1965 The Kinks: Tired Of Waiting For You

A change of pace from The Kinks (they followed up 'You Really Got Me' with the carbon copy freneticism of 'All Day And All Of The Night'), 'Tired Of Waiting For You' always puts me in mind of that novelty poster/t.shirt/badge etc of a supermodel type in her underwear with the slogan 'No matter how hot she looks, somebody somewhere is sick of all her shit'.* Seems apt really for a song whereby Ray Davies has gone from being so 'got' by a girl that he "can't sleep at night" to feeling "so tired, tired of waiting, tired of waiting for you". Whether it's the same girl or not we're not told, but the boredom of routine and overfamiliarity in a romance will be familiar to most.

There's a wistful, half awakeness about it all as Ray idly wonders whether it really is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all ("I was a lonely soul, I had nobody till I met you") and he's laid back enough about it all to put the ball into her court with a "It's your life and you can do what you want, do what you like" - just stop pissing me about. 'Tired Of Waiting For You' is not a work of substance and what there is repeats endlessly, but the economy of writing and performance matches the song's lazy, overarching ennui to a fault. Davies always did mild regret and a longing for yesterdays very well, and if 'Tired Of Waiting For You' isn't a song from out of his top drawer then it's a springboard of confidence in his art that would shortly lead to others that most definitely would be.


* I did consider saying that it put me in mind of Prince Don Fabrizio Salina's quote from di Lampedusa's novel 'Il gattopardo/The Leopard" - "Yes, love, of course! Fire and flames for a year, ashes for thirty. I too know what love is". But that wouldn't have given me an excuse to post a picture of a supermodel type in her underwear.