Victoria Lyrics

Lyric discussion by Gramps 

Cover art for Victoria lyrics by Kinks, The

I've always dug "Victoria" but I'd never paid attention to the lyrics. I thought it was just another 'girl's name' song (like Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue", Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann" or the Monkees' "Valleri"). Was I surprised to see it's really about the legacy of British imperialism and the class system. A little research showed "Victoria" is from the Kink's "Arthur, or..." album (intended as score of a TV program that didn't work out, a rock opera that was overshadowed by the Who's "Tommy" ).

Just wanted to point out that The Beach Boys only covered Barbara Ann; it's not their song. It was written by Fred Fassert and first recorded by The Regents in 1961.