When the Kinks heard this first version they hated the results. It was produced by Shel Talmy, their manager at the time, and Ray Davies thought it came out clean and sterile, when he wanted it to capture the energy of their live shows. Dave Davies girlfriend backed them up, saying it didn't make her want to "drop her knickers." The Kinks' record company had no interest in letting them re-record this, but due to a technicality in their contract, The Kinks were able to withhold the song until they could do it again. At the second session, Dave Davies slashed his amp and Talmy produced it to get the desired live sound. This is the version that was released.
It was released as the group's third single, in August 1964, and reached Number 1 on the UK singles chart the following month, staying there for two weeks. It was the group's breakthrough hit, and established them as one of the top British Invasion acts in the United States, reaching Number 7 there later in the year. It was later included on the Kinks' debut album, The Kinks.
"You Really Got Me" was the first hit song built around power chords (parallel 5ths and octaves) , and was heavily influential on later rock and roll musicians, particularly in the heavy metal genre. One critic wrote that it is, "the track which invented heavy metal"[1] while critic Denise Sullivan of Allmusic writes, "'You Really Got Me' remains a blueprint song in the hard rock and heavy metal arsenal."
The Rolling Stone magazine placed the song at number 82 on their list of list of the 500 greatest songs of all time and at number 4 on their list of the The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time. In early 2005, the song was voted the best British song of the 1955-1965 decade in a BBC radio poll. In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 9 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. In 2004 the song managed to be voted into the bottom end of the Kerrang! Rock 100 best music videos of all time, by readers of the magazine and viewers of the TV station. This can be considered surprising as the magazine has never mentioned the band], the magazine concentrates on heavy metal rock acts, grunge or emo genres.In 2009 it was named the 57th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.
The song was recorded by the Kinks in a number of styles in the summer of 1964 before the final sound was achieved. The group was under tremendous pressure for a hit from their record company Pye, after their two previous single releases failed to chart. Ray Davies in particular was stubbornly persistent in forcing the Kinks' management and record company to take the time and money needed to develop the record's landmark sound and style. Davies' efforts on behalf of the career-making song effectively established him as the leader and chief songwriter of the Kinks
The influential distortion sound of the guitar track was created after guitarist Dave Davies sliced the speaker cone of his guitar amplifier with a razor blade and poked it with a pin.[2] The amplifier was affectionately called "little green," after the name of the amplifier made by the Elpico company, and purchased in Davies' neighbourhood music shop, slaved into a Vox AC-30.
The guitar solo on the recording is the source of one of the most controversial and persistent myths in all of rock and roll: that it was not played by the Kinks' lead guitarist Dave Davies, but by then-session player Jimmy Page. The solo was undoubtedly played by Dave Davies (then seventeen years old), as everyone involved in the July 1964 recording sessions for the track has always maintained. Although an effective and integral part of the song, it is essentially a faster variation of the "Louie Louie" guitar solo, and did not represent a great technical or stylistic achievement on par with that song's driving three-chord rhythm backing (save for the method of playing the pentatonic scale in a manner that "seems" sloppy; this technique is a major watershed in the history of rock and roll, arguably an influence on punk rock). However, the story has circulated for decades that the solo was played by Jimmy Page, who later joined The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin. Page was in fact hired by Kinks producer Shel Talmy as a session rhythm guitarist on a handful of tracks on the Kinks' first album, but those sessions took place several weeks after the "You Really Got Me" session. Page has always denied playing the song's guitar solo, going so far as to state in a 1977 interview that "I didn't play on 'You Really Got Me' and that's what pisses him (Ray Davies) off." Rock historian and author Doug Hinman makes a case that the rumour was begun and fostered by the established UK Rhythm and Blues community, many of whose members were resentful that an upstart band of teenagers such as the Kinks could produce such a powerful and influential blues-based recording, seemingly out of nowhere.
Several session musicians did play on "You Really Got Me": The piano was by either keyboardist Jon Lord of Deep Purple[6] or Arthur Greenslade [7] In the same interview, Davies says that there was a session guitarist doubling his rhythm part, but that it wasn't Page. At the behest of producer Shel Talmy, session drummer Bobby Graham played drums on the recording, rather than regular Kinks drummer Mick Avory. Graham went on to play the main drum part on many of the Kinks' early recordings. Interestingly, both Jon Lord and Shel Talmy claim Jimmy Page did play on "You Really Got Me". Talmy credits him for the rhythm guitar [8] and Lord for the solo.
According to Ray Davies, the song's characteristic riff came about while working out the chords of The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie." The Kinks' use of distorted guitar riffs continued with songs like "All Day and All of the Night," "Tired of Waiting for You," and "Set Me Free," among others. Pete Townshend of The Who has stated that their first single, "I Can't Explain," was an intentional soundalike of The Kinks' work at the time (The Who were also produced by Shel Talmy at that time).
