Polly (The Kinks song)

"Polly"
West German picture sleeve (reverse)
Single by the Kinks
A-side"Wonderboy"
Released5 April 1968
RecordedMarch 1968
StudioPye, London
GenreMusic hall
Label
Songwriter(s)Ray Davies
Producer(s)Ray Davies
The Kinks singles chronology
"Autumn Almanac"
(1967)
"Wonderboy" / "Polly"
(1968)
"Days"
(1968)
Official audio
"Polly" on YouTube

"Polly" (titled "Pretty Polly" on early singles)[1] is a song by the English rock band the Kinks. It was released on a non-album single in April 1968, as the B-side to "Wonderboy". Written and sung by bandleader Ray Davies, the song was recorded in March 1968 during sessions for the band's 1968 album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. Ray was initially inspired by the character Polly Garter in Dylan Thomas's 1954 radio drama Under Milk Wood, though his resulting character does not share anything with Thomas's besides the same name. The song is one of the few Kinks recordings from the late 1960s to possibly feature real strings, as arranged by David Whitaker.

  1. ^ Miller 2003, p. 112.