David Watts (song)


"David Watts" is a song written by Ray Davies that originally appeared on the Kinks' 1967 album Something Else by the Kinks. It was also the American and Continental Europe B-side to "Autumn Almanac". It has been included on several compilation albums, including The Kink Kronikles.

Background

The song is about the singer's great admiration of fellow schoolboy David Watts, who appears to have a "charmed life". There is an undercurrent of either deep envy or, as AllMusic put it, "a schoolboy crush". It is also, as Jon Savage has written, one of Ray Davies' "sharpest homoerotic songs". As Ray Davies confirmed in The Kinks: The Official Biography by Savage, "David Watts is a real person. He was a concert promoter in Rutland." Ray goes on to relate how the real Watts was gay and demonstrated an obvious romantic interest in brother Dave. In this light, lines such as "he is so gay and fancy free" and "all the girls in the neighbourhood try to go out with David Watts... but can't succeed" provide a second level of interpretation based on this ironic in-joke.

The Jam version

The song was later covered by The Jam, who released it on 18 August 1978 as the first single from their third studio album, All Mod Cons. This version, which reached No. 25 in the UK Singles Chart, featured bassist Bruce Foxton on lead vocals rather than Paul Weller, as it was not in the right key for the Jam frontman. The track was released as a double A-side along with ""A" Bomb in Wardour Street", of which a distinct, slightly shorter version was used for the single release and which would also appear later that year on All Mod Cons.