The song really ISN'T sarcastic. The reason why a 60's band would 'endorse' (if you like) the British Empire, is because being born in the 1940's like most of the Kinks were, meant that their parents and grandparents and other close relatives, would have stood up, spilled their blood and fought for a country that was once great.
The song is more of a lament of the romantic aspect of Queen Victoria and her Empire, which was long gone, the romanticism of a generation which was prepared to spill its blood for the country they loved so dearly.
In short, rather than thinking of the politics of attitudes to colonisation, or more appropriately de-colonisation and post-imperial Britain (being the 1960's) it is a sort of patriotic and romantic love song, for an era that had disappeared forever.
The song really ISN'T sarcastic. The reason why a 60's band would 'endorse' (if you like) the British Empire, is because being born in the 1940's like most of the Kinks were, meant that their parents and grandparents and other close relatives, would have stood up, spilled their blood and fought for a country that was once great.
The song is more of a lament of the romantic aspect of Queen Victoria and her Empire, which was long gone, the romanticism of a generation which was prepared to spill its blood for the country they loved so dearly.
In short, rather than thinking of the politics of attitudes to colonisation, or more appropriately de-colonisation and post-imperial Britain (being the 1960's) it is a sort of patriotic and romantic love song, for an era that had disappeared forever.