Ray Davies' Return To Waterloo should stand up in British culture at least as high as The Who's Tommy and even Pink Floyd's The Wall.
The saying " the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" Has always been specifically applied to the British middle classes, and never more so that to Ken Colley's rendition of the Traveller, continuing his daily pilgrimage to Waterloo, to his Estate Agent's Job in the centre of London, despite his possible mental breakdown , or the more disturbing realisation that he may ( or may not ) be the sought after Surrey Rapist.
Like any Rock Opera, what makes this production is the quality of the songs, from the kids at the platform mickying "ladder of success," to the hauntingly beautiful ( and tearfullly sad ) "Have you seen this face" Davies manages to keep many possibilities and happenstances open, until you are unsure if what you are seeing from the Traveller is a collection of morning train daydreams, the visions of a fast decaying mind, or guilt aligning itself to reality and cognisance and the necessary reparations.
Pete
The saying " the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" Has always been specifically applied to the British middle classes, and never more so that to Ken Colley's rendition of the Traveller, continuing his daily pilgrimage to Waterloo, to his Estate Agent's Job in the centre of London, despite his possible mental breakdown , or the more disturbing realisation that he may ( or may not ) be the sought after Surrey Rapist.
Like any Rock Opera, what makes this production is the quality of the songs, from the kids at the platform mickying "ladder of success," to the hauntingly beautiful ( and tearfullly sad ) "Have you seen this face" Davies manages to keep many possibilities and happenstances open, until you are unsure if what you are seeing from the Traveller is a collection of morning train daydreams, the visions of a fast decaying mind, or guilt aligning itself to reality and cognisance and the necessary reparations.
Pete