Harry Rag by The Kinks

[pscottydee]

I curse myself for the life I've led.



[theamazingsamurai]

one of the kinks' many gems that went unnoticed. love ray davies

[ubsychubsy]

Sounds like something a bunch of pirates would sing!

[aliensrule77]

Yeah at the beginning of another version of this song (not sure what album it was on), the guy announcing the song explains it. It's just cockney slang that has something to do with rhyming words with names.

[DougStoneent]

It's a cigarette. Just another Ray Davis song about the tiny details of life. Tongue-in-cheek fun. No deep meaning.

[starx911]

Marijuana ciggerette

[starx911]

Drugs...

[HippieJimi]

I hate the IRS....

[iggy0828]

You're all idiots. A harry rag is cockney slang for fag, aka cigarette. Not a gay man, not cannabis. Get your facts straight.

[pucksterz12]

That title kills me - almost like bloody rag.

[psychodamned]

Harry Rag is cockney rhyming slang for fag as in gay man !! Double meaning to the lyrics of this song !!!

[psychodamned]

Harry Rag is cockney rhyming slang for fag as in gay man !! Doubl meaning to the lyrics.

[stoprainingonme]

I took up smoking because of this song

[manufourlyf]

This is a great anti smoking song. It goes against the stereoptype of smoking "being cool" because by smoking your realy just becoming part of the mainstreem and becoming dependant on it.

[COPMMUSIC]

this is a gay song

[gibbonsandtheslut]

@COPMMUSIC you are

[PigFucker6969]

Harry Rag is cockney slang for a cigarette

Do anything just to get a harry rag

And they'll light one and they'll boast and brag

So content because they got a harry rag

And I curse myself for the life I've led

And roll myself a harry rag and put myself to bed

Ray Davies as public health advocate

[ffffffug]

@PigFucker6969 originally the song was called harry fag in england. because of the meaning of that term in the states they had to change it. any smoker knows a fag is slang for a cig

[44buckwheat]

Anybody hear "Master of the house" from Les Miserable in this song? Perhaps the composer was a kinks fan?

[lakshmiluvsvishnu]

@44buckwheat I hear what you're getting at, but except in the most general terms, the resemblance between the two songs sounds more superficial -- and even accidental -- to me. HOWEVER, Boublil & Schonberg are MOST DEFINITELY Kinks fans -- they attended the October 3, 1981 show at Madison Square Garden, as well as the after-party. Anybody who loves BOTH the Kinks AND Les Mis is definitely somebody after my own heart!.

[44buckwheat]

@lakshmiluvsvishnu I didnt know i was chasing your heart...haha. Thanks for the info ON boubill & Schonberg, interesting stuff. Huge kinks fan, biggest you'll find...not so much Le Mis but its ok

[HippieJimi]

I love being a Limey.......

[manufourlyf]

harry rag is cockney slang for fag??

[LarryHSI]

@manufourlyf it s reefer, you know cannabis

[matafuko]

@manufourlyf yeah it's just a fag - a normal one.

[PigFucker6969]

a harry rag is a fag

its the greatest anti smoking song of all time

[BeLiketheSquerrl]

@PigFucker6969

dont know if i'd consider it "anti smoking". more observational than opinionated.

[swamplizaard]

Pretty sure they're referring to opium indulgence in this tune.

[doctorcastille]

I always figured, and maybe I'm wrong, that harry rag is Cockney rhyming slang for fag. Besides it just wouldn't work out to sing "fag". Only 25,000 views in 3 years. Unbelievable and pathetic. It should be 2 million at least. Ray rules. Long live The Kinks.

[mdumas43073]

Great double entendre line:

"Ah, the smart young ladies of the land

Can't relax without a Harry in their hand"

[s2trash]

Ray Davies wit at it's best

[paranoid711]

Gotta love it.

