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The Village Green Preservation Society
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = The Village Green Preservation Society
| cover = The_Village_Green_Preservation_Society_Single.jpg
| caption = Danish single picture sleeve
| alt =
| type =
| artist = the Kinks
| album = The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
| B-side =
| released =
| format =
| recorded = 12 August 1968
| studio = Pye, London
| venue =
| genre = Music hall
| length = 2:45
| label = Pye
| writer = Ray Davies
| producer = Ray Davies
| chronology = The Kinks US
| prev_title = Starstruck
| prev_year = 1969
| title = The Village Green Preservation Society
| year = 1969
| next_title = Victoria
| next_year = 1969
| misc =
}}
"'The Village Green Preservation Society'" is a song by the English rock band the Kinks from their sixth studio album, 'The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society' (1968). Written and sung by the band's principal songwriter, Ray Davies, the song is a nostalgic reflection where the band state their promise to "preserve" British things for posterity. As the opening track of 'Village Green', "The Village Green Preservation Society" introduces many of the LP's themes, and Ray subsequently described it as the album's "national anthem". Recorded in August1968, the song evokes the style of music hall, indicating Ray's continued interest in the genre.
Ray was inspired to write "The Village Green Preservation Society" after hearing someone express that the Kinks had been preserving "nice things from the past" and hoped to convey the idea in a song. Composed in August1968 as sessions for the band's next album neared completion, the song was written to be a new title track after Ray remained unsatisfied with the album's working title 'Village Green'. The song has received generally favourable reviews from critics. Later commentators dispute how much of the song was meant to be considered ironic; some think the lyrics are reactionary while others find its tone partially parodic. Coinciding with the band's "God Save The Kinks" promotional campaign, the song was issued as a US single in mid-1969, though it failed to chart. The Kinks regularly included the song in their live set list.
Background and recording
Ray Davies composed "The Village Green Preservation Society" around August1968, after the other eleven songs for the band's next album had been recorded. He was unsatisfied with the LP's working title 'Village Green' but was unsure how to replace it. In contemporary interviews, he explained that the song's central inspiration spawned from a conversation where someone suggested the Kinks had been preserving things from the past, and he hoped to capture the idea within a single song. After composing the song, he re-titled the album 'The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society'.
The Kinks recorded "The Village Green Preservation Society" around in Pye Studio 2, one of two basement studios at Pye Records' London offices. Ray is credited as the song's producer, while Pye's in-house engineer Brian Humphries operated the four-track mixing console.: (operated four-track); : (Humphries). Author Andy Miller writes the song's arrangement is defined by Mick Avory's "especially exuberant" drumming and the "similarly light and effective" piano contribution, played by either Ray or session keyboardist Nicky Hopkins. Ray's organ contribution is emphasised in the mix over Dave Davies's acoustic rhythm guitar.
Composition
Music
Musically, the song's composition is simple, employing four chords and a midway modulation from C to D major. The song is one of several on 'Village Green' played in the style of music hall, a theme author Patricia Gordon Sullivan writes Ray established the previous year on 'Something Else by the Kinks' (1967). Ray later recalled that though he never went to a music hall performance as a child, his style of composition was heavily influenced by his father, who regularly went to musicals and dances and encouraged his children to sing songs at the piano.
Lyrics
The lyrics of "The Village Green Preservation Society" help establish the themes of 'Village Green';; ; . Ray subsequently described the song as the album's "national anthem".; . The song states the band's intentions to the "preserve" things from the past and consists of a listing of institutions to be saved for posterity.; . Among the things listed are vaudeville, strawberry jam, comic book character Desperate Dan, draught beer and custard pies, among others. Ray and Dave harmonise closely throughout, while Ray's voice is emphasised at the midway point and its closing. The song concludes by building towards its final lyric of "God save the village green!", backed with falsetto harmony vocals.
