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Credits

PERFORMING ARTISTS
The Kinks
The Kinks
Performer
Dave Davies
Dave Davies
Guitar
John Dalton
John Dalton
Bass
Mick Avory
Mick Avory
Drums
John Gosling
John Gosling
Keyboards
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Ray Davies
Ray Davies
Composer
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
Dave Davies
Dave Davies
Producer
Mike Bobak
Mike Bobak
Recording Engineer
Roger Quested
Roger Quested
Recording Engineer
Martin Levan
Martin Levan
Recording Engineer
Barry Hammond
Barry Hammond
Recording Engineer
Gregg Jackman
Gregg Jackman
Recording Engineer
Mike Butcher
Mike Butcher
Recording Engineer

Lyrics

This is the age of machinery
A mechanical nightmare
The wonderful world of technology
Napalm, hydrogen bombs, biological warfare
This is the twentieth century
But too much aggravation
It's the age of insanity
What has become of the green pleasant fields of Jerusalem
Ain't got no ambition, I'm just disillusioned
I'm a twentieth-century man but I don't want, I don't wanna be here
My mama said she can't understand me
She can't see my motivation
Just give me some security
I'm a paranoid, schizoid product of the twentieth century
You keep all your smart modern writers
Give me William Shakespeare
You keep all your smart modern painters
I'll take Rembrandt, Titian, Da Vinci and Gainsborough
Girl, we gotta get out of here
We gotta find a solution
I'm a twentieth-century man but I don't want, I don't want to die here
Girl, we gotta get out of here
We gotta find a solution
I'm a twentieth-century man but I don't want, I don't want to be here
I was born in a welfare state
Ruled by bureaucracy
Controlled by civil servants
And people dressed in grey
Got no privacy, got no liberty
'Cause the twentieth-century people
Took it all away from me
Don't wanna get myself shot down
By some trigger happy policeman
Gotta keep a hold on my sanity
I'm a twentieth-century man but I don't wanna die here
My mama says she can't understand me
She can't see my motivation
Ain't got no security
I'm a twentieth-century man but I don't wanna die here
I don't want twentieth-century, man
No more twentieth-century man
I don't want twentieth-century, man
This is the twentieth century
But too much aggravation
This is the edge of insanity
I'm a twentieth-century man but I don't wanna be here
Written by: Ray Davies
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