The Village Green Preservation Society

Written by Kinks frontman Ray Davies, "The Village Green Preservation Society" was written as an ode to the things Davies treasured. Davies explained in 2018, "As 'The Village Green Preservation Society' is supposed to be about things I want to preserve, I thought I would try that song. Virginity is sacred. You only have it once. That innocence—and it's a thing to treasure. I still search for things that I do for the first time."[2]

"The Village Green Preservation Society" was a late addition to the album, having been written with the purpose of being the album's title track.[3] With this song, Davies wanted to sum up the Kinks' general sentiment of preserving the past that appears throughout the album; he wrote in a 1968 interview, "Somebody just mentioned to me that the Kinks do try to preserve things—we are all for that looking back thing. I thought it would be a nice idea to try to sum it up in one song. All the things in the song are things I'd like to see preserved."[4]

"The Village Green Preservation Society" generally received positive reviews. Rolling Stone magazine praised the songs vocals and stated that "the tune, the rhythm, are more of a delight with each verse".[5] AllMusic's Stewart Mason felt that the song was "one of Davies' sweetest creations", but felt that it is overrated and not as successful lyrically as 1967's "Autumn Almanac".[1]

The song was the second single released in America from The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (the first being "Starstruck"), but it did not chart.

Studio albums

• The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society

Live albums

• The Kinks at the BBC
• To the Bone
• Live in London: 1973–1977

Compilation albums

• The Kink Kronikles
• Picture Book

• Ray Davies – lead vocals, guitar, keyboard[6]
• Dave Davies – acoustic guitar, backing vocals[6]
• Pete Quaife – bass guitar, backing vocals [6]
• Mick Avory – drums[6]

The song was covered by folk singer Kate Rusby and appears as a bonus track on the album Awkward Annie in 2007. This version was recorded as the theme for BBC TV sitcom Jam and Jerusalem.

Ray Davies himself recorded a version with the Crouch End Festival Chorus for the 2009 album The Kinks Choral Collection.