"Mirror of Love" is a track from The Kinks' theatrical album,

Preservation Act 2 ''Preservation Act 2'' is a 1974 concept album by the English rock band the Kinks, and their thirteenth studio album. It sold poorly (peaking on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tape chart at No. 114), and received a mixed response among critics. ...

. It was written by Ray Davies. It was released as the debut single from

in the U.K. only, but a version that was rerecorded for the American release was released as a single in both America and Britain.

Lyrics and music

"Mirror of Love" makes use of a New Orleans jazz, with Ray Davies on the majority of the instruments on the album/U.K. single version (guitar, piano and drums) with the only other people playing on the song being Dave Davies on mandolin as well as horns. Like many tracks of the era, Davies is singing as one of the characters in the

Preservation Preservation may refer to: Heritage and conservation * Preservation (library and archival science), activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record while making as few changes as possible * ''Preservation'' (magazine), published by the Nat ...

storyline. This time he portrays Belle, who is the lover of Flash (the main character of the

saga), who complains of Flash's cruel treatment toward her (for example, she says that Flash would "slap erdown, treat erbad".) However, "through the mirror of love" she still loves him, with Belle calling him her "dream lover", saying that she "would kill for" him.

Reception

"Mirror of Love" was one of the more positively reviewed tracks from the

saga. Andrew Hickey wrote in his book ''Preservation: The Kinks Music 1964-1974'' that "musically, the song is a rather good effort at trad jazz" and that it is "a simple but effective song." He also claimed that " ayDavies' vocals are probably his best on the album, with some wonderful jumps into a trilling falsetto a la

Rudy Valee Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch polit ...

" and went on to say that it "is easily the best track on the album." Jason Josephes of ''

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'' called "Mirror of Love" "a psychedelic Dixieland number that could have only sprouted from the whimsical noggin of Ray Davies." AllMusic cited the track as a highlight from the album. ''

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'' said that there are "lots of odd sounds going on here to capture that ''Preservation'' sound, but all are infectious and totally entertaining."

Band Version

Although the original album version was released as a single in Britain, it was rerecorded with the rest of the band participating for the track's single release in the United States. It was not successful (it did not chart in either Britain or America), but this version was released as a bonus track on the Velvel reissue of

(as well as the outtake "Slum Kids"). Andrew Hickey said that this version and the original edit "differ in a few points of arrangement and vocal performance, but are very similar." This version also appeared on '' Picture Book''.

References

{{authority control The Kinks songs 1974 songs 1974 singles Songs written by Ray Davies Song recordings produced by Ray Davies RCA Records singles