This time tomorrow, where will we be?

The Kinks – “This Time Tomorrow”
(from Lola vs. Powerman and the Money-Go-Round, pt. 1)

This time tomorrow, where will we be? On a spaceship somewhere, sailing across an empty sea? Well, in a manner of speaking, yes. The Post-Rockist is going on vacation! Scotter’s trucking out to D.C. to spend some time with his kindred ilk on K Street, and I’m jetting over to Sweden to stuff my face with pickled herring and reindeer heart. And what an appropriate way to end the month, too, since this really has been the November of No Updates over here in Post-Rockistland. But since we haven’t been doing our job lately, we’re going to turn the ball over to you and ask you to write something for us.

Class, this is your assignment:

Write an essay on the thematic impulses in the 1970 Kinks album Lola vs. Powerman and the Money-Go-Round, Part 1. In particular, focus on the conflicting narratives Ray Davies draws between that of the naive country boy hoping to attain socioeconomic success in the commercial metropolis and that of the jaded urbanite yearning for an idyllic return to a Rousseauian state of nature found in “Apeman,” and hypothesize what, if any, resolution is provided in either scenario. In your response, remember to avoid the intellectual trappings of Manichean dichotomies of Good vs. Evil as you analyze the epic struggle between Lola and Powerman, and ask yourself whether Mr. Davies is being sincere in his dimple-cheeked pronouncements of “freedom” in this twisted tale of power, corruption, and complicity. Be sure to discuss the importance of sexual anxiety as it is presented in the song “Lola” vis a vis the capitalist structure of the recording industry that has so clearly embroiled the Kinks at this stage of their career. Did Davies have the prescience to know that “Lola” would be a huge hit and therefore cunningly couch the track between the scathing “Top of the Pops” and “Get Back in Line,” or does the character Lola actually serve a larger symbolic purpose in Davies’ ironic drama? In addition, an appendix diagramming the logic of the “Moneygoround” system is mandatory.

Your paper should be 10 pages, double-spaced using standard size 12 Times New Roman font with no funny business in the margins, and you should cite at least eight references to support your claims. And since we know that all content on the internet is produced by mouth-breathing perverts, please only use trusted academic sources in your research.

Please note: any references to The Darjeeling Limited will be grounds for immediate disqualification, unless your paper can also weave together a broader meta-narrative on Davies’ critique of postcolonial culture found within the Kinks’ 1969 magnum opus Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire. Easy, right?

Your responses are due Monday.

The author of the strongest paper will be invited to join the Post-Rockist editorial board for our annual S’Mores Christmastime Extravaganza in Frankenmuth. Believe me, this will be even more fun than you can imagine. Now get crackin’ on that essay because we’re anticipating thousands of submissions.