire… and who wouldn’t, especially when it comes to that British anthem called “Waterloo Sunset”.
We know this thanks to the fact that to the post the video of a fantastic performance that Damon Albarn did with Ray Davies (former leader of the legendary London band), The Kinks Facebook page recalled what the lead singer of Blur, Gorillaz and other mop bands once said about “Waterloo Sunset”:
“When asked in an interview which song he wishes he had written, Damon said: ‘Waterloo Sunset’, without thinking for a second”.
According to the official website of The Kinks, Damon Albarn would have wanted to write the song from ’67 (part of the magnificent album Something Else by The Kinks) for considering it “perfect” for his type of voice.
Well, perhaps Damon Albarn fell short when mentioning the qualities of “Waterloo Sunset”… but, indeed, it is a song that would seem to have been written for him. It fit him like a glove and he presumes so in the recording that was recorded for the album This Is Where I Belong: The Songs Of Ray Davies & The Kinks.
Damon Albarn and Ray Davies also sang “Parklife”
Where such a historic union took place was in The White Rooma 1995 show hosted by Mark Radcliffe. At the end of the show, the former leader of The Kinks performed the no less classic “You really got me”, followed by “To the bone”…and then they introduce Damon Albarn and together they sing “Waterloo Sunset”.
And it seemed that it all ended there, but in an act of mutual admiration (Blur’s was in heaven), Ray Davies continued with “Parklife”. Nothing more than the chorus… but enough to surprise even Damon Albarn himself, who looked remarkably happy.
“Waterloo Sunset”, a song that came to Ray Davies in a dream
Every great song has a great story and this British anthem is no exception. Legend has it (that is, Ray Davies himself) that “Waterloo Sunset” came to him one day in February 1967. He simply got out of bed (in his house in London, of course) and there was the song. “I woke up and it was there.”
However, the now London anthem did not arrive impeccably inspired by Davies. In fact, the leader of The Kinks points out that initially the song was a love letter to another city: Liverpool. “But you know what they say as advice to writers: ‘write what you know’. He knew London better than Liverpool. So I changed it.”
And if there is something that Davies knew well, it was the area around Waterloo station, in London: “I saw several sunsets in Waterloo. I was there, in St. Thomas Hospital, when I was very sick as a child, looking out over the Thames (…) There I met my first girlfriend, who became my first wife.”
With all that inside, how could he not have inspiration to create one of the most beautiful songs in British rock.
