The Invaders (Spoken Word)

Written by: Ray Davies

Published by: DavRay Music Ltd./Sony ATV Music Publishing

Lyrics:

RD: They called us the Invaders

JD: Americana. It started as a flickering black and
white image through an old movie projector. Faces of
cowboys and indians. The good guys victorious over
the emissaries of evil. My early visions of America
came from the cinema. Then there were the guns;
deliverers of truth, justice and the American way.

Sung
The day the Invaders came

RD: In the early 1950's, Communism was still the
scourge of the so-called free world. UFOs had been
sighted across America, and films such as 'The
Invaders from Mars', 'The Blob' and 'Creatures from
the Black Lagoon' served as a warning that there were
still forces of evil waiting if America ever dropped its
guard.

Sung
They called us the Invaders

JD: As I grew up the music took over. Rock, jazz,
skiffle and blues - those country songs came to liberate
me. The music gave me hope, a feeling that I could
express myself. The cowboys in those old black
and white movies seem to have values. You knew
who the good guys were. Then, as I toured America
with my band, I saw the place first hand: from the
roadside of a dreary bus stop to the big gigs at
the Hollywood Bowl and Madison Square Garden.
America was secure. Its borders were safe.

RD: It was against such a backdrop that the
unbelievable happened: the Invaders landed. The
British pop invasion had arrived.

Sung
Cos the world as we knew it turned upside down
And things would never be the same
The day the Invaders came

JD: At the height of our success in the 1960s,
The Kinks were banned from touring the U.S.A. for
4 years. When we did return, we toured the U.S.A.
relentlessly.

RD: Tour after tour. Year after year. To win
back what we'd lost.

JD: They called us the Invaders.

This song can be found on the following releases:

stereo mix, with The Jayhawks (2:30), recorded 2016-2018 at Konk Studios, North London

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