The Kinks in 80s & 90s

"Give The People What They Want" album: Give the People What They Want, 1981

Hey, hey, hey...
Give the people what they want

Well, it's been said before, the world is a stage
A different performance with every age.
Open the history book to any old page
Bring on the lions and open the cage.

Give the people what they want
You gotta give the people what they want
The more they get, the more they need
And every time they get harder and harder to please

The Roman promoters really did things right.
They needed a show that would clearly excite.
The attendance was sparse so they put on a fight
Threw the Christians to the lions, sold out every night

Give the people what they want
You gotta give the people what they want
The more they get, the more they need
And every time they get harder and harder to please

Give 'em lots of sex, perversion and rape
Give 'em lots of violence, and plenty to hate
Give the people what they want
Give the people what they want

When Olswald shot Kennedy, he was insane
But still we watch the re-runs again and again
We all sit glued while the killer takes aim
"Hey Mom, there goes a piece of the president's brain!"

Give the people what they want
You gotta give the people what they want
Blow out your brains, and do it right
Make sure it's prime time and on a Saturday night.
You gotta give the people what they want
You gotta give the people what they want
Give the people what they want

A song about the "panem et circenses" and consumerism tension of modern people, who were slaves to their neverending passions and authority and Mass Media tries to stimulate continuously. They produce through the years such slave of passions character types and then they were self-justified claiming hypocritically that that's what people really want, so let's fullfill their "needs".



"Wall Of Fire" album: Phobia, 1993

Standing at the end of the horizon
Looking at another setting sun
Nature gave us all these toys to play with
But we've abused them, each and every one
They stretched the chord, snapped the wire
Lit the fuse but can't retire
We're going to the wall of fire
Tip-toeing on the great high wire
Let's have a real fire

The city slickers built the great illusion
Now they're the first to crumble in the sun
Now we're going through the wall
Let's see the flames before we fall
We're going through the wall of fire
Let's have a real fire
Tip-toeing on the great high wire
Through the wall of fire

We drove on many rocky roads together
Through the storms and hurricanes we rode
Unified so no one could destroy us
We stretched the bounds
But always kept the code
Liberals shout and cause concern
Forget next week while we all burn
Let's run right through the wall of fire
Let's have a real fire
Death-defying while the flames grow higher
Through the wall of fire
Let's go through the wall of fire
Running through the wall of fire

A self-critic song about our destructive way we used nature before the now visible dead end of our actions.

Some Kinks' classics in youtube:

Lola

sunny afternoon

all day and all night

you really got me