Not to burst a bubble, but….I’m pretty sure those strings are actually a mellotron. But no matter; This song is absolutely tremendous on so many levels. Absolutely mind-blowing that so many people are finally discovering what has been in plain sight for 55 years. Better late than never….
In the 1980's, when I was in my mid-twenties, I found a CD of this album in a bargain bin at the supermarket. That was like 35 years ago. It goes by fast son, you are in the prime of your life, the world ain't that bad, just don't let your dreams fade.
Yes indeed, and do you know what is sad about your statement? Every one of those four superb albums were completely unknown to me (except just two songs: "Sunny Afternoon"--which was a hit single, and "Dandy"--which was a Herman's Hermits song which I was unaware was a Kinks song) until 2012, when I began listening to the music The Kinks made during the years they fundamentally didn't exist in America. God, what I had missed!!! I rank them basically even with the other two groups which I classify as the 'sons of Beatles': The Who and The Rolling Stones, except the other two groups had very high visibility in the USA in the wonderful musical music years of 1966-1969. I was never even aware that The Kinks were even still around until the song "Lola" was an American hit. Well, for me, these three groups stand abreast one another in rock music history--they certainly do not sound anything like one another (in truth, sometimes they actually do...), but their originality, creativity, and just plain great songs as secured all three groups an equal place in rock and roll history.
The Kinks knew it. This world is big and insane. Take me where animals playing. Free from harm. She is by my side. When the sky is wide. Let the sun shine bright. Dreams often fail and die in a bad, bad world. Among some very few others they are my favorites.
More than any album I have ever heard, "Village Green Preservation Society" completely overwhelms me with the thought that 'one human being wrote every one of these songs'. The variety in styles, emotions, moods, musics, lyrics, etc. just amazes me. Of all the great songs, though, "Animal Farm" is the ultimate Ray Davies package. You all know the story of how Brian Wilson (Beach Boys) would lock himself in a room and listen to The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" for hours, again and again? That is how "Animal Farm" resonates with my soul... alone in an insane world, bewildered by the judgments and expectations of others, looking for solace from a loving partner and the sweet dogs, cats, pigs, and goats who simply accept offerings of love... I just play this song over and over while trying to make my way into this happy little world that Ray Davies created. With all the other great songs, this forty-minute album generally takes me, oh, about six hours to get from beginning to end. THANK YOU SIR RAY!
Because so many truly original pieces of art do not engage the masses as a rule... with heavy curation and a money machine are many average offerings capable of becoming household staple. There are many great songs that shall remain ‘ far more hidden’ ... this is a beautiful example. Maybe see it as a discovery that many will not get to taste Rich ? X
A song of absolute joy and passion. Ray Davies NEVER sang like this, before or since. If someone asked me to define musical perfection, this would be exhibit A. It gives me chills, 45 years after first hearing it.
There are literally thousands of beautiful classic rock songs but radio stations only recognize about 20 bands and then only play 1 or 2 songs from them.
No sh*t !! According to so-called "classic rock" radio Ray Davies only wrote 3 or 4 good songs which is not just nuts but CRIMINAL. There are at least that many songs on this album that deserve to be on classic rock radio on a regular basis. Can't believe that the radio never plays "Animal Farm", "Johnny Thunder", "Victoria", "Waterloo Sunset", "20th Century Man, "Big Sky", etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.,.............
Well, what are the other two? For me, I guess it would be "Animal Farm", "Australia", and "Waterloo Sunset", and "Days". Shoot, that's four. None of them can be removed.
First song I learnt to play properly on the guitar. Have played it a thousand times since and impossible to get bored of it. It is one of the few things that makes me proud to be English.
