Ray Davies - lead singer of The Kinks
From the book The Kinks: All Day and All of the Night:
"I nearly died. I had a tracheotomy and the balloon burst. I was
attached to a machine and I had a nightmare and pulled all the things
out of my arms. Then two or three or four days later I couldn't speak
for because of the operation. Two nurses wheeled me out to the
balcony, where I could see the river Thames. it was just a very
poetic moment for me. So [when I wrote 'Waterloo Sunset'] I thought
about that time..."
