10.20.2009

The Kinks

While on the subway yesterday my iPod shuffled to The Kinks and I was immediately put into a better mood when the distorted chords of All Day and All of the Night were ringing out into my ears. It occurred to me that this may be one of the best love songs ever written. It seems that most bands feel that to write a love song they have to slow down the tempo, get rid of the distortion, and be really sensitive and emotional. No. This song proves otherwise. Yes, we get that he wants to bone his lady. We also get that the only time he feels good is when he's with her and he believes that they'll last forever. It's actually kind of perfect. Romantic love can't exist without sexual attraction, can it? Not in my world! The dirtiness of the guitar with the nasty distortion only enhances the message of the song. You feel the sexual tension bubbling under the surface... it's just brilliant song crafting! I think that it's easy to forget how great some of the songs from the 60s are because we've heard them so many times. It was a nice 2 and a half minutes spent focusing on this song yesterday.