Music journalist Robert Christgau has called today’s classic song of the day “the most beautiful song in the English language.” The Who’s Pete Townshend called it “divine” and “a masterpiece.” The song is “Waterloo Sunset,” and it’s every bit as good as these folks say.
“Waterloo Sunset” was written and produced by the Kinks’ Ray Davies and released as a single in May of 1967. The song peaked at #2 on the UK singles chart but inexplicably failed to chart here in the U.S.
“Waterloo Sunset” is a song about an unnamed narrator watching the world outside his window. He sees two lovers, Terry and Julie, walking across the bridge over the river Thames, near the Waterloo station, where they meet every Friday night. Watching the two lovers, the narrator feels as if he’s in paradise:
Terry meets Julie
Waterloo station
Every Friday night
But I am so lazy, don’t want to wander
I stay at home at night
But I don’t feel afraid
As long as I gaze on
Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise
Ray Davies says this about his song:
“It’s about the two characters—and the aspirations of my sisters’ generation 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.”
What I find particularly appealing about “Waterloo Sunset” is its melody, especially in the verses. It’s based on a five-note pentatonic motif (C# – B – E – C# – B) that repeats in descending scale positions (G# – F# – B – G# – F#, then C# – B – G# – F# – E – C#). That melody is accompanied by a chord progression with a descending bassline: E – B7/D# – A/C#. (That’s I – V7/vii – IV/vi, for those theoretically inclined.) You just can’t beat a pentatonic melody or a chord progression with a descending bassline.
Here’s what that looks like, notated:
All of this combines into a composition that has been called “dreamy” and “wistful,” and I can’t argue with that. “Waterloo Sunset” is simply one of the best-written and most memorable songs of the 1960s or any decade. I can listen to it all day long.
