Ray Davies admitted that the Kinks' hit "You Really Got Me" was originally meant to be a country blues song.

Davies explained that he was trying to write a country blues song, "I started writing it on guitar. It was probably the third or fourth song I'd ever written.

I'd written a few bad pop songs. I switched over to piano later, when I showed it to the band, which gave it a very different feel."

He added, "I think if I had been an accomplished songwriter, I wouldn't have written 'You Really Got Me,' because there's something naive and basic about it, with the key shift halfway through If I'd been an accomplished songwriter I wouldn't have written it in the key I did and I probably wouldn't have made that shift, which was quite revolutionary but became common after we did it."

Davies also cited Gregorian chants as an influence for the track, which became one of the band's greatest hits.