Text by Bruce Gallanter (Downtown Music Gallery, January 29, 2026)
“A Well Respected Man” by The Kinks, released as a single in 1965
‘Cause he gets up in the morning
And he goes to work at nine
And he comes back home at five-thirty
Gets the same train every time
‘Cause his world is built ’round punctuality
It never fails
And he’s oh, so good
And he’s oh, so fine
And he’s oh, so healthy
In his body and his mind
He’s a well respected man about town
Doing the best things so conservatively
And his mother goes to meetings
While his father pulls the maid
And she stirs the tea with councilors
While discussing foreign trade
And she passes looks, as well as bills
At every suave young man
‘Cause he’s oh, so good
And he’s oh, so fine
And he’s oh, so healthy
In his body and his mind
He’s a well respected man about town
Doing the best things so conservatively
And he likes his own backyard
And he likes his fags the best
‘Cause he’s better than the rest
And his own sweat smells the best
And he hopes to grab his father’s loot
When pater passes on
‘Cause he’s oh, so good
And he’s oh, so fine
And he’s oh, so healthy
In his body and his mind
He’s a well respected man about town
Doing the best things so conservatively
And he plays the stocks and shares
And he goes to the regatta
He adores the girl next door
‘Cause he’s dying to get at her
But his mother knows the best about
The matrimonial stakes
‘Cause he’s oh, so good
And he’s oh, so fine
And he’s oh, so healthy
In his body and his mind
He’s a well respected man about town
Doing the best things so conservatively
God save the Kinks! Ah, yes, that’s what they used to say about this seminal early British invasion rock band. After the Mothers of Invention, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, my next favorite 60’s band was and still is the Kinks!
The Kinks’ first single, “You Really Got Me,” was released in 1964, the same year that the Beatles, the Stones, and the Animals first came to America. Plus, that single featured a distorted guitar riff that paved the way for the heavier, harder rock of the future.
While most pop songs were considered to be silly love songs, “Well Respected Man” was perhaps the first pop song to deal with social commentary. Although bands like the Rolling Stones started to deal with the darker side of relationships (as in “Satisfaction”), Ray Davies, the leader and principal songwriter of the Kinks, loved to poke fun at the many layers of British society, its rituals, manners, etiquette, and the many silly things that we do to try and look or act cool.
I recall hearing this song on AM radio in 1965 and thinking it wasn’t like other pop songs. (“I’m Not Like Everybody Else,” the Kinks also sang). A year later, the Kinks released “Dedicated Follower of Fashion”, a wink at how important the clothes that we wore at the time were, an integral part of our image and self-esteem.
The first Kinks album I bought was Face to Face from 1966, and from that point on, I was a Kinks fanatic. I love every album they released between Face to Face’and Misfits (1978), all great albums and often dealing with the many quirks of civilized life, affairs, the record business, and fame.
My favorite Kinks album is “Arthur”, a concept album about Australia that shines a light on British society. I always thought “Celluloid Heroes” was a perfect song, and it still sounds like a long-lost, nostalgic gem.
God Save the Kinks! – A great toast to Ray and Dave Davies and all of the members of the Kinks.
