The meeting place

[MrReded69]

They were going to do another song but then a big giant white balloon engulfed them!

[inachu]

I was sitting on BEths bed as she played this on her her guitar...... I could not help starrign at her chest as she continued playing this song..... then she noticd me I Was looking...... she stopped playing this song then grabbed herself and said -THESE ARE FOR BEN!!

[BifMcAwesome]

I remember I dropped by a record store in Denver on Colfax avenue called Wax Trax and whilst I was perusing the CDs they had this album playing over their sound system. When I had heard no more than two of the songs I went straight to the checkout counter and told them I had to buy this CD. Then I went to an electronics store to buy my first CD player.

[CONSIDERABLYMORE1]

1:07 you remember why its good to be alive.

[ramacure]

Skylarking es sin dudas el mas grande y el mas perfecto disco de pop ochentoso

[paris6308]

This could easily be a sixties band , theres a bit of kinks, early floyd, incredible how they turned their music on it head, and the differences between helicopter, Dear God, mayor of simpleton, just simply underated, great video, great prisoner suits, every just so right

[ih8l8nc]

I feel like such a total tool! XTC has been one of my favorite bands since English Settlement and I watched the entirety of "The Prisoner" long before Skylarking and yet I never knew this connection!

[caseyforever]

XTC has always impressed me... they do styles of music i generally don't really like. i remember first hearing 'skylarking' when i was a total metal head back in the late 80's... someone left it at my house because i wanted to hear 'dear god'. at first i thought the rest of the album was total crap. ...sounded like 'easy listening granny music' until slowly one song at a time i was blown away by the depth of the song writing and musicianship. it just changed my whole way of seeing music! : )

[Tidelsson]

Oh I love this amazing album

[BurntOfferings]

This is seriously one of the catchiest songs ever. Skylarking as a whole is just brilliant.

[cosmicrider287]

i turn my friends on to this band.they re always amazed.

[yasminx16]

hauntingly beautiful

[Pentalpha5]

I remember the broadcast...great album...Thanks!!

[XTCoello]

Buenisimo Xtc uno de mis temas preferidos ...igual como elegir un solo tema...excelentes...........vi­va xtc..greetings from argentina

[grantjames333]

So bloody perfect British nutters pop. Partridge and the boys really made a gem when they created this.

[dodgerman20001]

the start of this song is what every swindon person used to set they're time to....

it's the whistle from the old swindon railway works...

[fanniterrette]

@dodgerman20001 : had no idea, thanks for mentioning that.

[mensamoo]

moulding... as lucky as Ringo....

[TheMightyHartley]

What a beautiful chord at 00.27 - so XTC.

[sleece6]

Skylarking was the Sgt. Pepper of the 80's.

For me anyway.

[dealman64]

This brings so many memories back. An absolutely beautiful song. A perfectly crafted number. One of many from the album - which is IMO their peak as artists.

[therealsoulproduct]

Such a brilliant yet underrated band XTC was.

[ILBREN7]

I am not a number...I am a free man!

[popomatic1970]

Heh.... so much Blur came from XTC.

This album is just so perfect.

[haggidubious]

So many memories conjured by this song...

[notaperson2012]

This song is magical. But the whole album is.

[DREWBERT79]

Xtc. So awesome. They don't make music like they used too.

[95thFoot]

Colin Moulding as Number 6- brilliant! "Who is number one?" "That would be telling...." :)

[jarlssaga850]

Best british band ever so witty and musical on the highest degree

[haggidubious]

Fantastic song, thanks for upping it!

[padigi65]

simply lpve this song...great Colin!

[jamezpackerfan]

what does he mean "lying in the bracken wood"?

[tinfoilhatter]

coat on the ground? take a walk down the lane? flatten the clover maybe-heehee

[jrc3ky]

Isn't bracken referring to salt water?

[kevinandrewmoore]

bracken is dry twigs, water that is stagnant and unmoving can be referred to as brackish

[papachinizo]

Reminds of those 60's music videos for Strawberry Fields Forever and A Whiter Shade of Pale.

Great band.

[PictureVideoBook]

This is one of my favorite tracks off of "Skylarking." Quite an interesting video.

[bobbruns47]

5 stars great ep long lost clasic

[thedarkocean]

I actually like Skylarking, great to see this.