[delhoghe]

nuM, You are beautiful, thank you for making this song so much more fun

[nuMbERsRuNN3R]

Ah, Tom is young and Tom is bold

Tom is as bold as the knights of old

But whenever he gets in a bit of a jam

There's nothing he won't do to get a harry rag

Harry rag, harry rag

Do anything just to get a harry rag

And he curses himself for the life he's led

And rolls himself a harry rag and puts himself to bed

[nuMbERsRuNN3R]

Ah, Tom's old ma is a dying lass

Soon they all reckon she'll be pushing up the grass

And her bones might ache and her skin might sag

But still she's got the strength to have a harry rag

Harry rag, harry rag

Do anything just to get a harry rag

And she curses herself for the life she's led

And rolls herself a harry rag and puts herself to bed

[nuMbERsRuNN3R]

Ah, bless you tax man, bless you all

You may take some but you never take it all

But if I give it all, I won't feel sad

As long as I got enough to buy a harry rag

Harry rag, harry rag

Do anything just to get a harry rag

And I curse myself for the life I've led

And roll myself a harry rag and put myself to bed

[nuMbERsRuNN3R]

Ah, the smart young ladies of the land Can't relax without a harry in their hand And they light one up and they boast and brag So content because they got a harry rag Harry rag, harry rag Do anything just to get a harry rag And they'll light one up and they'll boast and brag So content because they got a harry rag Harry rag, harry rag I'll do anything just to get a harry rag And I curse myself for the life I've led And roll myself a harry rag and put myself to bed

[huwfylt]

great song!!

[raindogred]

left one word off the end... BINGO

[badger500]

If space alien psychologist's wanted to understand humans, studying these lyrics might be a good start.

[s2trash]

My Sisters my Mother

[sjd1975]

Ron's version is much better.

[EthanAllanHawley]

19000 views!?! Gotta be shitting me! Why on earth are they not popular? They're fucking amazing.

[klitschkobrosfan]

I was thinking the same thing! I think its because they aren't out now so nobody here's about them as new music and when they were around they were overshadowed by the Beatles.

[renotsecniv]

Damn good song.  GSTK.

[jonnytheoasisfan]

sounds like traditional old finnish music

[worldsno1drwhofan]

Is this taking the piss out of smoking or is it pro smoking? Not sure.

[MartyRotten]

I don't think it's about smoking tobacco.

[jackleb3]

sounds almost like a pirate song

[Livesteam45]

Hemp?

[sbarr10]

This is another Kinks song that sounds somewhat traditionally folksy in a vaguely Celtic sort of way. Cool !

(The other song that sort of struck me the same way was Don't You Fret.)

[moveonupcb]

it's the same as an ol trad song called raggle taggle gypsies

[spreadthissong]

The Funny Song!!

This song shows how inventive the Kings was/are

[cowpigs99]

i heard they sang harry rag because fag

has a different meaning in the usa.

i thing that was a banned word

[jonasty86]

its a ''fag''

[GrlLeastLikelyTo]

Soooo, what's a 'Harry Rag' then eh?

[feaferg]

Harry rag is the same thing as a cigarette.

[MagicSpirit999]

this song swingt very good.......harry rag..........harry rag

[gunwhidbey]

well, as Republicans are beginning to say, maybe you are right, although I have a natural distrust of any youngster who thinks they can be the boss of the kinks...

like life and knowledge, you cannot master the kinks or ray, you can only hope to get significant pieces of them

I have about 35 albums and have attended every concert given since the 60's, and many days in my head for every event in my life a diff ray song gets put on at the appropriate time

yet youtube has shown me a ton of new

[kinksboss1]

he wrote it, which pretty much makes it "traditional" if you are British

[gunwhidbey]

hmmm.... what's your source for this assertion?

How do you know he wrote it --- as I recall from a concert, and it's fuzzy, I thought he told us it was an old English chant...

[kinksboss1]

I just pulled out my vinyl album and it says written by RD Davies next to the song

[Chesterton7]

fantastic

[rpaxon]

One of my favorite Kinks songs, it has so much charm

[foodeater398]

is ray davies a smoker?

[rustynail131]

idk but thats a good question

[martykate]

I've seen pictures and vids of him smoking so at least he used to

[davidd7147]

check out apeman music video

[taxmonkey123]

One of the strongest tracks on Something Else.

[JerryX68]

Gawd bless ya guv!

[athrough0]

When I get a job, which should be this summer, I will buy all of the Kinks albums they did in the 60's and early 70's and post all the songs on youtube.

[Duenderelojero]

Good idea!!!!!

