Formed in 1963 in Muswell Hill, North London, they first gained prominence on the heels of the well-received and highly influential single "You Really Got Me" (1964). The group originally consisted of lead singer/guitarist Ray Davies, his brother lead guitarist Dave Davies, drummer Mick Avory, and bassist Pete Quaife. Quaife left (twice) in the late 1960s, and Avory finally left in 1984 as the result of a long-running dispute with Dave Davies, leaving only the Davies brothers as the core of the original group.
With Ray Davies' songwriting skills and unabashedly English voices, Dave Davies' impressive guitar work, and Avory's tight and steady drumming, the band became one of the best and most influential groups of British pop and the "British Invasion" of the U.S.A., lasting longer than any of their competitors, apart from the Rolling Stones, as they broke up in 1996. Their catalogue of songs has been covered by Van Halen, The Pretenders, The Black Keys, The Stranglers, Queens of the Stone Age , and many more.
Members:
Ray Davies – vocals, rhythm guitar (1963–1996)
Dave Davies – lead guitar, vocals (1963–1996)
Pete Quaife – bass guitar (1963–1969)
John Dalton – bass guitar (1969–1976)
Andy Pyle – bass guitar (1976–1978)
Jim Rodford – bass guitar (1978–1996)
Mick Avory – drums (1963–1984)
Bob Henrit – drums (1984–1996)
John Gosling – keyboards, piano (1970–1978)
Gordon Edwards – keyboards, piano (1978–1979)
Ian Gibbons – keyboards, piano (1979–1989, 1993–1996)
Mark Haley – keyboards, piano (1989–1993)
Monica
The Kinks Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Monica stands at midnight
And every guy think he can buy her love
But money can't buy sweet lovin' from Monica
Morning to moonshine
Monica knows every line
Don't ever propose 'cause Monica knows, you know
I, I shall die
I, I shall die if I should lose Monica
(Oh, Monica my love)
People can try
People can try, but they can't buy Monica, my love
You take the sunshine
I'll take the nightly shadows
'Cause everyone knows that Monica glows at night
She'll do something wrong and prove to you she is right
I, I shall die
I, I shall die if I should lose Monica
(Oh, Monica my love)
People may try
People may try, but they can't buy Monica, my love
Morning to moonshine
Monica knows every line
Don't ever propose 'cause Monica knows, you know
She'll turn up her nose and say what a fool you are
Monica
The Kinks's song Monica is a character study of a woman named Monica. The opening lines set the scene with Monica standing under a lamp light at midnight, with every guy thinking he can purchase her love. However, the song goes on to assert that money cannot buy real love from Monica. She knows every trick in the book, and it is suggested that she has been proposed to before but has turned up her nose at the proposals.
The chorus is straightforward, with the singer proclaiming that he would die if he were to lose Monica, and emphasizing that no one can buy her love. The song goes on to praise Monica's ability to thrive in the shadows, away from the brightness of the sun, and to do wrong things in order to prove she is right. The song closes with a repetition of the original idea of Monica standing under the lamp light.
The lyrics paint an interesting picture of the character of Monica, who seems to be a woman of great strength and self-possession, with a clear sense of what she likes and what she doesn't like. The singer is in awe of her, and the repetition of the chorus is both wistful and a little bit worshipful.
Line by Line Meaning
Under a lamp light
Monica is standing under a lamp light at midnight.
Monica stands at midnight,
Monica is standing at midnight.
And every guy think he can buy her love,
Every guy thinks he can buy Monica's love with money.
But money can't buy sweet lovin' from Monica.
Monica cannot be bought with money and sweet love cannot be obtained from her through money.
Morning to moonshine,
From morning till moonshine.
Monica knows every line.
Monica knows all the tricks and tactics that guys use to impress her.
Don't ever propose 'cause Monica knows, you know.
Do not propose to Monica because she can easily see through your intentions and the proposal will be futile.
She'll turn up her nose and say what a fool you are.
If you propose to Monica, she will reject you and think you are foolish for trying to win her with money.
I, I shall die,
The singer says he will die.
I, I shall die if I should lose Monica.
The singer will die if he loses Monica's love.
(oh Monica my love.)
The singer expresses his love for Monica.
People can try,
People can try to win Monica's love.
People can try, but they can't buy Monica, my love.
People cannot buy Monica's love with money.
You take the sunshine,
You can have the sunshine.
I'll take the nightly shadows.
The singer will take the shadows of the night.
Cause everyone knows that Monica glows at night.
Monica looks beautiful at night and everyone knows that.
She'll do something wrong and prove to you she is right.
Monica will do something that might seem wrong but she will make it right and prove you wrong.
Monica.
The song ends with the repetition of Monica's name.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: RAYMOND DOUGLAS DAVIES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@hillbilly5643
My word. This is the 14th song (15 total) on an album where the previous 13 songs were classic after classic.
And yet this could be the finest song on the album!
Just marvelous song writing by Ray Davis. Ingenious.
@Townshend90125
Ray Davies song writing from 1966 to 1971 was just fabulous, classic after classic. Even Dave Davies Songs were really good. The only people who even came close to Ray Davies Writing was Pete Townshend and Bob Dylan, anyone else like John Lennon and Mick Jaggers their great but not as talented as Ray and I wish he got the praise they got and they got the treatment he got because IMO he didn’t deserve to be forgotten this long and it’s really annoying when people say “John Lennon is a genius” no he really isn’t he just knew how to write a catchy hit song there’s no genius to that, I can go on how that’s why people nowadays likes new music but it’s not worth it.
@douglynch8954
@@Townshend90125 Hmmm, so "A Day in the Life," "Strawberry Fields," "Dear Prudence" are all just catchy hits? C'mon man. I think Ray Davies is brilliant, too. But don't reduce John Lennon to that.
@Townshend90125
@@douglynch8954 you have a point, can’t deny it. I actually would add she said she said and tomorrow never knows in that list of songs. All I was getting at was that John Lennon wasn’t the only innovator. But I put it out the wrong way
@coreycrossman3447
The last 6 songs on this album are so under rated, I love a lot of side 1 but these songs are mind bending
@TheGrouch2000
Not in my eyes. This album is in the top 10 albums ever recorded.
@monikasadauskaite7368
Yes. Worship me.
@rjcomeaux5461
Monika Sadauskaitė Lmao
@Neurodisco77
Your jazz playlist is actually a good reason to do it
@privysorrow5120
Jazz playlist?! I shall enquire. Maybe I shall worship you Monika with a K. :)