A review and own interpretation of   "God In My Brain' and "KINKED' by Dave Davies

Written by Carey Fleiner

'God in my Brain' kicks off with a cheeky reassurance that Dave Davies isn't dead yet, and in fact, he's getting better:

Don't say goodbye --

There's a smile on my face.

This new song, the end result of a long journey back from a debilitating stroke and paralysis,   change and rehabilitation, is a rocking reminder that these things happen , and one carries on. It's not material possessions that fuel us, it's not others who keep us from our tasks and our goals - we are powered from within, drawing off love, and even the most devastating of physical debilitation cannot strike down the inner spirit, or keep it from growing and moving us forward, saving us from the frustration and fear which only hinder the healing process.

Unchain your mind

From the engines of fear

Open your heart

Let love in, let it in

Kinked is a collection of thoughtful songs, celebrating the good things in life, family, friends, loving times, and wistful past - all the while looking ahead, moving on, and drawing on inner strength and power as the means to accomplish all we are meant to do. 'Unfinished Business,' which begins the collection,   written in tribute to John Lennon, is a song of confident defiance, not to let anyone stand in the way or block one from one's accomplishments or goals - be independent, get on with it. The narrator of 'God in my Brain' is left frustrated   by physical limitations, and frightened -   he cries out in fright as the song begins - but also expresses defiance as he comes to understand and realise, it's not the physical, it's not the material, it's not the tangible things in life that anyone should count on or rely on - things break, and it can all be knocked away in one quick blow, anywhere, any time.

'God in my Brain' describes eighteen months in its five minutes - a quiet intro of a few bits of notes, then the plaintive cry of 'God in my brain...' - sudden, and quick.

Consider as accompaniment the first of the four paintings in Mr Davies' Stroke Art series, created as part of his therapy at London Neurological Hospital . It is dark broody colours and a face helpless and confused, taken unawares, in Stroke:

I'm paralysed

Staring straight into space

I see your thoughts

Deep inside, know your ways

Followed by the second in the sequence, Acceptance , still such dark colours, eyes closed, resigned; the face looks downwards, humbled; one side empty and blank, the other a confusion of blue and pink, not settled, but coalescing - an image suggesting change, resettlement, coming to terms and realising that one is left to think on what's missing, what's changed, and wonder, what happens now; the mind seems divided, some communication between the mind and body lost -

And the dawn will break

And the love will take you back again.

But your heart will ache

When you wonder where you've been.

Bittersweet, but not giving up - and why not, with the strength of love to draw on, and always, always, the motivation to complete the unfinished business.

Because what is within - what we must foster and strengthen through Transformation - call it Love, call it Light, call it Spirit, call it God - it's always there. The 'God' in 'God in my brain' is, according to Mr Davies, 'Not God as in the grey-haired old man sitting in the sky, but the person in my head who while the stroke was happening was sitting back and observing.' God here is the guide, the reassurance, the source of inner strength and light waiting to be drawn on and used; it cannot be taken away, or lessened.

Stretching the mind

To the edges of time,

The spirit explains

What is real, what is right .

'God in my Brain' is busy musically throughout these verses, evocative of thoughts thoughts thoughts - those nights when one cannot sleep because the brain won't shut down - either because of confusion, and 'what do I do,' and 'how do I sort it all out,' or because it's ideas, plans, invention, and the brain is alive with the cacophony of creativity. The song's rhythm-intensive arrangement brings to mind Mr Davies' musical expression from Chosen People , but also the miniature symphonies of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound,   and the joy found in the work of George Harrison - whose own appeal for hope and courage, 'Give me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth),' is covered here to add to Kinked 's overarching themes of optimism and sweetness.

And so in 'God in my Brain' all of the instruments complement, driven by a fast beat,   a lush arrangement held together by Mr Davies's happily familiar growly guitar riffs - the piss-taking defiance is still there, hallo, and emerging clearly from the cheerful calliope of sound supporting it.

And then having accepted what was, and what is, one need only consult Hope for what can be, with its smiling face surrounded by a brilliant riot of pink, blue, and yellow flashes dancing in the light from the sunshiny brilliant, open window - light streams in, hope brings focus, the face glows with light and is illuminated and caressed by the sweet colours, because

There is a love,

Beyond form, full of grace.

Love beyond form comes to fulfillment in Healing , appropriately chosen for Kinked 's sleeve - the beautiful colours stream upwards from ourselves towards infinity, a bright flame fueled from within by the mind and the spirit, a sense of happiness and possibility - God is sat there waiting through the darkest times, a source of comfort, and strength, a source always within, always there to be tapped. And 'God in my Brain' fades out with a simple sequence of notes, birdsong at dawn, waking up to face on the sunshine, and press onwards along the path of transformation. . .

Carey Fleiner - 17 February 2006