[Duenderelojero]

Escuchen la bateria tan buena y el bajo tan simple. Que grandes eran, tan buenos como cualkiera que se denomine el mejor.

[Duenderelojero]

Escuchen la bateria tan buena y el bajo tan simple. Que grandes eran, tan buenos como cualkiera que se denomine el mejor.

[Duenderelojero]

Escuchen la bateria tan buena y el bajo tan simple. Que grandes eran, tan buenos como cualkiera que se denomine el mejor.

[badger500]

Don't mark him down! He's just saying, "Listen to the drums so good and the bass so simple. How great they were, so good as any that I name the best." (or something like that).

[larmstrongg]

Grew up in Nepal and heard this song there for the first time.

[fenixfirereloaded]

buena musica kinks forever

[Duenderelojero]

The best pop never made.

[PsychoPunk1965]

The Kinks are great!

[littlesnuzy]

Been looking for this song forever, Thanks for puttin it on. Haven't heard in 20+ yrs. "Good Stuff"

[tallyrulz]

yeh what does he say plz?

luv this song, thank you

[wickedannabella69]

What's Dave saying at the end? Bingo?

Great song! Thanks heggy.

[PRINCIPALBROKER]

Ding dong!

[lpeeko]

@wickedannabella69

It sounds like Pete's voice just underneath Dave's.

[PRINCIPALBROKER]

My mom came into the room and asked what a "Harry Rag" was when she heard this song. She left us last year at 90 and was very cool as is this song. Thanks for the memories.

[ModernDayMod]

What actually is a "Harry Rag"?

[PRINCIPALBROKER]

Harry Rag is slang for a cigarette. In Britain they also call a cigarette a fag.

[ModernDayMod]

oh yeah i see now, being english i should have seen that a mile away!

[allivegp]

Ah, the smart young ladies of the land /can't relax without a harry in their hand/ and they light on up/ and they boast and brag/ so content because they got a harry rag

[allivegp]

I also dig "Polly", nr 18 on the same album.

[ModernDayMod]

Isn't that the B-Side of Wonderboy?

[bjasondotcom]

No, it was the b-Side for "Mr. Pleasant."

[ModernDayMod]

Nahhh i've got Autumn Almanac, Mr Pleasant's the b-side of it.

[BKLYNSASSY]

yak yAK YAK ITS MT AUTUM ALMANAC

[lpeeko]

@bjasondotcom

You're correct on that. I bought the 45, too, during the summer of '67. It didn't include the 'BINGO' at the end, though. They are saying 'BINGO', aren't they? Can anyone clarify this - and why they said it?

[panicBoydotcom]

@lpeeko I always thought it was "EN-JOOOOOY!"

[Pesto2]

@lpeeko I think that's Dave saying "England!" A leftover of the World Cup victory a year before.

[teds76court]

great song!

[raulbarrientos007]

good drinking song

harry rags for all

cheers!

[moxie96]

one of the first song I started to sing at just two years old in a tiny shirley temple-ish/cindy brady voice I had back then in 1980...

[littlecave]

wooooooo! fuck yeah!

[8eyedspy]

Rolls himself a harry rag and puts himself to bed.

[CaptainZakkum]

Has anyone noticed that when Ray Davis sings he has a spanish accent?not in this song but like in Lola and in all day and all of the night

[franziiii]

also in apeman :)

sounds goooooood :) hehe :)

[MarvelousOlaf]

Agree copletely.

[CaptainZakkum]

Harry Rag Harry rag!

[littlecave]

yes yes yes harry rag harry rag!

[8eyedspy]

as long as i got enought to buy a harry rag.

[CaptainZakkum]

This and village green preservation society are the only songs I heard which arent on my best of the kinks album. I am the kinks youngest fan I'm 13 ^.^

[bjasondotcom]

Yeah, I got the 2-disc "Ultimate Collection," and was sure that this would be on it. But there are a bunch of conspicuous omissions on that set: Harry Rag, Village Green PS, and Picture Book, made more famous by a Hewlett-Packard (I think) ad from about 2 years ago.

[Clemfold]

what an album by the way... either this or VGPS would be the ideal starting point for a Kinks collection IMHO