♫ You Really Got Me ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, music, music history

I have only played this once, back in 2021, and tonight I really need to redux, as I’m feeling exhausted and not quite at myself.  Hopefully I’m not coming down with Covid, which both Chris and Natasha now have … time will tell.  Anyway, last time I played this, I played only the Kinks’ version but a number of you spoke of Van Halen’s cover, so I’m including both this time ’round.  Pick one or both … which do you like best?

You Really Got Me was written by Ray Davies for British rock band the Kinks.  Davies says the song was inspired by a girl dancing in the audience during his college days when he played with the Dave Hunt Band …

“I just remembered this one girl dancing. Sometimes you’re so overwhelmed by the presence of another person and you can’t put two words together.  I was playing a gig at a club in Piccadilly and there was a young girl in the audience who I really liked. She had beautiful lips. Thin, but not skinny. A bit similar to Françoise Hardy. Not long hair, but down to about there. Long enough to put your hands through … long enough to hold. I wrote ‘You Really Got Me’ for her, even though I never met her.”

According to SongFacts …

“You Really Got Me” is the first hit for The Kinks. Before releasing it, they put out two singles that flopped: a cover of “Long Tall Sally” and a Ray Davis composition called “You Still Want Me.”

If “You Really Got Me” didn’t sell, there was a good chance their record label would have dropped them, but the song gave them the hit they were looking for. Soon they were making TV appearances, gracing magazine covers, and playing on bills with The Beatles as an opening act. They didn’t have an album out when the song took off, so they rushed one out to capitalize on the demand. This first, self-titled album has just five originals, with the rest being R&B covers – standard practice at the time for British Invasion bands.

The song has been the subject of some interesting controversies, such as the myth that then-session player Jimmy Page, who later joined the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin, played the guitar solo.  Page himself denied that, saying …

“Oh, Crikey! I wasn’t on ‘You Really Got Me,’ but I did play on the Kinks’ records. That’s all I’m going to say about it. But every time I do an interview, people ask me about ‘You Really Got Me.’ So maybe somebody can correct Wikipedia so people won’t keep asking me.”

You Really Got Me
The Kinks

Girl, you really got me goin’
You got me so I don’t know what I’m doin’
Yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I can’t sleep at night

Yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I don’t know what I’m doin’, now
Oh yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I can’t sleep at night

You really got me
You really got me
You really got me

See, don’t ever set me free
I always wanna be by your side
Girl, you really got me now
You got me so I can’t sleep at night

Yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I don’t know what I’m doin’, now
Oh yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I can’t sleep at night

You really got me
You really got me
You really got me
Oh no

See, don’t ever set me free
I always wanna be by your side
Girl, you really got me now
You got me so I can’t sleep at night

Yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I don’t know what I’m doin’, now
Oh yeah, you really got me now
You got me so I can’t sleep at night

You really got me
You really got me
You really got me

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Ray Davies
You Really Got Me lyrics © Edward Kassner Music Co. Ltd

Discover more from Filosofa's Word

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

54 thoughts on “♫ You Really Got Me ♫”

  1. I liked them both. The Kinks because and Van Halen because Eddie knows how to play guitar. Always been a fan of Van Halen. In 1975 we did a job for which we rented a box truck. One of the crew went to Nettie Lee Roth High School here in Dayton. The top of the truck was a perfect height and one night we put a bag over Nettie and with a bit of spray paint made it David Lee Roth HS for a day.😂

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I love The Kinks! I love their “You Really Got Me!”

    I also love Van Halen’s version. It is different, almost not the same song, except it is precisely the same song, but done as Van Halen would have done it had they written it originally. I love Eddie VH’s guitar work. DLR was a sort of parody, really, for me. But I did enjoy Van Halen! Anyway, this is a great song, I listened to The Kinks’s one tonight because it’s kinda late, and thanks, Jill!

    Liked by 2 people

  6. Pingback: ♫ You Really Got Me ♫ | Filosofa’s Word | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

        • Alright, Roger … more Kinks it will be! Anything in particular in mind?

