Added: 6 years ago
From: pservin69
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  • It's a love song for modest man.

    I love this song!

  • @1wild52...yes he did...thats why the production is boss!!!

  • I was in a Starbucks today and these stupid moms were sitting next to me and they were talking the whole time about how God talks to them through their dreams and how trusting in Jesus is the answer. I felt like I was mayor of Simpleton while in there.

  • @TheHolyMongolEmpire ...you are an idiot you atheist filth... : ]

  • @TheManFromAcme

    I can see you have the love of Jebus in your heart.

  • XTC just takes everyday things and ideas and makes them into songs.

    They are boss

  • If I haven't said it before, the Greatest Pop Song Ever. And the girl looks just like Eleanor Bron, the actress from the Beatles' Help! movie.

  • no u cocksucker

  • Didn't Todd produce these guys?

  • @1wild52 Todd produced "Skylarking," an album that Andy HATED making and said so in many an interview. I played that album to death the summer it was released. A notable track is "Earn Enough for Us." Do check it out. (As well as my video for the XTC rarity "Cherry in Your Tree.")

  • bassline from outer space.

  • ... to the sixty-six people who disliked this video , Jersey Shore called ... they want their taste in music back .

  • Colin's working that bass on this track.

  • SONG FOR THE 99% 

  • .... needlessly typing to me as an aside

  • and 4ths and 5ths and timing and upbeats and book readings

    to absorb the paper between the fingers

  • I think this is where Mike Meyers came up with Austin Powers

  • I actually saw this video at a club. I doubt you'd find ANYTHING like this at any current club. Sigh.

  • Poetry in motion

    

  • i've always thought the last 30 seconds were brilliant

  • Ew, how can you mention Elvis Costello in the same breath as these geniuses? He wishes he could write a song half this good.

  • @basehead617 I'm suprised you like XTC. Usually people who make comments about Elvis Costello like yours, usually don't know a damn thing about music. So who agrees with you about this besides you and maybe one of your friends?

  • @basehead617 I think you're out of your mind. I'm as big a fan of XTC as you can get, but Costello is definitely a peer of theirs in good standing.

  • Don't know much about XTC but this song will always be part of my late 80's/early 90's life soundtrack.

  • It's more than brilliance and genious that xtc bring to music. It's inspiration, innovation, anger, complexity, musicality, humour and blah blah blah. Most musicians in Sydney Australia with any taste buds in 1984 were constantly listening to and purposefully riiping off xtc.

    Long live the X.

  • @wazmacmusic They also had wit.

  • didn't know dwight schrute was in the band...

  • I dedicate this song to Dolkite from Yahoo! Answers.

  • "If depth of feeling is a currency, then I'm the man who grew the money tree." So many great lines in this one song. Listening to it over and over today.

  • love this!!!

  • Lyrics plus music and harmony equals one great 'big hit song'!

  • killer pop song, very underated by the public. hooks, harmonies,solid beat. whats not to like!  along the same lines as elvis costellos/ whats so funny about peace love & understanding. both brilliant songwriting samples.

  • THAT BASS LINE

  • @snipersas - XTC has some of the most playful bass lines I've ever heard.

  • Pride of Swindon

  • I beg to differ. He did write a big hit song! Or at least, it should've been...

  • @MrQuoteMan This was XTC's biggest American single. They were not one-hit wonder. They had three or four rock radio hits. This was one of them. I was 13 in 1989 and whilst I was building my Who, Metallica and Rolling Stones catalog collections (I already had all of Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Iron Maiden and KISS' catalogs at the time) I enjoyed this song which was a refresher from the Poison, Bon Jovi, Guns and Roses infesting going down in rock.

  • @tjrrockandrollmaster

    Yes, but in the grand scheme of the music world, XTC was never very popular compared to others at the time.

    Don't get me wrong, I love them! I'm just saying that they should've been a lot bigger.

  • I can't help but singing along with this song.

  • @tjrtherocksponge I really liked this song and thought it should have been bigger on the charts.

    I agree on Peter Gabriel and Geffen- I should have also mentioned Don Henley as well. He was doing really good with "The End Of The Innocence" LP in 1989.

  • I love Andy,Dave and Colin!!

  • @asayoung1 I do too!!

  • 65 people need to have the wax removed from their lugholes!

