"Sitting by the Riverside" 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 Ray Davies, it was recorded in July1968. The song features honky-tonk piano and a Mellotron which duplicates the sound of an accordion. An example of psychedelia, the song's relaxed style is offset by the sound of a swelling cacophony between verses, a sound reminiscent of the crescendo in the Beatles' 1967 song "A Day in the Life". The song describes a pleasant experience sitting next to a river and was inspired by Davies's time spent as a child fishing with his father.
Background and composition
Ray Davies was inspired to compose "Sitting by the Riverside" after reminiscing about childhood fishing expeditions with his father.[1] The song's narrator expresses his pleasure at sitting and drinking wine with his partner by the riverside,[2] asking to "please keep me calm, keep me pacified" so he can enjoy the calming effect of the river.[3] Author Johnny Rogan considers the song one of several by Davies about "the beauty of a quiet life",[4] suggesting its mood of "lazy resignation" is reminiscent of "Sunny Afternoon" (1966).[5] Author Rob Jovanovic considers the song, alongside "Animal Farm" and "Village Green", to be one of the most important thematically on The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, all three of which he thinks convey imagery of simple village life.[6]
"Sitting by the Riverside" is an example of psychedelia.[7][8] It employs a Vaudeville-like tune and a light piano arrangement.[9] The narrator closing his eyes results in a rush of overwhelming memories and fear, accompanying which is a swelling cacophony.[10] A section of rising dissonance between verses serves to briefly undermine the idyllic mood,[11] before cutting back to the pleasant feeling of the verse.[12]
Author Thomas M. Kitts describes the keyboards of the section as "psychedelic swirls and vibrations",[13] and author Christian Matijas-Mecca similarly characterises it as a "Beatlesque-inflected psychedelic wash".[14]
The Kinks lip-synced "Sitting by the Riverside" for the programme Colour Me Pop on BBC Two's Late Night Line-Up on 22 July 1968.[21] While the studio version of the song was recorded in July1968, Davies did not include it on the twelve-track edition of The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, planned for release in September1968.[22] After he delayed the album's release by two months to expand its track listing to fifteen, it was among the songs he added.[23] Pye released Village Green in the UK on 22 November 1968, sequencing "Sitting by the Riverside" as the final song on side one.[17]
In a retrospective assessment, Morgan Enos of Billboard magazine placed the song second last in a ranking of the album's songs, writing that it rated above "Monica" only because it displayed more thematic relevance to the Village Green concept.[24] By contrast, authors Neville Marten and Jeff Hudson consider it one of the album's most memorable songs, displaying "Davies' voice is at its languid best".[25]
^Miller 2003, p. 21: (engineers MacKenzie & Humphries, operated four-track); Hinman 2004, p. 111: (Humphries worked on recordings from May 1968 and later).
Hinman, Doug (2004). The Kinks: All Day and All of the Night: Day-by-Day Concerts, Recordings and Broadcasts, 1961–1996. San Francisco, California: Backbeat Books. ISBN978-0-87930-765-3.
Rayes, Ken (2002). "The Village Green and The Great Gatsby – Two Views of Preservation". In Kitts, Thomas M. (ed.). Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders with The Kinks. Rumford, Rhode Island: Desolation Angel Books. pp. 153–164. ISBN0-9641005-4-1.
Sullivan, Patricia Gordon (2002). "'Let's Have a Go at It': The British Musical Hall and The Kinks". In Kitts, Thomas M. (ed.). Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders with The Kinks. Rumford, Rhode Island: Desolation Angel Books. pp. 80–99. ISBN0-9641005-4-1.
