This Time Tomorrow by The Kinks Lyrics Meaning – Unraveling the Quest for Perspective in the Modern World
Lyrics
On a spaceship somewhere sailing across an empty sea
This time tomorrow, what will we know?
Will we still be here watching an in-flight movie show?
I’ll leave the sun behind me
And I’ll watch the clouds as they sadly pass me by
Seven miles below me
I can see the world and it ain’t so big at all
This time tomorrow, what will we see?
Field full of houses, endless rows of crowded streets
I don’t know where I’m going, I don’t want to see
I feel the world below me looking up (looking up), looking up at me
Leave the sun behind me
And watch the clouds as they sadly pass me by
I’m in perpetual motion
And the world below doesn’t matter much to me
This time tomorrow, where will we be?
On a spaceship somewhere sailing across any empty sea
This time tomorrow, where will we be?
This time tomorrow, what will we see?
This time tomorrow
Presaging a sense of existential inquiry that seems to have only grown more pertinent with time, The Kinks’ ‘This Time Tomorrow’ embodies the musings of a traveler not limited to the physical realm, but traversing the mental landscapes of uncertainty, isolation, and revelation. The song is a time capsule, and yet, almost eerily, a mirror to contemporary sentiments.
Its poetry, so masterfully penned by Ray Davies, taps into the universal and timeless themes of transition, the search for meaning, and the human relationship with progress and technology. The track is not simply a series of chords and lyrics; it’s a vessel for introspection, seemingly simple in its composition but monumental in its philosophical depth.
The Eternal Voyage: Not Just a Flight, But a Search for Meaning
At first listen, ‘This Time Tomorrow’ might seem like the musings of a world-weary traveler pondering his next geographic waypoint. However, the narrative unfolds as an allegory for the personal journey each of us embarks upon—a quest to find our place in the universe. This spaceship is our own life, continuously propelling us into the future, uncertain of what the next sunrise may reveal.
The opening lines craft a tableau of solitude and reflection. In casting our protagonist into the vastness of ‘an empty sea,’ Davies immediately establishes a contrast between the expansive universe and the individual’s perception of their own insignificance within it. There’s an acknowledgement of the enormity of the world and, by extension, the myriad possibilities that tomorrow holds.
In Perpetual Motion: The Kinetic Nature of Human Existence
Central to ‘This Time Tomorrow’ is the feeling of perpetual motion. Not only does the song suggest movement through its lyrics, but the very rhythm and melody convey a sense of continuous forward motion. The Kinks encapsulate the human experience as one of kinetic existence, continuously moving, yet never entirely sure of the destination.
Such motion speaks to progress, the unstoppable march of time and civilization. Ray Davies opens a dialogue on how progress affects us, often leaving us to feel no larger than specks against the tableau of human history. By describing the world below as ‘it ain’t so big at all,’ there’s a commentary on the shrinking globe, perhaps anticipated by international travel and connectivity, and the paradoxical loneliness these advancements can bring.
Window Seats to the World: Voyeurism and Detachment in Modern Society
Davies touches on the contemporary phenomenon of detached voyeurism: ‘Will we still be here watching an in-flight movie show?’ This line serves as a piercing observation of our culture’s tendency to observe rather than engage. The metaphor extends beyond the literal observation from an airplane’s window to a criticism of a society content with passive consumption as life swiftly passes by.
The act of watching the in-flight movie becomes a symbol for our relationship with media, a buffer that both connects and separates us from the raw experience of life. The ‘endless rows of crowded streets’ serve as a reminder of the anonymity within modern existence, the disconnection from the communal despite being surrounded by masses.
Tomorrow’s Uncertainty: Anxiety Amidst a World in Flux
With its probing questions, ‘This Time Tomorrow’ distills the anxiety that comes from living in a world where the only constant is change. ‘What will we know?’ is not a quest for factual knowledge but a deeper yearning to understand the essence of our experiences and our future in relation to them.
Davies captures the zeitgeist of an era and foreshadows our contemporary struggle with rapidly changing technology, society’s expectations, and our own fleeting perceptions of happiness and purpose. He plucks at the strings of existential dread, uncertainty, and the insatiable curiosity that drives human ambition and fear in equal measure.
A Galactic Anthem: The Song’s Hidden Meaning
Beneath the surface of this seemingly nostalgic travelogue lies a profound meditation on existence. ‘This Time Tomorrow’ subtly hints at a hidden meaning: the human condition as a journey through space and time, where coordinates are meaningless and the destination is, ironically, the journey itself.
While touching upon loftier philosophical ideals, the song remains grounded in an individual’s perspective, underscoring the inherent importance of personal reflection in the grander scheme of life. Thus, the ever-present inquiry, ‘This time tomorrow, where will we be?’ is less of a question than it is an invocation for the listener to pause, reflect, and maybe even find solace in not knowing all the answers just yet.
