Living on a Thin Line

I think this song uses the metaphor of war and castles to talk about the precariousness of life. We can surround us with goods and merits, spending time and efforts of our lives to achieve goals that, in the end, are just fruitless or can vanish as thin air.

Otherwise is also good to symbolize the value of human life: we rarely realise the luck of being alive, except when we risk to fall from the thin line!

Producers of the Soprano couldn't choose a better song! Gangsters' life can be risky and exciting for some aspects, but they follow a wrong path: when they are successful they can be rich and powerful, but they keep on been empty inside, no value nor consolation can fullfil that hole! The charachters of the series must really feel in this way the lyrics of the song!

The song is about the fall of England from greatness in the mid 20th Century,

It seems that nostalgia for an England gone by is a common theme on Kinks songs. This song, written instead by Dave Davies, is a much darker take on that theme.

When he came up with the chorus of "living on a thin line", I think he was partly thinking about how tense and stressful it had been being a member of the Kinks. But in particular, it's about the instability and uncertainly in the world around them.

The first verse talks about the days of "wars that were won and lost" and when "castles are burned" are gone. It's not nostalgic and it acknowledges that these barbaric days are gone. "But inside, we're the same as we ever were."

It's unbelievable how many far-right wingnuts you get commenting on this song in the YouTube comments sections. It's because of the one line "There's no England now." But the bridge section actually attacks that kind of demagogue, the leader who says "Break their hearts and break some heads". I wonder if he was referring to the Falklands War, that had happened two years before the song was released. Dave Davies once commented that one of the main themes of the song is his hatred of politicians.

The middle verse also sums up a feeling of disillusionment with the way the world is heading, especially in politics and world affairs. "What are we going to leave for the young? / What we couldn't do, what we wouldn't do..."

I think most of you guys are overthinking this. To me, this song is very clearly about how short life is. Over the timeline of history, the length of our lives is just a “thin line”. The narrator is thinking about all the people who fought all these battles, conquered castles, etc. in England over the centuries. But they’re gone now and very little is remembered about them, and certainly for the vast majority of individuals who ever lived. So based on how short our lives are, living on this thin line, what are we supposed to do?

He doesn’t directly answer it, but I would say recognize the brevity of life, appreciate it, and live our lives to the fullest. Make each day count. And think about the kind of world we are leaving for our children, as he alludes to in the 2nd verse. Because we’re living on this thin line, there’s not very much we can do over the grand course of history, but we should still do what we can to help future generations have a better world.

Because inaction would be a crime, and it DOES matter what we do in our lives, even though we’re living on this very thin line. 😇

(Absolutely love this song, and also discovered it through the Sopranos lol, although I’ve loved the other Kinks songs I’ve heard.)

Considering when this song came out (1984) it is most definitely about politics and economic insecurity. Recall, this was when Thatcher was in power and had spent five years actively trying to destroy the middle class, working class & unions with the BS "trickle down economics" policies that only benefits the super rich. (Sidenote: Song was written by Dave Davies, one of his best). Anyway, that is why when Ray Davies sings about "Kings of days of old", "all the wars that were won and lost" and "all the lies that were told" he's talking about if their collective sacrifice (not rich people) was actually worth it if it was only to be taken away by leaders who will "break their hearts and break some heads". Therefore, many people are "Living on a Thin Line" (meaning economic insecurity and living paycheck to paycheck) and asking "Tell me now, what are we supposed to do?"

Obviously, the two Sopranos episodes imply a different meaning from the song.

It's an anti-war song.

The first verse is about how all the wars of the past and the differences they were fought over don't really matter any more. Perhaps they never did. Those kings are all dead and they can't tell lies anymore. They don't have power to send people to their death anymore, but inside, he knows that people haven't changed much at all. It can all happen again. It's a thin line that separates us from that old barbarity.

But what are we supposed to do about it? The second verse addresses the question and the nihilism it comes from. How are we going to leave the world for the next generation? "What we couldn't do, or what we wouldn't do, it's a crime, but does it matter?" Our inaction is a crime but who cares? But no, Yes, it really really matters.

The last verse is the same old pattern happening again. A leader tells the people to go to war "break their hearts and break their heads." Is there nothing we can say or do? Just shrug and accept it as a never ending cycle? "Blame the future on the past, always lost in bloody guts" But no, that's all history and those people are dead. It's me and you now. We can do something. This is on us for letting it happen. We're always living on a thin line and only our actions will decide on which side we fall.

EDIT: And yes, I am just now watching The Sopranos. I think in the context of the show, the meaning of the song changes to the thin line Tony has to walk between his morality and the code of the family. Ralphie is a monster and Tony knows it, but he can't do anything about it because he's a made man. His inaction costs Tracey her life and Tony has to live with that. We see his guilt at the end of the episode in the therapy session. "A work related death. It's sad when they go so young."

Which brings us to the girls. The song plays at the beginning and end of the episode, when we are first introduced to Tracey and at the end her replacement. These girls live on a thin line. They're disposable in this world. The parallel is drawn in the episode with Meadow and how she falls in love with Noah only for him to break up with her out of the blue. But obviously the stakes are much lower for her. Meadow is about the same age as Tracey, but their lives and the stakes are worlds apart.

[Edit: Sopranos]

I think this song was on the sopranos?

Not sure, but it certainly is good!

Yup, this song was on The Sopranos. Used during the rolling credits at the end of an episode (Can't remember the episode though).

episode 'University'. good song, great idea to play in the scene in the stripbar, right after the murder of the stripper.