Monica by The Kinks

Album: The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society (1968)

Get the Sheet Music License This Song

The Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society album features several vignettes of characters from Ray Davies' youth in London. There is Johnny Thunder, the local hoodlum; an old friend, Walter; and the witchy Wicked Annabella. Here, Davies sings of his love for Monica, the village prostitute.
Ray Davies told Q magazine that many people hadn't noticed that Village Green is a very sexy album. "It's about a lot of sex. Monica, Annabella... All these women that will bring you down, disgrace you," he said. "Make you leave your wife and family for a little leg over in the woods. It's about repressed sex."
The song has a calypso style, one that had previously featured on the Kinks' 1965 track "I'm On an Island." Ray Davies later re-appropriated the Trinidadian folk music genre again in 1970 to represent the jungle for the single "Apeman."

Please sign in or register to post comments.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Yacht Rock!Song Writing

A scholarly analysis of yacht rock favorites ("Steal Away," "Baker Street"...) with a member of the leading YR cover band.

Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica)Songwriter Interviews

The former Metallica bassist talks about his first time writing a song with James Hetfield, and how a hand-me-down iPad has changed his songwriting.

Amy GrantSongwriter Interviews

The top Contemporary Christian artist of all time on song inspirations and what she learned from Johnny Carson.

Wedding Bell BluesSong Writing

When a song describes a wedding, it's rarely something to celebrate - with one big exception.

How The Beatles Crafted Killer ChorusesSong Writing

The author of Help! 100 Songwriting, Recording And Career Tips Used By The Beatles, explains how the group crafted their choruses so effectively.

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce PavittSong Writing

The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.