Probabilistic Jukebox: "Where Did My Spring Go?" by the Kinks

Christmas card illustration by Cicely Englefield, c. 1920

I've never written about the Kinks on Wires and Waves, which seems a little improbable considering that they are one of my very favorite bands. Like many Kinks fans, there are certain parts of their discography that appeal to me more than others. And like many Kinks fans, for me it's all about the work they did between '67 and '69. But I'm not one of those all-Village-Green-all-the-time guys - as much as I like that album, it's the post-Village-Green stuff that interests me most. That album and time period was such a disaster for the band that it resulted in them doing some really interesting stuff. I actually think that the album that came next, Arthur, is probably the best thing they ever did. But there's also the great singles and lost songs from that period, like "Days", "Polly", "Wonderboy", and "King Kong".

One of my favorite songs from this time popped up on the jukebox - "Where Did My Spring Go?", recorded in 1969, was a song the Kinks wrote for a TV project (not unlike Arthur). "Where Was Spring?" was a short-lived BBC comedy starring the wonderful Eleanor Bron - Ray Davies wrote the song for the series' second episode and, although he considers it to be just a demo, it's a great and humorous song, similar to the jokey songs from Muswell Hillbillies but with that same undercurrent of actual seething rage. The increasingly cacophonous instrumental backing and, toward the song's end, the accelerating tempo create an urgency matched by Davies' frantic vocal. The song was unavailable for years as it was only ever semi-officially released as part of the Great Lost Kinks Album, but it's now available with many of the other great "lost" songs from the Village Green aftermath on that album's 3-CD expanded edition. It's well worth getting if you're a fan of late-'60s Kinks. Or good music in general.

"Where Did My Spring Go?" by the Kinks