"Victoria" is a song written by

Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother Dave on lead guitar and backing voc ...

the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

. It is the opening track on the band's 1969

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Some ...

Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more w ...

''. In Ray Davies'

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or ...

style, the lyrics juxtapose the grim realities of life in Britain during the 19th century (''"Sex was bad, called obscene/And the rich were so mean"'') with the

paternalist Paternalism is action that limits a person's or group's liberty or autonomy and is intended to promote their own good. Paternalism can also imply that the behavior is against or regardless of the will of a person, or also that the behavior expres ...

aspirations of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

in the

Victorian age In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...

(''"From the West to the East/From the rich to the poor/Victoria loved them all"''), and expresses the simple adulation of queen and country by the downtrodden

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

(''"Though I am poor, I am free/When I grow I shall fight/For this land I shall die"''). The production begins with a simple heavy rock

electric blues Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930 ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or acc ...

, carried through each verse and

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

, while the "Land of hope and gloria"

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

and raucous background vocals from Dave Davies build to an exultant climax of

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wi ...

Chart performance

In the US, "Victoria" was the lead single from ''Arthur'', backed with album track "Brainwashed", and reached No. 62 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 – their highest position there since their top 20 hit " Sunny Afternoon" in 1966. In the UK, The Kinks' previous two singles had failed to chart. "Victoria" was released as the third and final single from the album in December (backed with " Mr. Churchill Says"), returning them to the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, reaching a peak of No. 33. In Canada, the song was a hit in the greater Toronto area, reaching No. 9 on the CHUM Top 30 on 21 March 1970, and staying in the charts for a number of weeks. In Australia, it spent seven weeks in the charts, peaking at No. 57. On Sweden's ''

Tio i Topp ''Tio i Topp'' (English: ''Ten At The Top'') was a Swedish record chart and radio program broadcast by Sveriges Radio P3 between the years of 1961 and 1974. It was launched to combat pirate radio charts and was the first official Swedish record ...

'' chart it reached number 8.

Later versions

A version by the Fall was a UK Top 40 hit in 1988. A version by

the Kooks The Kooks () are an English pop-rock band formed in 2004 in Brighton. The band consists of Luke Pritchard (vocals/rhythm guitar), Hugh Harris (lead guitar/synthesizer/bass) and Alexis Nunez (drums). Their music is primarily influenced by the ...

was released on the War Child charity album, '' Heroes'', in February 2009. The album was also released as a 7" boxed set including a 7" with the Kooks version of "Victoria" on one side and the Kinks version on the other. The song has also been recorded by

Cracker Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to: Animals * ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies * '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker" Arts and entertainment Films ...

, Nomeansno (who adapted the lyrics to be about

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

Roy Arad Roy "Chicky" Arad (Hebrew language, Hebrew: רועי "צ'יקי" ארד, born 1977) is an Israeli poet, singer, script-writer, artist, and political activist. Arad is the founder and former editor of ''Maayan (magazine), Maayan'' magazine for poe ...

(who translated the song to Hebrew and changed Victoria to the Israeli prime minister

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. ...

) and

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of t ...

Mando Diao Mando Diao is an alternative rock band from Borlänge, Sweden. The band got their breakthrough with the release of the album ''Hurricane Bar''. Their main fan base is in Sweden, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan. Band members are Björn Di ...

recorded a version of it with Ray Davies for ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...

'' in 2010.

In popular culture

The song was prominently featured throughout the second episode of ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main c ...

''s seventh season, "

The Naked Truth The Naked Truth may refer to: Literature * ''The Naked Truth'' (novel), a 1993 fictional memoir by Leslie Nielsen * ''The Naked Truth'' (book), a 2007 commentary on film ratings Film * ''The Naked Truth'' (1914 film), a silent Italian film * ...

", culminating when at the end of the episode, Ted Mosby spots his ex-girlfriend Victoria across a gala.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Victoria (Song) The Kinks songs 1969 singles Cultural depictions of Queen Victoria Songs written by Ray Davies Song recordings produced by Ray Davies Pye Records singles The Fall (band) songs 1969 songs