  • Colin Moulding is the Mayor of Basselton!

  • Great tune, great band.

  • I am not sure why some responders refer to XTC as "too intelligent or too clever" for the audience. It all boils down to the "sound," and how much mass appeal a band has. I absolutely love this band, one of my faves, but they are not "too" anything. They were just about perfect. Wahi'

  • Markdykeman

    Lol, it does look like the opening to the avengers... What a great old show!

  • People just did not get this band.

  • Wow, what a bassline!

  • Thanks You Tube, this is the first time I've heard this in over 18 years. Forgotten how good it is.

  • great music from my childhood, such an underated band

  • Anyone know who the "Girl from Simpleton " was ? I think she is beautiful and sexy as hell running around in that one piece body suit .

  • Too obvious....Brilliant

  • Now THAT is a great song! :-)

  • Andy Partridge used to come in to the shop where i worked (in Swindon) and i used to serve him and it was only when i left the area and spoke to an old colleague of mine and he told me who Mr Partridge was! wish i'd known then cos i always had a bit of a thing for the guy who used to walk his dog and wear fab hats! oh well... happy days :-D

  • Why does youtube think Squeeze has any business on the same sidebar as XTC? They had one good (ok, great) song, XTC has dozens.

  • @lacerda70 i was thinking the same but opposite

  • Is that.... Dwight Schrute?

  • I would like to thank Lauren Faust A.K.A. Exec. producer of Friendship is Magic, for leading me to an amazing-sounding band.

  • @gerritperson O_O

    Lauren Faust likes XTC?! Either I'm dreaming, its a great coincidence or I'm crazy.

  • One of my dreams is a new album of the XTC's. Colin please come back to the music!!!

  • XTC is probably my favorite band. Andy Partridge is a great songwriter, great guitarist, and my all time hero.

  • The girl looks like olivia wilde!

  • might be

  • genius!!!

  • Don't take extesey though. Bad drug. ("X"-"T"-"C")

  • GREAT SONG!

  • Rainn Wilson as Andy Partridge

  • @lawyerlarrry and you, Sir, are a disrespectful degenerate who was molested by monkeys. Would love to see you produce a song as good as this, but sadly that will be like getting poo out of a rocking horse.

  • Comment removed

  • XTC packed more perfect ideas into a song than any band I've ever heard. They're intricate and effortless at the same time. Fucking genius!

  • It honestly joys me when I read the comments on these songs and I know I'm not alone as someone who recognises XTC's pure brilliance.

  • nice^^

  • Andy is the mayor of GENIUSton baby!

  • Oops band

    

  • Awesome bad then and still are now thanks for the upload

  • is that Dave Gregory or Neil Innes?

  • Really like this song.

  • This song was and still is great!

  • Great number!

  • i dont know how to write a big hit song.....i beg to differ, these geniues didnt have enough promtion and perhaps a bit too great to appeal to the masses.

  • XTC is the perfect example of a band that was making music that was too intelligent for the audience and the label. Geffen really screwed these guys over.

  • @MyJunior1975 and Virgin records too.

  • @GloucesterAdam I felt that Geffen Records didn't know what to do with them- at least in the States. Geffen was primarily a hard rock label, and XTC stood out like a sore thumb- especially when you consider who was on the roster at the time "Oranges And Lemons" was released. I thought they got better recognition by their home label Virgin Records in the U.K.- at least that was how it seemed to me.

  • @MyJunior1975 they had the attitude, look and style of a progressive rock band, but the sound of a new wave band, just one of those rare breeds of musicians, such as Allan Holdsworth, that happens to be absolutely brilliant, but just didnt have much of a target audience

  • @MjXllcommando When a band or an artist isn't easily categorized by a label or the radio, then those gatekeepers in the media are clueless on what to do with them. A favorite band of mine The Afghan Whigs suffered the same fate a few years after XTC.

  • @MyJunior1975 yeah, the only hope for bands like that is that they get so popular in breaking the mold that they create a new mold (like Hendrix, Black Flag, Van Halen etc.) in short its much easier for bands to have a defined genre and niche audience. it sucks

  • @MyJunior1975

    Geffen screwed up many artists that did not fit their metal rock focus, starting from the artist they signed in 1980 Donna Summer.

