Apeman (song)
1970 single by The Kinks

"Apeman" is a 1970 song by the English rock band the Kinks. It was written by Ray Davies and appears on the album Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One. Written as a call to return to nature amidst the crowding and industry of the city, the song features calypso stylings. Like its predecessor, "Lola", it had to have a lyric re-dubbed for commercial release.
"Apeman" was a successful follow-up to "Lola", reaching number five on the British charts. It has since attracted critical acclaim.
Background
"Apeman", alongside many other songs from the Lola vs. Powerman album, was written by Ray Davies during a family trip to Cornwall in July 1970. In the song, Davies is fed up with the modern world and declares that he wants to "sail away to a distant shore and make like an apeman". He also expresses how man created our problems and, given half a chance, he would leave the cities and traffic to live in the jungle.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2858173. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1970.
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This entry incorporates text from “Apeman (song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.