This world is big and wild and half insane Take me where real animals are playing Just a dirty old shack Where the hound dogs bark That we called our home I want to be back there Among the cats and dogs And the pigs and the goats On Animal Farm My animal home On Animal Farm My animal home While I lay my head upon my pillow Little girl, come play beneath my window Though she's far from home She is free from harm And she need not fear She is by my side And the sky is wide So let the sun shine bright On Animal Farm My animal home On Animal Farm My animal home Girl, It's a hard, hard world, if it gets you down Dreams often fade and die in a bad, bad world I'll take you where real animals are playing And people are real people not just playing It's a quiet, quiet life By a dirty old shack That we called our home I want to be back there Among the cats and dogs And the pigs and the goats On Animal Farm My animal home On Animal Farm My animal home On Animal Farm Animal Farm
@@SpuddyWesker Can't remember now as I've slept since replying. Given it's no longer here my point was proved sooner then I imagined they would realise anyway. Long live the Muswell Hillbillies!!
@@Jupiterbotz It's likely to have sold more copies in recent years than it did back the late 60s - with the praise heaped upon it by critics (along with its use in a certain Edgar Wright movie) introducing 'Village Green' to a new audience.
Ray Davies ... he's seriously good at that. Such a gift for expressing the funny/sad, bittersweet strangeness of life. The Kinks gave voice to a sense of loss that's deep and inarticulate in most of us without ever wallowing in sentiment. The combination of catchy music, frequently quite upbeat but with a difference - it's as if there's an understanding irony, never harsh, even in the chords - and lyrics that make you feel this shared ... well it sounds daft but 'grief' is the only word I can think of. Grief for innocence, for the fact that life is long and so bloody short at the same time. It's never manipulative, and it's never hopeless. So many musicians who don't deserve the title are called 'poets,' but Davies really is. Blimey I do go on a bit don't I! Anyway you're not alone, the Kinks get lots of people that way.
@@pollymotley5041 Geez Polly that is a brilliant post ,I am a London Taxi driver I work nights I am quite a tough bloke no softie ,but so many of his songs have me in tears like this one ...its an amazing gift to be able to do that to someone....peace
ray davies is just quintessentially british in his songwriting & its sooooo doooope its fucking disgusting. this whole album rocks my balls every time i give it a play
This world is big and wild and half insane Take me where real animals are playing Just a dirty old shack Where the hound dogs bark That we called our home I want to be back there Among the cats and dogs And the pigs and the goats On Animal Farm My animal home While I lay my head upon my pillow Little girl, come play beneath my window Though she's far from home She is free from harm And she need not fear She is by my side And the sky is wide So let the sun shine bright Girl, It's a hard, hard world, if it gets you down Dreams often fade and die in a bad, bad world I'll take you where real animals are playing And people are real people not just playing It's a quiet, quiet life By a dirty old shack
@@Septiviumexe They were completely unrelated videos. and to notice it I had to search these two exactly specific videos up within a short enough time of eachother that I'd recognise your profile.
Because they never released it as a single. It COULD have been a single cause its that good but considering how awful the actual singles + the album itself fared at the charts you wonder if it would've been also unjustly ignored
Even on the album cover, Ray Davies comes across as an artist. The three other band members look to the photographer wiyh similar degrees of comfortableness. Ray looks down, as if to say, "take the damn picture, and let me out of here."
I knew the "White Album" from the day it came out. The Village Green Preservation Society is a better album, but I didn't find that out until about ten years ago. Sometimes life is unfair.
This is a great song. Ray Davies is a motherfucking genius…..for me, Schoolboys In Disgrace is one of the best albums ever created along with Sleepwalker
Five star album, always was and always will be.
Perfect!
It's such a funny thing
Nice and smooth.
five stars out of four buddy
This and Aurther
This is what heaven hopefully feels like
Just being Pakistani and loving The Kinks makes me proud.
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
@@mohammedhanif6780 Pakistan is awesome
Ray Davies, a master of the melancholic and nostalgic song.
The subtle string arrangement on this song is magnificent. One of my favorite Kinks songs..
Not to burst a bubble, but….I’m pretty sure those strings are actually a mellotron.
But no matter; This song is absolutely tremendous on so many levels. Absolutely mind-blowing that so many people are finally discovering what has been in plain sight for 55 years. Better late than never….
Perfect. What a composition and performance. My favorite also.