          By the way … I had to close comments on my “I Am Woman, Hear Me Rant” post, for the comment thread had gotten out of hand. I don’t think I ever got the chance to reply to your last one … I’m sorry.

          Like

            • Yeah, there comes a point when I’ve just had enough, y’know? I just don’t feel well enough to deal with it at the moment.

              Okay, well, nobody else has requested anything, so I’ll just see what I can find.

              Liked by 1 person

              • I totally understand Jill.

                The complex mix of having to confront ignorance, distortions, furiously naïve beliefs, abusive comments. Having to find the resources to reply to them, when you know at best all they will do is at some stage not reply.
                The constant drag on health, be it physical, mental or spiritual / ethical, because the effects of the comments and the responses do not end with the pressing of ‘Send’
                Then there is the media evidence that what you are doing is not seeming to stop the tide of corrosion bred of an ignorance so deep it demands and gets feeding every hour.

                Sometimes, even for a prolific and wonderfully motivated person like yourself, it is best to step away. As an individual working without the ‘ populist influence’ which comes in many forms these days, it is a hard and sometimes lonely to carry on.
                It’s not a question of giving up. It is one of holding and shepherding those resources you have.

                Just a few weeks maybe. Oh yes it is hard. Back in October I was like a backyard dog on a chain, keeping off places on Facebook I know I could start a storm. My big motivation there was discerning what sort of forces and passions were out there I did not want my family tracked and picked on….Oh yes, the Hypocrites and the Innocent Dupes can be so fired up to do that…Not easy, I did of course sound off on WP but my reader base here is Sane and Balanced. We both know out there is Happy Holiday for the Idiots, Prejudiced and Hopelessly Ill-Informed.
                Durned if I still don’t miss that chance; not good.

                That’s the other problem, often a writer can get so drawn in, wishing to give them ‘a taste of their own medicine, the writer can get visceral, personal, going for a jugular with a weapon of sarcastic and gleeful venom.

                Not feeling well is a sign it is that place to take time out Jill, and rest in places far from the harshness and the brutality.
                You should do that my dear friend. There will be other times and other spaces. The cause does not rely on your shoulders alone to carry. There are many out there also carrying on the good fight.

                Time out now. Rest and Refit.
                Take care, our love.
                Roger and Sheila 🌻🌼💮🪷🪻🌸

                Liked by 1 person

                • Yes, at some point it’s wasted time and effort, for they will keep coming back with more, each a bit wackier than the one before, and we must guard against sinking to their level. It’s tempting sometimes, but not right now.

                  I told you that Chris had Covid last week? Well, she’s much better, but now Natasha and I both have it, and combined with my heart/lung problems, I am not at all well right now. 🥶 Struggling just to keep up, and I certainly won’t waste the very little energy I have arguing with that dude about a “woman’s place” etc.

                  Thanks to both you and Sheila for your love and concern, dear Roger. And for the flowers that brought a smile 😊

                  Liked by 1 person

  10. I didn’t know the dfference between Mods and Rockers in England, we never got the full story. The Kinks were definitely Mod, and I loved them.
    I was prepared to hate Van Halen doing this song, but they did good. The styles were different enough. I am presuming the girls loved the VH stage act.

    Liked by 3 people

  12. You really got me

    I can relate. You gently pooh-poohed Deep Purple’s “Hush”, and then kinda promote Van Halen.

    Oh well, different stokes and all that . . . .

    Here is Ms. Dionne Warwick singin’ about my mostest favoritest city in the US.

    I traveled there in August of 2003 on my first visit to California — EVAH! — fer a soccer match. When I left the Deep South, it wuz 90 degrees and the humidity something like eleventy vigintillion percent, so imagine my surprise at the mid 70s temp and cool dry air. Anywayz . . . .

    Liked by 5 people

    • Oh no … no, no, no … I was definitely NOT promoting Van Halen! In fact, I didn’t even get one whole minute into his before having to turn it off! I only included it because others had mentioned it! No, it’s The Kinks for me on this one.

      That said, I have ALWAYS loved this Dionne Warwick song!!! Half of my childhood was spent in and around San Francisco, so this song has my heart! Thank you for playing it, Kamchak!!!

      Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.