Oklahoma U.S.A.

Oklahoma U.S.A. is a song written by Ray Davies and performed by British Rock band The Kinks on their 1971 LP Muswell Hillbillies.[1]

"Oklahoma U.S.A."
Song by The Kinks
from the album Muswell Hillbillies
Released24 Nov, 1971 (US LP), 26 Nov, 1971 (UK LP)
RecordedAug-Sep 1971 at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London
Length2:38
LabelRCA Victor
Songwriter(s)Ray Davies
Producer(s)Ray Davies

Synopsis

The lyrics describe a young woman who leads a monotonous working class life, and imagines in her dreams she is in various Hollywood films, such as Oklahoma! ("But in her dreams she is far away/ In Oklahoma U.S.A./ With Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae").[2][3] As the song progresses and she goes on with life she continues to dream of Oklahoma and Hollywood ("She walks to work but she's still in a daze/ She's Rita Hayworth or Doris Day/ And Errol Flynn's gonna take her away/ To Oklahoma U.S.A."). The song opens and closes with the lyrics "All life we work, but work is a bore./ If life's for livin', then what's livin' for?"[2][3]

Instrumentation

The piece differs from the other songs on Muswell Hillbillies in the fact that it features a much quieter sound and overall feel. Mick Avory's drums are absent, and the only instruments used are an acoustic guitar, accordion, and keyboards (piano/organ).

Cover versions

Indie rock group Yo La Tengo covered it on their 1990 album Fakebook.[4] Country artist Lauren Adams covered it on her album Secret Heart,[5] and Leigh Harris recorded a version on the album House of Secrets.[6] The Spivs cover it on the album Kwirky.[7]

gollark: Specifically:- all inputs must, when compressed and decompressed, remain the same- there must exist some inputs with a shorter compressed form than uncompressed
gollark: Fiiiine, we are doing lossless compression.
gollark: You should let me post in <#746231084353847366> then.
gollark: Besides, I would have to write up the challenge.
gollark: I can't initiate guessing. We haven't done the submissions.

References

General

In-Line Citations
  1. Muswell Hillbillies on Rolling Stone
  2. Paper On Muswell Hillbillies
  3. Lyrics
  4. Amazon.com listing for Falebook
  5. Info on "Secret Heart"
  6. Listing For House of Secrets"
  7. Kwirky on Kindakinks.net
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.