Released December 1969 Genre Rock | Format 7" vinyl Length 6:46 (album version) | |
B-side "She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina" (R. Davies) (Australia) Recorded May–June 1969 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London | ||
"Australia" is a song by the British rock band The Kinks, appearing on their 1969 album, Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire). It was written by the band's main songwriter, Ray Davies.
Contents
Lyrics and Music
In the song, the character Derek (who is featured in the story line of Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)) attempts to convince his father, Arthur, of the great opportunities available in Australia, where there's "no drug addiction" and you can "surf like they do in the U.S.A." Derek's advertisement is compared to John Smith, who campaigned for America in a similar manner, by author Thomas Kitts.
The song also features a jam sequence lasting for approximately half the song, which is atypical for The Kinks. This is probably the closest The Kinks ever came to a longer, loose and even slightly "spacey" jam on their records. In the Australian single edit, this section is removed by editing an earlier section of the song into another section during a drum beat, which is then followed by a fade-out.
Release
"Australia" was only released in most countries on the Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) album, where it was the closing track on side one. However, in Australia, a dramatically cut down version of the song was released as a single, with another Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) track, "She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina", on the B-side. However, the single was commercially unsuccessful.