Sunny Afternoon

"Sunny Afternoon" is a song by the Kinks, written by Ray Davies and released as a single in June 1966. The track was included on the Face to Face album released in late October, and served as the title track for a 1967 compilation album. Like its contemporary "Taxman" by the Beatles, the song references the high levels of progressive tax taken by the British Labour government of Harold Wilson, although it does so through the lens of an unsympathetic aristocrat bemoaning the loss of his vast unearned wealth. Its strong music hall flavour and lyrical focus was part of a stylistic departure for the band, which had risen to fame in 1964–65 with a series of hard-driving, power-chord rock hits.