Later commentators dispute how much of the song was to be considered ironic. Author Rob Jovanovic suggests its tone is partially ironic, but thinks the list of things to be saved for posterity were things Ray actually loved. Author Johnny Rogan thinks the song sounds sincere, but adds that its listing of institutions has a "reactionary ring", which he compares to the UK Conservative Society's 1966 founding promise to fight "against the menace of decreasing standards"., quoted in . He writes that Ray's pledge includes parodic elements as it shifts between serious suggestions for preservation, like the George Cross medal and its recipients, only to undermine its message with the "ludicrously titled support group the 'Custard Pie Appreciation Consortium. Author Nick Hasted writes that while the song contains reactionary elements, such as its opposition to office blocks and skyscrapers, he instead sees the song as a "hopeless resistance song", which laments that progress often results in change that cannot be stopped.
In a November1968 interview with 'Melody Maker' magazine, Ray suggested the song's listing consisted of "things I'd like to see preserved"., quoted in . Author Barry J. Faulk writes that following Ray's interpretation, the song's message was meant to directly contrast with that of contemporary rock music, such as the Rolling Stones' 1968 single "Street Fighting Man". Andy Miller contends that the song's satire has been overlooked by later commentators, writing that though it "lack[s] the righteousness and glamour of 'Street Fighting Man, "The Village Green Preservation Society" is a "quiet song of defiance". He writes that when understood in the context of the unrest Britain was experiencing in 1968, the song is not about escapism but instead mocks the certainty of protesters by producing a list of "idiosyncratic demands".
"The Village Green Preservation Society" includes elements of autobiography and self-parody.; . In the two weeks before the song was recorded, Ray left his East Finchley semi-detached home on Fortis Green and moved into a larger Tudor house in the suburbs of Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. In the song, Ray sings for God to save Tudor houses, antique tables and billiards, which Rogan thinks was Ray's self-mockery over his increased social standing. Rogan further suggests "the Anglocentric ideal has already been tainted" by the mention of Donald Duck, an American creation, while cultural researcher Jon Stratton writes Britons could still be nostalgic for the character since he had been popular in Britain since before the Second World War.
Release
Ray sequenced "The Village Green Preservation Society" as the opening track of his original twelve-track edition of 'The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society'. In the United Kingdom, Pye initially planned to release the album on 27 September 1968, but Ray opted to halt its release in mid-September to expand its track listing. Pye released the expanded fifteen-track edition of the album in the UK on 22 November 1968, retaining "The Village Green Preservation Society" as the album's opening track. To help promote the album, the Kinks performed the song on for BBC Radio 1 programme 'Saturday Club' at the Playhouse Theatre in central London. The band also lip-synced the song for ITV programme 'Time For Blackburn (Pop, People & Places)', broadcast on .
In July or August1969, Reprise Records issued "The Village Green Preservation Society" as a US single backed with "Do You Remember Walter?", though it failed to appear in any charts. The release coincided with Warner Bros. Records' "God Save the Kinks" promotional campaign, which sought to reestablish the band's status in America after their informal four-year performance ban was lifted in the country. The Kinks' return tour of North America ran from October to December1969, during which they regularly included "The Village Green Preservation Society" as part of their set list. The song also featured in concerts throughout the 1970s, '80s and '90s.
Reception
In his September1968 preview of the twelve-track edition for 'New Musical Express', critic Keith Altham was especially fond of the title track, which he thought could have made it to in the UK had it been issued as a single.; . A review of the album by Paul Williams, the former editor of 'Crawdaddy!' magazine, served as the lead review in the 14 June 1969 issue of 'Rolling Stone' magazine.; . Williams praised several elements of the song, such as its drums, bass and vocals. He adds that "[t]he tune, the rhythm, are more of a delight with each verse", writing that it was almost "unbearable" that the song finished.
Among retrospective assessors, J. H. Tompkins of the website 'Pitchfork' counted the song as an example of Ray's best work, done "with a quiet, ironic smile". In a piece for 'Billboard' magazine ranking all of the album's tracks, Morgan Enos placed the song ninth out of fifteen, writing that in spite of the song's cheerful sound, it "aches with longing". Critic Stewart Mason of AllMusic characterises it as the "best-known song from the Kinks' most cultishly adored album (which is something quite different from being one of their biggest hits)". He writes that while the song is musically one of Ray's best, its lyric is less effective than his 1967 composition "Autumn Almanac". He concludes that while the song is endearing, critics have may have "slightly overpraised" it.
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