"Sunny Afternoon" — UK #1, 1966. A rich man ruined, drinking alone. Social comedy with a melancholy core.
The taxman's taken all my dough
and left me in my stately home
lazing on a sunny afternoon.
And I can't sail my yacht
he's taken ev'rything I've got;
all I've got's this sunny afternoon.
Save me
save me
save me from this squeeze
I've got a big fat momma tyin' to break me.
And I love to live so pleasantly
live this life of luxury:
lazing on a sunny afternoon
in Summertime
in summertime
in summertime.
My girlfriend's gone off with my car
and gone back to her ma and pa
telling tales of drunkenness and cruelty.
Now I'm sitting here
sipping at my icecold beer
lazing on a sunny afternoon.
Help me
help me
help me sail away
you give me two good reasons why I ought to stay.
'Cos I love to live so pleasantly
live this life of luxury:
lazing on a sunny afternoon
in Summertime
in summertime
in summertime.
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- Released June 1966. Reached #1 in the UK, staying there for two weeks. Ray Davies wrote it while ill with a throat infection. The tax collector and the socialite wife taking the car — a perfect compressed English social comedy.