"Muswell Hillbilly" is a track recorded by

British rock British rock describes a wide variety of forms of music made in the United Kingdom. Since around 1964, with the "British Invasion" of the United States spearheaded by the Beatles, British rock music has had a considerable impact on the develop ...

band

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

. It served as the title track to their 1971 album, ''

Muswell Hillbillies ''Muswell Hillbillies'' is the tenth studio album by the English rock group the Kinks. Released on 24 November 1971, it was the band's first album released through RCA Records. The album is named after the Muswell Hill area of North London, w ...

''.

Lyrics and music

The lyrics of the track "Muswell Hillbilly" see the singer being forced from his London home and into

Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross. Neighbouring areas include Highgate, London, Highgate, Hampstead Garden ...

, a sterilized suburban community. He says his farewells to his friends, including Rosie Rooke, who "wore her Sunday hat so she'd impress he singer. The singer says that "they're gonna try and make imchange isway of living, but they'll never make imsomething that

e's is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and drawn by Satoru Yuiga. It was originally serialized in '' Monthly GFantasy'' from 1997 through 2005, and later published in 16 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Square Enix from March 18, 2003, to Febr ...

not," likely referring to the government. He goes on to say, "I'm a Muswell Hillbilly boy, but my heart lies in old West Virginia. Never seen New Orleans, Oklahoma, Tennessee, utstill I dream of the Black Hills that I ain't never seen." He explains that "they're putting us in little boxes, No character, just uniformity. They're trying to build a computerised community," but vows that "they'll never make a zombie out of me." The song, like most of the ''

'' album, has a country rock flavour. It also has an antiquated style, mostly attributed to the fact that the entire album was recorded with ten-year-old equipment. Ray Davies handles the lead vocal. Dave Davies commented on the song, "There's that love and fondness for Americana and for country music because I had quite a big family, and all the great films like ''

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

'' and ''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs's 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...

'' – all these influences from the States – were embedded in our culture when growing up. It was kind of like a London version of ''

The Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family ...

'' in a humorous way."

Release

Prior to its release, Kinks member

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

intended for the track to be the opening track of a possible film adaptation of the album. However, RCA refused to finance this project, and it was scrapped. "Muswell Hillbilly" was first released on the ''

'' album in 1971, where it was the twelfth and final track. The following year, "Muswell Hillbilly" was released as a single in Japan, backed with " Oklahoma U.S.A.". It has since appeared multiple times on other albums, including ''

Picture Book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

''. It also appeared in live format on '' Everybody's in Show-Biz'' (the follow-up to ''

'') and '' To the Bone''.

Reception

"Muswell Hillbilly" has generally received positive reviews. Thomas Kitts wrote in his book, ''Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else'', that "'Muswell Hillbilly' brings together he ''Muswell Hillbillies'' album'svarious musical and thematic motifs." ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

cited the track as a highlight from the ''Muswell Hillbillies'' album. However, in a more critical analysis of the song, Mike Saunders of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' said, "The country stuff n ''Muswell Hillbillies''is another matter. A portion of it is fine, but some of the songs are so positively uninspired and unenergetic it drives me up the wall. Such as things like the Kinks nasally whining 'I'm a Muswell hillbilly boy, But my heart lies in old West Virginia.

References

{{authority control The Kinks songs 1971 songs 1972 singles Songs written by Ray Davies Song recordings produced by Ray Davies Country rock songs Blues rock songs Songs about West Virginia RCA Records singles