Summary
Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks was released in 1967.
Soul Music hears the poignant, thoughtful and life-changing memories of those who love it.
Childhood holidays were an escape from bullying for John Harvey. He describes the unforgettable moment when he heard Waterloo Sunset for the first time, on the radio, in 1967. Getting to know the music of The Kinks, and finding out about the character of its lead singer, Ray Davies, shaped and coloured his life from then on.
Allison Moore Adams is an American who married Vernon, a Brit. Waterloo Sunset was sung at his bedside following a terrible road accident. The painting used to illustrate this edition of Soul Music is of Vernon and Allison on Waterloo Bridge. It's by Allison's friend, Isabelle Logie, who also sang to Vernon in hospital.
Christopher Young used to work in mental health. For him, the lyrics of Waterloo Sunset symbolise the isolation that many people feel.
Professor Allan Moore, a musicologist, discusses why this beautiful pop song works so well.
Producer: Karen Gregor
First brodacast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2017.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to quickly tell you about some others. |
| 0:05.2 | My name's Andy Martin and I'm the editor of a team of podcast producers at the BBC in Northern Ireland. |
| 0:11.3 | It's a job I really love because we get to tell the stories that really matter to people here, |
| 0:16.3 | but which also resonate and apply to listeners around the world. |
| 0:19.6 | And because the team has such a diverse |
| 0:21.2 | range of skills and strengths, we've trained journalists, people who love digging through archives, |
| 0:26.6 | we've got drama and even comedy experts, we really can do those stories justice. So if you |
| 0:32.0 | like this podcast, head to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more fascinating stories from |
| 0:37.4 | all around the UK. |
| 0:38.9 | Here on Top of the Pups, we could say it's time for old time |
| 0:42.2 | as we hear revived live that great hit Waterloo sunset by The King. |
| 0:46.8 | 30 old river must you keep rolling |
| 0:50.9 | blowing, though you're into life. |
| 1:21.7 | People so busy, make me The King's Waterloo Know You Into Night The King's Waterloo Sunset, written by the main man Ray Davis, 1967, got to number two in the British singles charts and appeared on the album, Something Else. Show love. Every day I look at the four from my window. |
| 1:33.3 | It happens to be number 42 on Rolling Stone's list of greatest 500 songs. |
| 1:39.4 | It's 50 years old. |
| 1:40.5 | It's certainly got some staying power. |
| 1:43.4 | And Robert Criscow, the American critic, |
| 1:45.9 | goes to far as to say that it's the most beautiful song in the English language, which is quite |
| 1:51.2 | something to live up to. Some as long as I'm going to |
| 2:13.6 | Some writers |
| 2:16.4 | Some writers In order to write something which they want to create a big impact go to town on complexity, on richness. |
... |
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