Just in case someone thought they had missed it

The Kinks - 'People Take Pictures of Each Other' (The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society - 1968)

One of the most fascinating coincidences in entertainment, much like the phenomenon of twin films such as Armageddon and Deep Impact or Antz and A Bug's Life being released close together, is when two all-time great albums are released on the same day. This kind of serendipity adds a particular layer of intrigue to their legacy.

On 22 November 1968, new records were released by The Kinks and The Beatles.

I’ve covered The White Album already, but today we are looking at The Kinks’ record. ‘People Take Pictures of Each Other’ is the closing track on their most lauded album, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, a record that provides a striking commentary on the nature of memory, identity, nationality, and narrative of the album itself is a nostalgic ode to a disappearing England, filled with reflections on the past and critiques of modernity and lamenting a dying Albion of the sun setting on The British empire - in that sense it feels a deeply odd album for someone not even in the mid-twenties to be writing about.

'People Take Pictures of Each Other' finds Ray Davies delivering a sharp, almost satirical take on capturing moments—an obsession that feels uncannily prescient on a record that often revels in a conservative view of preserving culture in aspic.

Released at the height of the 1960s counterculture movement, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society is an album steeped in nostalgia and longing for a simpler, more innocent time. While bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were wrestling with the transition from 1967 to 1968, The Kinks, under Ray Davies' direction, were turning inward, reflecting on the lost world of an idealised England. The album is filled with songs that lament the passing of traditional values, the encroachment of modernity, and the loss of community spirit. In that sense, it does take ‘Waterloo Sunset’ and develops elements of it over a full record.

‘People Take Pictures of Each Other’ captures this conservative sentiment perfectly. The song critiques the growing trend of capturing every moment on film, suggesting that the obsession with photography cheapens the experience itself. For a band that had been part of the first wave of rock music—a genre that was initially about rebellion and breaking away from the old ways—this focus on preserving the past and criticising the present feels almost countercultural in its own right.

In hindsight, the themes explored in ‘People Take Pictures of Each Other’—seem eerily prescient of the sentiments that you hear now. The need for living in the moment and digital detoxing and raw-dogging on long flights make the track sound a lot more contemporary than the rest of the album, which skirts quite close to longing for a "lost" England, a place untouched by the complexities of globalisation and modernity - starting to sound well Brexit essentially. The song's critique of superficiality and the shallow attempts to capture and preserve moments, rather than truly experiencing them, echoes the kind of nostalgic yearning that has become a hallmark of Brexit-era Britain and the desire for some to drag people to their 1950s theme park fantasy.

‘People Take Pictures of Each Other’ is a call back to another track on Village Green… in ‘Picture Book’. The more famous of the two ‘Picture Book’ is Davies singing about flipping through old photo albums and recalling memories of times gone by. However, while ‘Picture Book’ is tinged with a sense of fondness and sentimentality, ‘People Take Pictures of Each Other’ takes a more critical stance. The song suggests that the act of taking pictures has become a way of distancing oneself from reality, of turning life into a series of posed moments rather than something to be truly lived. This gives an odd juxtaposition that the type of people who might tell a member of Gen Z to put their phone down are both the heroes and the villains of the song.

The lyrics—"People take pictures of each other / Just to prove that they really existed"—highlight the irony of trying to capture life in photographs. Rather than enhancing our experiences, the song suggests that photography can make them more superficial, more about appearances than substance. The act of taking pictures is no longer about memory but about validation. This theme resonates even more strongly in the age of social media and can be taken as commentary on the narcissistic tendencies that have only grown with the rise of social media.

Musically, ‘People Take Pictures of Each Other’ is quintessential Kinks—jangly guitars, tight harmonies, and a bouncy, almost music-hall rhythm that belies the spiciness of its lyrics. The production is clean and crisp, with Ray Davies' voice front and centre. Davies delivers his observations with a mix of wry humour and a hint of genuine concern. The simplicity of the arrangement allows the lyrics to take centre stage, emphasising the song's critique of superficiality.

The song’s light-hearted melody contrasts with its more serious message, creating a sense of irony that runs throughout the album. This juxtaposition of cheerful music and critical lyrics is a hallmark of Village Green and is one of the reasons the album has remained so enduring.