'dreams often fade and die in a bad bad world" - reaching my mid twenties and jeez this hits so hard.
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
In the 1980's, when I was in my mid-twenties, I found a CD of this album in a bargain bin at the supermarket. That was like 35 years ago. It goes by fast son, you are in the prime of your life, the world ain't that bad, just don't let your dreams fade.
Me too. It makes me cry.
It’s all downhill after that my friend, enjoy what you can now
It's called growing up. Be realistic and do the best you can. Enjoy the small things in life with other people.
Face to Face, Something Else, Preservation Society and Arthur. Kinks closed the 1960s on absolute fire.
Yes indeed, and do you know what is sad about your statement? Every one of those four superb albums were completely unknown to me (except just two songs: "Sunny Afternoon"--which was a hit single, and "Dandy"--which was a Herman's Hermits song which I was unaware was a Kinks song) until 2012, when I began listening to the music The Kinks made during the years they fundamentally didn't exist in America. God, what I had missed!!! I rank them basically even with the other two groups which I classify as the 'sons of Beatles': The Who and The Rolling Stones, except the other two groups had very high visibility in the USA in the wonderful musical music years of 1966-1969. I was never even aware that The Kinks were even still around until the song "Lola" was an American hit. Well, for me, these three groups stand abreast one another in rock music history--they certainly do not sound anything like one another (in truth, sometimes they actually do...), but their originality, creativity, and just plain great songs as secured all three groups an equal place in rock and roll history.
The Kinks knew it. This world is big and insane. Take me where animals playing. Free from harm. She is by my side. When the sky is wide. Let the sun shine bright. Dreams often fail and die in a bad, bad world. Among some very few others they are my favorites.
Ray Davies,arguably the best songwriter to ever come out of the UK.
There is no argument coming from me.Walks all over Paul and John.
@MARK HAMER Stop... just no. You can say equal to, but not "walks all over". That just makes you sound like a pretentious Kinks fan.
Yep. Even beats out Lennon and McCartney. Only Ray could write an album like this. Purely Victorian.
BungalowBill905 i love Ray, but he’s not in the same league of Lennon or macca
@@jerrysmith2354 But Ray does! Lyrically, musically he walks all over them! He's far more consistent, the dude is a proper ARTIST.
More than any album I have ever heard, "Village Green Preservation Society" completely overwhelms me with the thought that 'one human being wrote every one of these songs'. The variety in styles, emotions, moods, musics, lyrics, etc. just amazes me. Of all the great songs, though, "Animal Farm" is the ultimate Ray Davies package. You all know the story of how Brian Wilson (Beach Boys) would lock himself in a room and listen to The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" for hours, again and again? That is how "Animal Farm" resonates with my soul... alone in an insane world, bewildered by the judgments and expectations of others, looking for solace from a loving partner and the sweet dogs, cats, pigs, and goats who simply accept offerings of love... I just play this song over and over while trying to make my way into this happy little world that Ray Davies created. With all the other great songs, this forty-minute album generally takes me, oh, about six hours to get from beginning to end. THANK YOU SIR RAY!
What a beautiful song, why wasn't this a huge hit?
Complete mystery
Because so many truly original pieces of art do not engage the masses as a rule... with heavy curation and a money machine are many average offerings capable of becoming household staple. There are many great songs that shall remain ‘ far more hidden’ ... this is a beautiful example. Maybe see it as a discovery that many will not get to taste Rich ? X
@@jnielsen1956 Ha ha! Indeed...
Becuz this world is big and wild and half insane
@@moonrock5324 Yes, exactly!
A song of absolute joy and passion. Ray Davies NEVER sang like this, before or since. If someone asked me to define musical perfection, this would be exhibit A. It gives me chills, 45 years after first hearing it.
this song makes me cry.
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
Masterpiece after masterpiece. Luv this band.
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
The kinks super under rated. Why don’t they play this on the radio more ?
I've mostly only heard Lola on the radio. Never heard this one.
