Musical Observation Essay #1

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You Really Got Me

by The Kinks
by Reeves Smoak

In 1962, brothers Ray and Dave Davies, then just secondary school students, the UK

equivalent of high school students, along with their classmates Peter Quaife and John Start,

formed The Kinks, an early garage band who contributed significantly to heavy metal music, and

to the punk rock sub-genre in particular. Eventually they became recognized as part of the British

Invasion, and their influence can easily be seen in their contemporaries in the invasion, such as

The Who and the Yardbirds.

They were signed to the Pye label in 1964, and their first two singles were released to little

fanfare and sold rather poorly. It was their third single however, the anthemic You Really Got

Me, which put them not only on the charts, but also in the history books. Aside from a few

songs, including the similar Kinks hit All Day and All of the Night, many of the songs on the

album werent written by the brothers or the other band members, but were covers of popular

R&B artists such as Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. Within the scope of those covers the Kinks

simply took the original songs and simply re-recorded them without changing very much, so that

aspect of their first album is largely unimportant, but it was their original songs they are

remembered for, in particular from that first album, You Really Got Me, and its follow up

single All Day And All of The Night. Both songs are very similar to each other in terms of

sound, and both of them hit top 10 on the charts.

You Really Got Me is an easily recognizable example of proto-metal; everything from the

raw, raspy singing of Ray Davies to the guitar tone and upbeat tempo sound like early aspects of
what is now considered heavy metal. Guitarists ranging from Keith Richards to Eddie Van Halen

can trace some of the origins of their guitar tones to the fuzzy riffs of The Kinks. (Van Halens

first single was a cover of You Really Got Me.) On this track the guitar is swathed with a fuzzy

tone, which, while not invented by The Kinks, was popularized by them when Dave Davies used

a razor to slash the fabric on his amp, and the bluesy, power-chords sound metal to this day. In

particular, the guitar tone in the song Satisfaction by the Stones draws clear influence from the

fuzz heard in You really got me.

The entire song is based around its riff, written by younger brother Dave Davies who was

only 17 years old at the time, and heavily influenced by The Kingsmens cover of Richard

Barrys Louie Louie, is easily its most memorable part. The idea of the entire song being

based around the guitar riff is a big deal because generally speaking, it was a new idea in music.

At the time, basing certain elements of a song against its riff was certainly not revolutionary, but

basing all of the elements on the riff was unheard of. In You Really Got Me The Kinks formed

the bass, percussion, and even vocal phrasing on the simple, bluesy guitar work of Dave Davies.

Rays lyrics formed the basis for some metal as well, containing a sort of youthful aggression

and energy not inconsistent with his age (20), and across the rest of the Kinks music they would

continue to be crafted for the working and lower classes of England, containing social

commentary and written explicitly, not hiding behind metaphors and allegories. When thinking

of heavy metal, one doesnt tend to think of R&B as an influence, but the raspiness of the singers

that Ray covered no doubt also had some influence over the dirtier vocals in his own music.

Part 2 - Analysis
 Upon first pressing the play button of the song, the main riff that is its life force burns itself

into memory. Its loud, fast, loose, and dirty. The distinctive fuzz sound created by Dave

Davies slashed speaker muffles the tones of the mid-range frequencies of the guitar, while

adding to the high end a crackly, crunching sound that gives the overall tone a really angsty

feeling, and is a large part of the success of this song. The riff certainly borrows from Louie

Louie by The Kingsmen, but does make the hugely important distinction of being comprised of

power chords instead of the more typical major, minor, or 7th chords, etc. One could argue that

by using power chords, which are comprised of fewer pitches than the other chords listed, Dave

wrote a simplified version of their riff, and its true that the riff is simple. Five quick notes

(power chords), repeated on a loop with a short pause in-between for emphasis, comprise the

entire riff, and of those five simple notes, there are really only two chords that Dave moves back

and forth between. When moving from one chord to the next the sliding of Daves hand can also

be distinguished audibly, a technique which, whether intentional or not, contributes to to the

overall unpolished simplicity that seems to make up the basic philosophy of the riff.

After two repeats of the riff, a process which takes four seconds, the drums and bass come in

(0:04), the drum introducing itself with a sharp hit of the snare before taking the guitars side,

following it so as to emphasize the loud strums, while allowing a tambourine to serve as

metronome. The bass serves little purpose except to add to the low end of the riff, following the

guitar exactly. These three song elements in tandem do little else for the rest of the song save to

keep repeating that one riff.

 Two more repeats and Ray Davies vocals enter (0:08), wasting no time introducing the focal

point of the lyrics - Girl, you really got me Verse 1, as well as the rest of the song, is quite

simple lyrically, not just in terms of subject matter, but in terms of the words used as well. The

lyrics are not designed to confuse the listener with vague poetry or prose, but to deliver a clear

and concise message. Simple, like the riff, and the first instrument to follow its own path

separated from the guitar . At (0:23-0:33), a layer of vocal harmony is added, and the instruments

as well as vocal melody modulate to another key. All of the instruments continue to modulate

this way in a rising pyramid of sound, each time adding another layer of vocal harmony, all to

build to a refrain, during which the vocal melody mirrors the guitar as well (0:33-0:38). This

refrain will come back at other points during the song as a sort of chorus.

After a five second breather where Ray takes a rest, and the instruments allow themselves to

ring out, verse two hits in much the same fashion as verse 1, this time with the addition of fast-

paced staccato piano in the higher notes, repeating a simple chord and serving to add to the

energy and urgency of the music, and including the rising harmony leading up to the second

refrain (1:08).

Around (1:15), Ray lets out a quick howl reminiscent of the blues before letting Daves guitar

step in and solo (the rest of the instruments still playing the riff in the background as if verse 3

had started). Daves solo is short (1:17-1:31) at only fourteen seconds long, but its speed and

aggression communicate the message. It sounds as if Dave is thrashing away at the strings of his

guitar, and the notes of the solo stay in a relatively small pitch-range. The point the guitar wishes

to communicate is not one of technical brilliance, but rather youthful spirit.

 Finally, the song concludes with a repeat of the second verse, from the lyrics to refrain, with

some slight additions here and there like a drum fill (1:44), and a second layer of guitar (1:47).

The second guitar doesnt follow the first as exactly as the bass does, but serves to occasionally

emphasize that the instruments dont have to be chained within the riff. Four loud, percussive

hits from the band end the song with a bang, over almost as quickly as it started at 2:14.

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