A Well Respected Man

"A Well Respected Man" is a song by the British band The Kinks, written by the group's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ray Davies, and originally released in the United Kingdom on the EP Kwyet Kinks in September 1965 (see 1965 in music), but the song was released as on the album Kinkdom in the United States. The song was also released as a single in the US and Continental Europe.

"A Well Respected Man" remains one of the band's most popular and best known songs. It is one of four Kinks songs included on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll along with "You Really Got Me," "Waterloo Sunset," and "Lola".

Background

Davies composed the song based on a negative experience with upper class guests at a luxury resort where he was staying in 1965. He crafted the song to mock what he perceived as their condescension and self-satisfaction.

Pye refused to release "A Well Respected Man" as a single because the record company wanted a song more similar to the band's raunchier previous hits.^[3] It was released as a single in the United States during October of that same year and reached No. 13. Following the success of "Dedicated Follower of Fashion", "A Well Respected Man" was also released as a single in mainland Europe in March 1966 (although pressed in the UK, it was an export-only issue).

The song also includes the word "fag," interpreted by Americans as a reference to homosexuality. However, Davies later said that this was not intended:

I had naively meant a fag to either be slang for a cigarette or, at worst, that the well-respected man had been at public school, where [he performed] the most humiliating tasks.^[3]

Music and lyrics

Musically, it marked the beginning of an expansion in The Kinks' inspirations, drawing much from British Music Hall traditions (a style which was to feature prominently on later 1960s songs such as "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" and "Mister Pleasant"). Lyrically, the song is notable as being the first of Ray Davies' compositions to overtly address the theme of British class consciousness. Indeed, the song offers a satirical commentary on the entrenched mores and conventions of the English upper and middle classes, while hinting at the frustration and casual hypocrisy that underlie this fastidiously maintained veneer of "respectability".

In popular culture

Petula Clark recorded a French version, Un Jeune Homme Bien, which was released on the French EP Il Faut Revenir in 1965 and in 1966 on the Album Petula Clark (Petula 66 in Canada).
The song was featured in the 2007 film Juno and in the 2010 film Love and Other Drugs featuring Anne Hathaway.
The song can be heard during the end credits of the 2004 film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, in the Criminal Minds episode, "Normal", in the Supernatural episode, "It's A Terrible Life" and in the Homicide: Life on the Street episode, "Colors".
The song is used as the theme tune to the Sky Atlantic sitcom Mr. Sloane and is featured prominently throughout the series.

References

1 2 3 4 A Well Respected Man at kinks.it.rit.edu, retrieved 23 June 2008.
↑ Julian Palacios, Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd: Dark Globe ,(Plexus, 2010), ISBN 0-85965-431-1, p.193
1 2 Kitts, Thomas. Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else.

External links

The Kinks

Ray Davies Dave Davies Mick Avory Pete Quaife John Dalton Gordon Edwards Ian Gibbons John Gosling Mark Haley Bob Henrit Andy Pyle Jim Rodford Nicky Hopkins Shel Talmy

Studio albums	Kinks Kinda Kinks The Kink Kontroversy Face to Face Something Else by The Kinks The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One Muswell Hillbillies Everybody's in Show-Biz Preservation Act 1 Preservation Act 2 Soap Opera Schoolboys in Disgrace Sleepwalker Misfits Low Budget Give the People What They Want State of Confusion Word of Mouth Think Visual UK Jive Phobia

Live albums	Live at Kelvin Hall One for the Road Live: The Road To the Bone

EPs	Kinksize Session Kwyet Kinks

Compilations	Kinks-Size Kinkdom Greatest Hits! Well Respected Kinks Sunny Afternoon The Kink Kronikles The Great Lost Kinks Album The Kinks Are Well Respected Men Lost & Found (1986–1989) The Ultimate Collection Picture Book

Unreleased projects	Four More Respected Gentlemen A Hole in the Sock of (Dave Davies)

Stage	Sunny Afternoon (musical)

Related articles	Discography Band members Konk The Kast Off Kinks Argent X-Ray Percy Do It Again Give the People What We Want: Songs of The Kinks

Book Category Portal WikiProject

The Kinks singles discography

UK and US singles 1960s	1964 "Long Tall Sally" "You Still Want Me" "You Really Got Me" "All Day and All of the Night" 1965 "Tired of Waiting for You" "Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy" "Set Me Free" "See My Friends" "Who'll Be the Next in Line" "A Well Respected Man" "Till the End of the Day" 1966 "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" "Sunny Afternoon" "Dead End Street" 1967 "Mister Pleasant" "Waterloo Sunset" "Death of a Clown" (Dave Davies solo) "Autumn Almanac" "Susannah's Still Alive" (Dave Davies solo) 1968 "Wonderboy" "Days" "Lincoln County" (Dave Davies solo) 1969 "Starstruck" "Hold My Hand" (Dave Davies solo) "Plastic Man" "Drivin'" "The Village Green Preservation Society" "Shangri-La" "Victoria"

UK and US singles 1970s	1970 "Lola" "Apeman" 1971 "God's Children" "20th Century Man" 1972 "Supersonic Rocket Ship" "Celluloid Heroes" 1973 "One of the Survivors" "Sitting in the Midday Sun" "Sweet Lady Genevieve" "Where Have All the Good Times Gone" 1974 "Money Talks" "Mirror of Love" "Mirror of Love" (Band Version) "Holiday Romance" "Preservation" 1975 "Everybody's a Star (Starmaker)" "Ducks on the Wall" "You Can't Stop the Music" 1976 "I'm in Disgrace" "No More Looking Back" 1977 "Sleepwalker" "Juke Box Music" "Father Christmas" 1978 "A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy" "Live Life" "Black Messiah" 1979 "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman" "A Gallon of Gas" "Catch Me Now I'm Falling" "Moving Pictures" "Pressure"

UK and US singles 1980s	1980 "Lola" (live) "You Really Got Me" (live) 1981 "Better Things" "Destroyer" "Predictable" 1982 "Come Dancing" 1983 "Don't Forget to Dance" 1984 "Good Day" "Do It Again" 1985 "Living on a Thin Line" (Radio Promo only) "Summer's Gone" 1986 "Rock 'n' Roll Cities" "How Are You" 1987 "Lost and Found" 1988 "The Road" 1989 "Down All the Days (Till 1992)"

UK and US singles 1990s	1990 "How Do I Get Close" 1993 "Only a Dream" "Scattered"

Notable Non-UK/US Singles	1966 "Dandy" (Europe) 1969 "Picture Book" (Australia) "Australia" (Australia) 1983 "State of Confusion" (Germany) 1991 "Did Ya" (Europe)

other selected songs	"Bald Headed Woman" "Stop Your Sobbing" "I Need You" "I Go to Sleep" "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" "Big Black Smoke" "Party Line" "Rosie Won't You Please Come Home" "Love Me Till the Sun Shines" "David Watts" "Two Sisters" "Polly" "She's Got Everything" "Do You Remember Walter?" "Johnny Thunder" "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains" "Big Sky" "Sitting by the Riverside" "Animal Farm" "Village Green" "Phenomenal Cat" "All of My Friends Were There" "Wicked Annabella" "Monica" "People Take Pictures of Each Other" "Berkeley Mews" "Mr. Churchill Says" "Strangers" "This Time Tomorrow" "Rats" "Got to Be Free" "Have a Cuppa Tea" "Oklahoma U.S.A." "Muswell Hillbilly" "Sitting in My Hotel" "The Hard Way" "Life Goes On" "Misfits" "Attitude" "Low Budget" "Give the People What They Want" "Heart of Gold" "Long Distance"

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