They never play the best bands songs on the radio. Proof the masses are idiots. It’s all about catchiness for the dumb folk.
Yes radio doesn’t get it Beautiful Fun to sing too
There are literally thousands of beautiful classic rock songs but radio stations only recognize about 20 bands and then only play 1 or 2 songs from them.
No sh*t !! According to so-called "classic rock" radio Ray Davies only wrote 3 or 4 good songs which is not just nuts but CRIMINAL. There are at least that many songs on this album that deserve to be on classic rock radio on a regular basis. Can't believe that the radio never plays "Animal Farm", "Johnny Thunder", "Victoria", "Waterloo Sunset", "20th Century Man, "Big Sky", etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.,.............
Perfect song for when you hate people and need to be in nature where animals are. Recommended for chillin with your cat or walking your dog. ❤🐱🐶
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
Thank you Ray for this beautiful song.
Agreed. Probably the most under rated album of all time. Too bad it was released on the same day as the Beatles “White” album
WOW
@@jasonwilkes4729
The Kinks encapsulated.
They were always dogged by bad luck, and overshadowed by The Beatles.
The white album in retrospect is not very good now, not a revolver
This is utterly brilliant. I can’t fault it. Davies is a genuine genius. I’ve come to The Kinks quite late, but god it was worth the wait.
Brilliant and typical kinks whimsy. Evokes such feelings of both nostalgia and melancholy…
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
Hearing this for the first time in my life (I'm 41 ) and in loop for ever in love 😍😍😍
What a song !!! This album is just genious :)
Awesome! If you haven't heard their 'Lola vs Powerman and the Moneygoround' album, please purchase it. Amazing!
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
In the top three of my favorite Kinks' songs of all time.
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
Well, what are the other two? For me, I guess it would be "Animal Farm", "Australia", and "Waterloo Sunset", and "Days". Shoot, that's four. None of them can be removed.
First song I learnt to play properly on the guitar. Have played it a thousand times since and impossible to get bored of it. It is one of the few things that makes me proud to be English.
One of the FEW things? Sounds like the haters have done a job on you.
@@PaulA-ys3yr Well, give me some more!!
@@markhamer4168 just being English and loving the Kinks is Enough!
Cry "God for Harry, England, and Saint George!".
Love to play this on the guitar too, my kids and I love wailing the lyrics!😆
One of the first britpop albums!!!
What a great band.
Immaculate composition.
Missed this in the seventies. Heard it today on six music. It is a really great track
Love this tune. The way the mic distorts sounds so good.
This world is big and wild and half insane
Take me where real animals are playing
Just a dirty old shack
Where the hound dogs bark
That we called our home
I want to be back there
Among the cats and dogs
And the pigs and the goats
On Animal Farm
My animal home
On Animal Farm
My animal home
While I lay my head upon my pillow
Little girl, come play beneath my window
Though she's far from home
She is free from harm
And she need not fear
She is by my side
And the sky is wide
So let the sun shine bright
On Animal Farm
My animal home
On Animal Farm
My animal home
Girl, It's a hard, hard world, if it gets you down
Dreams often fade and die in a bad, bad world
I'll take you where real animals are playing
And people are real people not just playing
It's a quiet, quiet life
By a dirty old shack
That we called our home
I want to be back there
Among the cats and dogs
And the pigs and the goats
On Animal Farm
My animal home
On Animal Farm
My animal home
On Animal Farm
Animal Farm
😀😋😋
You are awesome Sarah Franco! thx
Thank you!!!
Yay
I
Les Kinks, un des meilleurs groupe britannique des années 60's 💕
One of my favourites, this and Shangri-la.
ThanKs Kinks - YOU'RE STILL WONDERFUL!!!
When people ask, who's the best rock band, the beatles or the stones? I always answer
THE KINKS
Me too
Good answer!
@@steepcliff6830 One day you'll understand how stupid that sounds
@@soulsearcher57 out of curiosity what did they say?
