In terms of a zeitgeist-capturing moment, ‘Waterloo Sunset’ by The Kinks is as fine as they come. The band’s frontman Ray Davies penned the 1967 classic, and it remains the quintessential track from London’s ‘Swinging Sixties’, capturing the spirit of the era when the English capital was moving out of its old state as the centre of the empire into the green pastures of the technological future.
A number that toes the line between melancholy and stirring, ‘Waterloo Sunset’ features include the iconic story of Terry and Julie, the sliding riff and the dynamic bassline that underpins the track, as Davies’ tale takes the listener on a tale weaving between the tight side streets of Waterloo.
Released on May 5th, 1967, there has always been debate about what influenced the song. Davies’ accounts have appeared to contradict each other over the years, with it clear that various factors resulted in him penning the song. Despite this, though, one thing is sure: ‘Waterloo Sunset’ emerged from a dream. “‘Waterloo Sunset‘ came to me in a dream,” Davies told Classic Rock. “I woke up, and it was there.”
“Originally, I wanted to call it Liverpool Sunset,” he explained. “I loved Liverpool and Merseybeat. But you know what they say as advice for writers – write about what you know. I knew London better than I knew Liverpool. So I changed it.”
“Waterloo was a pivotal place in my life,” Davies continued. “And I saw several Waterloo sunsets. I was in St Thomas’ Hospital there when I was really ill as a child, and I looked out on the Thames. Later I used to go past the station when I went to art college on the train. And I met my first girlfriend, who became my first wife, along the Embankment at Waterloo.”
Famously, during an interview in May 1967, Davies explained the origin of the song’s most memorable line, “Terry meets Julie”. He stated: “If you look at the song as a kind of film, I suppose Terry would be Terence Stamp, and Julie would be Julie Christie”, connecting the track to the two British actors rumoured to be romantically linked at the time.
Strangely, however, the frontman later refuted this in his autobiography. He then claimed it was actually a “fantasy” written about his sister Rosy Davies emigrating to Australia in 1964. Davies said it was “a fantasy about my sister going off with her boyfriend to a new world, and they were going to emigrate and go to another country.”
This matter was something Davies addressed when talking to Classic Rock. “As soon as I sang ‘Terry and Julie‘,” he said, “It seemed that they didn’t need description. With records, I like to let the listener do some work and conjure up some images in their own way. If everybody could draw a picture of Terry and Julie, they’d all draw a different picture, according to people they knew.”
Part of the timeless power of ‘Waterloo Sunset’ is that Davies counterbalances his very real depiction of Waterloo with a distinctly intangible edge, perfect for the fact it emerged in a dream. The question surrounding the identity of Terry and Julie – whether they are the prominent actors they are rumoured to be or meant to embody every pair of young lovers in London – and the fantastical essence of his sister’s travels on the other side of the world, work together with the music to create a sonic journey that connects with the listener’s personal experience. As the songwriter asserts, this blend conjures a different mental image for every listener.
There’s a part of me that cannot help but think ‘Waterloo Sunset’ is also about dreams, not the kind we have a night, but those we have in the waking world, where we look to the future and wonder what it might hold, just as London was doing at the time of writing.
What supports this? Whilst Davies’ cryptic notes about the song’s provenance have fed into its mythical status, he all but said that the song is based on dreams when speaking to The Independent in 2011: “It’s about the two characters in the song, and the aspirations of my sisters’ generation before me, who grew up during the Second World War. It’s about the world I wanted them to have. That, and then walking by the Thames with my first wife, and all the dreams that we had. Her in her brown suede coat that she wore, that was stolen.”
