Ray Davies wrote The Kinks’ 1965 song “Where Have All the Good Times Gone” with older listeners in mind, drawing on family singalongs about the past. The song demonstrated that, despite The Kinks’ rebellious early image and groundbreaking garage-rock sound, Davies understood how to create music that could connect across generations.

Released on the album *The Kink Kontroversy*, the song was inspired by Davies’s memories of gathering around the piano with his family. He later explained that he wanted his father and relatives to be able to sing it, reflecting their nostalgia for life before or during the war, and argued that every generation tends to look back fondly on earlier times.