The Kinks would go on to perform successfully together as a band for over 30 years, through many musical styles, and they would always play "You Really Got Me" in concert. Both Ray and Dave Davies still perform the song in solo shows, generally as a closing number.
You Really Got Me
The Kinks Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You got me so I don't know what I'm doin' now
Yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I can't sleep at night
Yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I don't know what I'm doin' now
Oh yeah, you really got me now
You really got me
You really got me
You really got me
See, don't ever set me free
I always wanna be by your side
Girl, you really got me now
You got me so I can't sleep at night
Yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I don't know what I'm doin' now
Oh yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I can't sleep at night
You really got me
You really got me
You really got me
Oh no
See, don't ever set me free
I always wanna be by your side
Girl, you really got me now
You got me so I can't sleep at night
Yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I don't know what I'm doin' now
Oh yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I can't sleep at night
You really got me
You really got me
You really got me
The Kinks’ hit song “You Really Got Me” is a classic rock tune about the overwhelming power of love. The song is about a man who has been taken over by the feelings of love he is experiencing for a woman. He is so consumed by these feelings that he can no longer think clearly or function as he used to. The repetition of the line “you really got me” throughout the song emphasizes the fact that the woman has taken control of his life and he is completely under her spell. The chorus reflects the singer’s feelings by repeatedly telling the woman that she has truly “got him.”
The verses of the song reveal the depth of the singer’s obsession with the woman. He tells her that he cannot sleep at night because he is so consumed by thoughts of her. The line “don’t ever set me free” reflects his desire to be with her at all times, and shows that his love for the woman has become an addiction he cannot live without. The lyrics of the song are simple and direct, but it is the raw emotion in Ray Davies’ delivery that makes the song so powerful.
Overall, “You Really Got Me” is a testament to the power of love and the hold that it can have on a person’s life. The song’s lyrics are a testament to the intensity of love and the way it can completely change a person’s life.
Line by Line Meaning
Girl, you really got me goin'
The girl has an irresistible power over the singer, causing him to be completely consumed with her.
You got me so I don't know what I'm doin' now
The girl's influence has made the singer become so absorbed in her that he has become disoriented and lost touch with reality.
Yeah, you really got me now
The girl's power over the singer has only gotten stronger over time, making him even more dependent on her.
You got me so I can't sleep at night
The girl's hold is so strong that the singer cannot even rest peacefully without her presence.
See, don't ever set me free
The singer is pleading with the girl to never let him go because he is afraid of losing the intense connection he feels with her.
I always wanna be by your side
The singer's desire to be with the girl is constant and unwavering, as he feels incomplete without her.
Oh no
This exclamation could signify the singer's realization that he is completely bound to the girl, whether it is a positive or negative realization is up to interpretation.
You really got me
The girl's grip on the singer cannot be understated, as she has completely taken over his life.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, BROADWAY MUSIC CORPORATION, Kassner Associated Publishers Ltd
Written by: Ray Davies
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@felipegonzalez9468
Girl, you really got me goin'
You got me so I don't know what I'm doin'
Yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I can't sleep at night
Yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I don't know what I'm doin', now
Oh yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I can't sleep at night
You really got me
You really got me
You really got me
See, don't ever set me free
I always wanna be by your side
Girl, you really got me now
You got me so I can't sleep at night
Yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I don't know what I'm doin', now
Oh yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I can't sleep at night
You really got me
You really got me
You really got me, oh no
See, don't ever set me free
I always wanna be by your side
Girl, you really got me now
You got me so I can't sleep at night
Yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I don't know what I'm doin', now
Oh yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I can't sleep at night
You really got me
You really got me
You really got me
@jamesbatchelor4772
1900s and 1910s = Best Ragtime Music
1920s = Best Jazz Music
1930s = Best Blues Music
1940s = Best Swing Music
1950s = Best Country Music
1960s = Best Rock Music
1970s = Best Soul Music
1980s = Best Metal Music
1990s = Best Rap Music
@Chungusisdantheman
I’m going to leave this comment here. When someone likes it, I’m reminded to listen to this masterpiece
@dantestanb2532
Listen it again broooooo, when you'll be here like me and I'm going to listen it too
@stillverseDri
One more round
@b-stodomingokenluii9202
hell yeah i listen to this one everyday
@pedrosanguinetti7
So...
@lharrysaulog3923
0:29 @@stillverseDri
@FULLmeltHASH
For 1964 this was wayyy ahead of its time
@tguthrie6
i thought this was a 90's song when i first heard it lol
@jennyjenny8662
Sound so good and I was born in 75 this rhythm is younger than me now...forever young ..Forever The Kinks
@jeromedavis8575
This song would be good for an IHOP commercial!