"The Hard Way" is a song written by

Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother Dave on lead guitar and backing voc ...

and first released by

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

on their 1975 album ''

Schoolboys in Disgrace ''Schoolboys in Disgrace'', or ''The Kinks Present Schoolboys in Disgrace'', is a 1975 concept album by the Kinks. Their 15th studio album, it was considered by critics to be the last album in what they dubbed the group's "theatrical" period, an ...

''. It was also released on The Kinks live album '' One for the Road'' and on several greatest hits collections.

The Knack The Knack was an American rock band based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with its first single, " My Sharona", an international number-one hit in 1979. History Founding (1977–1978) Singer Doug Fieger was a native of Oak Park, Michigan, a ...

covered the song on their 1980 album '' ...But the Little Girls Understand''.

Lyrics and music

The lyrics of "The Hard Way" were inspired by a real life incident that happened to

Dave Davies David Russell Gordon Davies (born 3 February 1947) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the English rock band the Kinks, which also featured his elder brother Ray Davies. He was in ...

, Ray's brother and The Kinks' guitarist. In the incident, Dave Davies was caned and expelled from William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School after cutting class and having sex with a classmate. On ''Schoolboys in Disgrace'', a three song sequence beginning with "I'm in Disgrace," continuing through "Headmaster" and concluding with "The Hard Way" covers a similar event in the life of the song's narrator Flash. "I'm in Disgrace" covers Flash's feelings about getting his girlfriend pregnant and in "Headmaster" Flash confesses his misdeeds to the

headmaster A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

and asks for mercy. In "The Hard Way," the headmaster responds to the plea in the previous song. He berates and browbeats Flash. He starts by singing that "Boys like you were born to waste," later singing that he is not fit to be anything more than a street sweeper.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

critic Richard Gilliam sees the headmaster as a bigot who "believes that punishment and destruction of self-image are important elements in learning." Author Thomas Kitts perceives a "psychosexual enjoyment" in the headmaster's words. Some of the lyrics, including the title, can be taken as

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...

s. The music of the song is driven by a Dave Davies'

power chord A power chord (also fifth chord) is a colloquial name for a chord in guitar music, especially electric guitar, that consists of the root note and the fifth, as well as possibly octaves of those notes. Power chords are commonly played on ...

guitar

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or acc ...

, reminiscent of older Kinks songs such as " All Day and All of the Night" and "

You Really Got Me "You Really Got Me" is a song written by Ray Davies for English rock band the Kinks. The song, originally performed in a more blues-oriented style, was inspired by artists such as Lead Belly and Big Bill Broonzy. Two versions of the song were ...

." Kitts believes that Davies' guitar part "mirrors the headmaster's sexual aggression." Gilliam describes the

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

beat as "harsh." Gilliam believes that opening riffs of "The Hard Way" were an influence on the sound of Devo.

Recording

"The Hard Way" was recorded on September 22, 1975 at

Konk Studios Konk is the name of a recording studio and record label,

in London.

Trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

overdubs were added on October 2, with John Beecham playing the trombone.

Live performances

During the ''Schoolboys in Disgrace'' tour, the band performed in costume. For "The Hard Way," lead singer Ray Davies wore a black gown and a grotesque mask, which had a long nose which Kitts compares to a phallus. Kinks drummer

Mick Avory Michael Charles Avory (born 15 February 1944) is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and percussionist for the English rock band the Kinks. He joined them shortly after their formation in 1964 and remained with them until 1984, ...

was "whipped" on stage at some performances of the song. At other performances, women on stage danced with canes. A live performance of "The Hard Way" was included on '' One for the Road''.

The Knack version

In 1980,

covered "The Hard Way" for their second album, '' ...But the Little Girls Understand'' in 1980. '' High Fidelity'' called it the best song on the album and an "honest homage to the Kinks," but claimed that it is "still a pale replica of the original" that doesn't add anything new. In his scathing review of ''...But the Little Girls Understand'', Jim Sullivan of the

Bangor Daily News The ''Bangor Daily News'' is an American newspaper covering a large portion of central and eastern Maine, published six days per week in Bangor, Maine. The ''Bangor Daily News'' was founded on June 18, 1889; it merged with the ''Bangor Whig and ...

found it unsurprising that The Knack would play this song, given that the song is "concerned with dominance and submission."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hard Way, The 1975 songs The Kinks songs Songs written by Ray Davies The Knack songs Song recordings produced by Ray Davies Song recordings produced by Mike Chapman 1976 singles RCA Records singles