  • Comment removed

  • @richiguy Sadly, it didn't end with Donna Summer. Though I will give credit to Geffen for branching out and diversifying, but they slipped up in marketing and promotion in R&B (Donna Summer, Jennifer Holliday, Christopher Williams, David Peaston), hip hop (Silk Tymes Leather, The Roots, Killah Preist), and music legends not named Aerosmith (Joni Mitchell, Neil Young).

  • @MyJunior1975 lol this song isn't exactly hard to get or "intellectual." It's a very catchy hook and "I love you" pop lyrics.

  • @ironmonkeyheller I wasn't talking specifically about this song, but their overall catalogue. That's what I was really referring to.

  • @MyJunior1975 Since they didn't have an Axl Rose type of frontman and bands like Tesla and Guns and Roses shared a label with XTC (here in the States anyway) Geffen focused on rockers who had long hair, tattoos and played meaningless fake metal drivel. Guns and Roses sucked as did Tesla. This song was their biggest Modern Rock Radio tune and also peaked at #15 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. Also Oranges and Lemons was XTC's highest charting US album (#45 in spring 1989).

  • @tjrrockandrollmaster And it's really sad becase Geffen didn't hit their stride with modern rock until the early 90's with Nirvana and Weezer.

  • When this song came out, one reviewer described it as THE perfect pop song. I still agree.

  • when summer comes I always want hear this song.

    I really love this nostalgic melody.

  • The story of my love life. It's not in me to be a player, a thug or a total jerk. Oh well, I finally did find someone that loves the "simpleton" in me.

  • i love XTC

    

  • 62 people are simpletons ;)

  • @larr933 With 1,714 likes, I think they're fighting a losing battle.

  • excellent band

  • @GloucesterAdam you are so right. So long ago. Stil an underrated band with a nice sound. Guess they are kinda the same as Midnight Oil just not Aussie.

  • I guess this is the original video from 1989. Very nice! Thanks to YouTube's pservin69 for the great post!

  • Forgot this was my song in 1986;-)

  • @clrncd15 you mean 1989 surely, as that was the year the song came out.

  • Just a romantic song.

  • thumbs up if the last part is the best

  • Partridge should wear a tricorn more often, looks good on him.

  • >mfw I see Lauren likes XTC

    :O

  • Wendy Wonderful...says it all.

    What a great song, such a great group.

  • You know, I think he actually does know how to write a big hit song.

  • @eruption257 I think Respectable Street shouldda gone straight to #1.

  • Love this song. Sneakily love Wendy Wonderful as well...

  • Wonderful fun video, with the feeling of the opening of the old Avengers TV series.

  • AMAZING SONG!

  • pleeease be upstanding for the mayor of simpleton!

  • XTC was a great band, there sound reminded of the Beatles, here's another band called Luce, interesting song called "Buy a Dog"

  • EQUALITY.Damn I hate mistakes!

  • I also don't troll. Do you think people ask to be gay, mentally impaired or the otherwise. I've been a skinhead against racial predjudice(SHARP) and am passionate about equalitye

  • I hate prejudice, yousuperpussy

  • TommyC503: Please get mental help. I don't know you, but what you wrote below is was psychotic bordering on megalomaniac. I think people should pray for you.

  • @bo12hughes okay check this. you've taken the time to write to TommyC505(from here after refereed to as "he") because you have an interest. He was in a scuffle with a fellow named "MyAccount4TrollingU" and clearly bested him in a battle of wits using multiple angles while paying attention to the details. I believe that you are indeed "MyAccount4TrollingU." My reason being the fact you replied in such away as he wouldn't be notified therefore not responding. Your thoughts?

  • more beatley than actual beatles like. they have the whole beat band thing down. i mean there were OTHER bands besides those liverpool monsters of rock. i hear all kinda stuff from the mid 60s w/ this lot...probably more kinks and hollies to me also lil mood blues. like a 80's badfinger ya know?

  • i dunno but i blieve this video is to evoke the U.K., maybe i'm wrong ...LOL.

  • Brilliant band. Brilliant song!

  • Great music, but it turns me off sexually. Just thought I'd share that.

  • You drummers might recognize that name Pat Masteleto, if not....

    Check out King Crimson, Construction of the light. YT won't let me give you the link.