@@SpuddyWesker Can't remember now as I've slept since replying. Given it's no longer here my point was proved sooner then I imagined they would realise anyway. Long live the Muswell Hillbillies!!
One of Ray Davies' pet hates is that more people critically acclaimed this album than actually bought it.
I bought the vinyl once, the cassette once and the cd once. I do listen to it on UA-cam for free, however.
@@Jupiterbotz It's likely to have sold more copies in recent years than it did back the late 60s - with the praise heaped upon it by critics (along with its use in a certain Edgar Wright movie) introducing 'Village Green' to a new audience.
@@Jupiterbotz found an original 1968 pressing for 45 bucks. Most pressings now are in the $200s-$600.
Very interesting and probably true, it took decades for this album to be fully appreciated.
Pet hates? Isn't that peeves?
Still great after years and years- gets better really
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
Favorite song from favorite album
Four good reason
For me it has to be 'Big Sky'.
Always my fave track off my fave album ...... it soars
Sweet sounds, doesn't get any better.
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
@@FredMorris-pc8ed hated it
50 YEARS OF BLISS
She’s by my side
And the sky is wide!!!
Great comment
@@ronfisher5259 great line by Ray
First heard this little gem in a skate dvd for some obscure board company from the early 00’s, the glory days
One beatious band. Since, I was 8 yrs old...rockin' my noggin' with wise words & beats.
This could be my favorite song off this album...and that's saying a lot!
Love this song.
kinks are kings
Masterpiece ❤️
just love this track
why does this make me cry?
Ray Davies ... he's seriously good at that. Such a gift for expressing the funny/sad, bittersweet strangeness of life. The Kinks gave voice to a sense of loss that's deep and inarticulate in most of us without ever wallowing in sentiment. The combination of catchy music, frequently quite upbeat but with a difference - it's as if there's an understanding irony, never harsh, even in the chords - and lyrics that make you feel this shared ... well it sounds daft but 'grief' is the only word I can think of. Grief for innocence, for the fact that life is long and so bloody short at the same time. It's never manipulative, and it's never hopeless. So many musicians who don't deserve the title are called 'poets,' but Davies really is. Blimey I do go on a bit don't I! Anyway you're not alone, the Kinks get lots of people that way.
@@pollymotley5041 Geez Polly that is a brilliant post ,I am a London Taxi driver I work nights I am quite a tough bloke no softie ,but so many of his songs have me in tears like this one ...its an amazing gift to be able to do that to someone....peace
Maybe you should go vegan?
@@sergimarcet been vegan for over 2 years:)
@@bizarreisthenewblack Good for you!! Cheers mate : )
My favorite song, from my favorite album.
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
Kinks' bassist Pete Quaife was critical of a lot of Ray's late 60's songs, but this was one of his favorites.
Quaife was brilliant
I love that growl of Ray's..reminds me of a Blur song.
Was just whistling this song. I had to come hear it.
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
The Kinks Rule!
I know music & this album is in my top 5 albums of all time.
Such a rowdy album, love me some Kinks!!
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
Can't get any better !
God save the Kinks!❤
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
Talk about a influential album from the late sixties, this one is the top of the heep influencer :)
"real animals" - that's the key to my understanding of this song
Such a beautiful song ❤✌
Orwell loved this song
Now i really wanna' kiss a farm animal's head❤
We want more !!
My baby's gonna love this song
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
It's a grower folks!
Cos Drag 👍
One of thier best songs this and see my friends are so underated
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
@@FredMorris-pc8ed cheers thanks for that
@@FredMorris-pc8ed yeah he sounds pretty good not bad at all . I will check out more when i have time
@@waynedunn1108 cool!
@@FredMorris-pc8ed cheers fred from aus.i took a screen shot so i dont for get
gran canción
Amazing to think this song inspired Orwell's brilliant novel of the same name. That was once the power of radio!
Woah! Don't get carried away. Orwell's Animal Farm was published in the 40s.
Brillant album !
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
Los más grandes de largo.
1968 even! I suppose I was only eighteen.
