Waterloo Sunset

The harmony of 'Waterloo Sunset' is deceptively sophisticated beneath its accessible surface. While the verse stays within conventional I-V-IV territory, the chorus's use of the bVII (D major) chord is the song's harmonic signature — it introduces a Mixolydian color that creates the warm, nostalgic glow the song is famous for. The avoidance of a traditional V-I cadence in the chorus, opting instead for the plagal bVII-IV-I resolution, gives the refrain its floating, dreamlike quality. This harmonic choice was influential on subsequent British pop and Britpop songwriting.

Ray Davies carried the melody of 'Waterloo Sunset' in his head for two or three years before completing the song. It was originally titled 'Liverpool Sunset', but Davies scrapped the Liverpool theme after the Beatles released 'Penny Lane' in early 1967. The lyrics describe a solitary narrator watching two lovers — named Terry and Julie — crossing Waterloo Bridge at sunset, reflecting on the River Thames and Waterloo station. Davies later explained that the song was deeply personal, drawing on memories of being hospitalized at St Thomas' Hospital as a child, where nurses wheeled him onto a balcony overlooking the river, as well as memories of the 1951 Festival of Britain and walks along the Thames with his first wife.

Released in May 1967, "Waterloo Sunset" is The Kinks' masterpiece of observational songwriting — a gentle, melancholic portrait of two lovers crossing Waterloo Bridge against a London sunset. Ranked among the greatest songs ever written, it distills the spirit of 1960s Britain into a shimmering three-minute pop song that remains timeless.