  • cool song

  • gay

  • @MyAccount4TrollingU You must be a young fag

  • @TommyC503 Old enough to beat up your mom's pussy and dump my young sperm in 'er.

  • @TommyC503 Lame comeback... rookie.

  • who is the lady in the video? she looks good man! beautiful song

  • Takes a really smart person to write a song this great about being dumb.

  • Loved oranges and lemons, that and Sky larking. This is a great song to send to someone your just crazy for. Cheers

  • my favorite atheist band

  • @PrimatesCreatedGod

    They don't get better than this - unfortunately.

  • now THAT'S a dirty bassline

  • "and I can't unravel riddles, problems and puns, and the home computer has me on the run".. Great line. Love this song!!

  • this song pops in my head now and then, since hearing it in 1988. lovely piece

  • An amazing song from what has to be their best album, and there are great ones

  • I've often thought that if I were asked to name the most clever pop song of all time that this would be the song. You simply can't say enough about this band !

  • lol how sweet of a song :)

  • WHEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

  • This is so good, so surpassing, so wonderful that tears are falling down my cheeks as I type this. The best pop band since the Beatles and boo to you that don't understand that.

  • @melomane2010 Yes, this is a very, very good song. It's melodic from the very start to the very end!

  • My husband and I still sing this song to each other. Such a sweet, playful song.

  • Honestly, I think this is the perfect song.

  • @BettinaBalser were brains handed around --king  for a day oranges and lemons please be upstanding

  • @BettinaBalser agreed, nothing can be added or taken away to make it better.

  • Great song from a great period in music. Awesome bass line along with the CHiPS bass line.

  • Musician's musicians. English Settlement is brilliant. So is Skylarking.

  • Great catchy tune. The American version of this video is a bit different from this one.

  • What a fantastic bass line in this !

  • @Aussieduck57 - While Andy wrote it (it's the same in his demo), it's SUCH a playful bassline for the time. Pat Mastellato (drummer) even said he had a hard time figuring out Andy's drum programming for some songs on the album.

  • @Aussieduck57 Take it from someone who's played bass for 30 years: This line is great fun to play!

  • @Aussieduck57 To hell with your bass line. How about Wendy Wonderful!

  • @Aussieduck57 you're smart

  • this song got played at my brothers funeral an its kind of ironic..coz he was clever as fuck ...RIP Dr carl.r.towns love ya lots bro

  • @townsie74 My condolensces on the passing of your brother.

  • @townsie74 RIP

  • @townsie74 a lovely song to play and a lovely line in "if depth of feeling is a currency; then I'm the man who grew the money tree".

  • @townsie74 ,townsie you are a legend and your carl is missed. he wasn't the mayor of simpleton, he was one of the best people i never met, but his legend lives on through his family xxxx

  • I like this! lol :)

  • This great song just gets better & better with the passing of time, as I guess all good timeless stuff does........

  • I knew Dwight Schrute could play the recorder, but I had no idea he could sing.

  • i listened to this growing up :) great stuff!!

  • Has anyone noticed how similar this song's chorus is to "Still Alive" from Portal?

    Pretty awesome that Jonathan Coulton was possibly influenced by XTC, now that I've heard this song.

  • @ngmason - MANY have been influenced by XTC...even Suzanne Vega, REM and newer artists like Modest Mouse and the like. They are "a band's band" who are looked up to by many artists...even if unnoticed by many more casual listeners.

  • @xnonsuchx You got that right, They are a songwriter's band. One can learn many things from them if devoted enough since they made a lot of different songs and albums over their career and have released a lot of demo material (Although most of it is by Andy under his own name)

  • "Well I don't know how to write a big hit song..."

    Somehow I don't believe that.

  • I've always been very interested in this band. They had a good run but then vanished. This was a really good tune.

  • Great Bassline...

  • Greetings from America. Let's hope in our new decade you Brits will wake up out of your collective, drunken stupors and start making great music like this again!!

    There's hope for you dumbasses yet, I just know it!

  • @tomthefunky

    I agree. The only british export these days are Susan Boyle.

  • @tomthefunky Check out Flipron. They might not be your cup of tea but they are worth knowing. They're not heard because they're not really trying outside of writing their music, Their primary songwriter Jesse said he would rather spend time with his family than be in the limelight. They don't seem to play live much.