Sitting by the Riverside

"Sitting by the Riverside"
album track by The Kinks from the album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
Released	22 November 1968
Recorded	July 1968 at Pye Studios, London
Genre	Baroque pop, music hall
Length	2:21
Label	Pye (UK), Reprise (US), Sanctuary (2004 Reissue)
Writer(s)	Ray Davies
Composer(s)	Ray Davies
Producer(s)	Ray Davies
The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society track listing
15 tracks Side one "The Village Green Preservation Society" "Do You Remember Walter?" "Picture Book" "Johnny Thunder" "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains" "Big Sky" "Sitting by the Riverside" Side two "Animal Farm" "Village Green" "Starstruck" "Phenomenal Cat" "All of My Friends Were There" "Wicked Annabella" "Monica" "People Take Pictures of Each Other"

15 tracks
Side one "The Village Green Preservation Society" "Do You Remember Walter?" "Picture Book" "Johnny Thunder" "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains" "Big Sky" "Sitting by the Riverside" Side two "Animal Farm" "Village Green" "Starstruck" "Phenomenal Cat" "All of My Friends Were There" "Wicked Annabella" "Monica" "People Take Pictures of Each Other"

"Sitting by the Riverside" is a song by the British rock band The Kinks, written by their main songwriter Ray Davies. It appeared on their 1968 album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society.

"Sitting by the Riverside" tells of the singer "watching the water go flowing by" as he sits by the riverside, where he now feels free and can "close [his] eyes." Ray Davies, who wrote and sang the "Sitting by the Riverside", said of the song in November 1968, "This is a fishing track. I went fishing a lot when I was about eight."

The song was recorded in July 1968, but was not set to be included in the 12-track version of The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (which would be pulled from shelves shortly after its European release) or its U.S. counterpart Four More Respected Gentlemen (which was canceled prior to its release.) Also, on 22 July 1968, the song was performed (or lip-synced) by The Kinks on BBC-2's Late Night Line-Up - Colour Me Pop show.

"Sitting by the Riverside", was first released as the seventh track on the final 15-track version of The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, despite not being included on any early forms of said album. It was not released as a single.

"Sitting by the Riverside," although not as acclaimed as other tracks on The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, has generally received positive reception. Author Andy Miller said that the song is "slight, if charming."Rolling Stone prasied the track for its "rustic escapism."

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Wikipedia