Esta canción me parece terriblemente púlenta es súper vacan y ampliamente recomendable en círculos eclécticos de música animal
ray davies is just quintessentially british in his songwriting & its sooooo doooope its fucking disgusting. this whole album rocks my balls every time i give it a play
In pieno 1968 i Kinks sono al loro meglio questa favolosa band sfornano album bellissimi tra cui diversi concept album
What a Brilliant Song-The kinks, Bye for now love Alan 👨🏫️
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
ENCONTRE ESTA CANCION, LA BUSQUE MUCHO
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
Thomas loves this song, he thinks its great
Girl, It's a hard, hard world, if it gets you down
Makes me want a simpler live. Leave society and go off grid
And live like an apeman?
The Good Life
@@dububro no like a well respected man
I second that ... wilderness and the harmony of a life led by the natural rhythms of the peaceful alignment of the spacious landscape x
Que tal letra!!!!
Ray re-used the intro a few years later for the theme to the second series of 'Budgie' in 1972.
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
Sir Ray king
This world is big and wild and half insane
Take me where real animals are playing
Just a dirty old shack Where the hound dogs bark
That we called our home
I want to be back there
Among the cats and dogs And the pigs and the goats
On Animal Farm
My animal home
While I lay my head upon my pillow
Little girl, come play beneath my window
Though she's far from home
She is free from harm And she need not fear
She is by my side And the sky is wide
So let the sun shine bright
Girl, It's a hard, hard world, if it gets you down
Dreams often fade and die in a bad, bad world
I'll take you where real animals are playing
And people are real people not just playing
It's a quiet, quiet life By a dirty old shack
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
RAY RULES OK!
big hippie vibes
Stefan Janoski is one of the homies who I dont know personally
Weird. I saw a completely unrelated comment from you on a Jordan Peterson video like 4 days ago
@@ajfrost3382 Whats weird about that?
@@Septiviumexe They were completely unrelated videos. and to notice it I had to search these two exactly specific videos up within a short enough time of eachother that I'd recognise your profile.
@@ajfrost3382 csb
How was this not a hit is fucking beyond me....
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
Because they never released it as a single. It COULD have been a single cause its that good but considering how awful the actual singles + the album itself fared at the charts you wonder if it would've been also unjustly ignored
@@FredMorris-pc8ed Seriously p-ss off with your spamming it makes you look like an annoying jack off
the lyrics are to another song in your info above.
Dave DAvies at his peak
Randal mc'murphy great guitar style, unique.
❤️
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
Is this the prologue to George Orwells novel of the same name?
exactly what i was thinking
Ofcourse it is boys
How dare you call me evil hahaha
Even on the album cover, Ray Davies comes across as an artist. The three other band members look to the photographer wiyh similar degrees of comfortableness. Ray looks down, as if to say, "take the damn picture, and let me out of here."
He is looking at the camera, check out the gatefold for village green, its easier to see.
this album was released on the same day the Beatles white album was released Nov. 23,1968
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
I knew the "White Album" from the day it came out. The Village Green Preservation Society is a better album, but I didn't find that out until about ten years ago. Sometimes life is unfair.
When people are not "humans" but animals like the rest of the animal kingdom.
It took me so long to realize da was donald glover in TEMBAUMS ROYAL FUCKTIRF HURR bren aka the love that keeps me waiting hold on black key mv
People can talk about Americans inventing rock music but English people put the soul into it. This couldn't have come from an American.
benjamin marlowe
I'm an American. Who is "your?"
The black people in America invented rock and have always brought somethin new to the table :-)
Daniel Saldivar
LOL. What an idiot.
Dan Michaels don't be rude bby :)
Daniel Saldivar
Sorry, I just hate people weaned on American Public television-a.k.a. PBS.
I bought it
You have the lyrics posted for Mr. Songbird instead of Animal Farm. Both great songs.
if you like this you might like my brothers music. his name is Stu Morris
This is a great song. Ray Davies is a motherfucking genius…..for me, Schoolboys In Disgrace is one of the best albums ever created along with Sleepwalker