[jedishampoo]

I can't believe there is a video for this song... every time I come back to YouTube someone has posted some XTC goodness Thank you, Thank you!!

[kevinandrewmoore]

this was from a special on The Tube, introduced by Jools Holland and set in Portmeirion, where The TV series "The prisoner" was filmed -hence their outfits

[JSS64]

The beginning sounds very much like the Ivy League tune Tossing and Turning (no. 3 1965)

Not a criticism, just an observation.

[kevinandrewmoore]

Good shout, JSS, similar to the chorus!

[cultofwedge]

I had this for years on video an then lost it. Cheers for sticking this up1

[babybabs77]

Even though XTC was before my time(sort of)i think their music is a wonderful discovery for me!(plus i love English men!)

[darkblighttmo]

someone might hear..

[redhouseblues]

This is a great song from a vastly under-rated band, the Portmeirion backdrop adds to the quirky vibe of the song. Brilliant

[fredthepig]

Abso-mo-lutely fantastic collection!

If I may be a bit of a geek here, the drummer ("Time Bomb" in the credits) was Prarie Prince from the Tubes.

Todd had produced them ("Remote Control") around this time.

[01goldg1]

This album recently became my favorite XTC album surpassing English Settlement by a small margin. I find it interesting that this could happen as my true, deep down, love of English Settlement was all about the percussion and this is the first XTC album following the departure/retirement of Terry Chambers (replaced with a Todd Rundgren hand picked drummer from his Utopia days I believe). Nonetheless, simply sublime music that has no equal today.

[pamphish]

This album could change your entire life.

[10050cielo]

eks tee see Gotta love 'em! By the way, if you don't like this album, please go and post somewhere else...this may well be the best pop album ever created, and it deserves praise.

[asdffd]

I seem to recall XTC bitching big time about this album. Don't think they got along too well with Todd Rundgren. But I agree, it's a fantastic album.

[DREWBERT79]

Excellent album I agree. I think Andy later recaped and said it was good, and that it sounded like a summers day baked into a pie. Lol

[asdffd]

HaHa. That sounds like a Andy quote.

[y2kae]

Colin Moulding is a fantastic songwriter... great lyrics that make sense...

[ledzzappa]

best thing about u tube is finding all you like minded people, i love this band and this song.

[10050cielo]

right on...I agree! This is some of the most beautiflu pop music on the planet. Wanna hear some more? Go and have a listen Martin Newell's "The Greatest Living Englishman' (1994) This album was produced by Andy Partridge, and he played a bit on it as well. Martin Newell is my absolute favorite popwriter/singer

[10050cielo]

This band is a slice of heaven. It's just as well that they never quite "made it", as I feel as though they're that much more special...all for me, sort of! I've never been more selfish about a band. I just want to wrap them up, tuck them under my sleeve, and run off with them and feel good forever!

[Lyktwz]

How wonderful! I love this song...

[rhoblidnen]

Is that Ian Gregory playing the part of Prairie Prince?

[asxtc]

erm...do you have Monstrance?..thats fairly new-ish

[monkeytrousers]

Dave looks pretty groovy in this one.

[djbollocks]

I'd been hunting around youtube for ages for this clip. Cool homage to The Prisoner and one of my favourite XTC songs. Thanks for uploading.

[purplecowlow]

probabally one of my favorites of all times....this band is too much...

[futuregirl45]

wonderful poetry. the good stuff of life. lucky person it was written about, one can only guess

[strummerino]

Been looking for this for ages

[basico70]

My favourite Xtc song. And Xtc is my favourite band.. Thanx for uplading it..

[Offenso]

I just love this song so much... one of their best, for sure

[dawgp99]

Read in a magazine that one of Andy Partidges favourite albums is Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart.How awesome is that!

[crimsonkng]

I love XTC - I wish they'd put out another studio album. But, alas, I guess that won't happen - at least anytime soon.

[Watchtower7]

lol - love how Dave just enters the song at 0:42, he just strolls on in

[ePhilosopher]

someone like you... need the band called GoodFellas

[SergentRock1961]

It took me so long to realize that Sky Larking is XTC's best album ...and XTC is one of the best band ever...

[ffairlane57]

Owned that album for more than 20 years and it is still my top favorite.

[peepingpom]

I've never seen this video before so thanks for posting.

[tommyrock69]

Skylarking is one of the best pieces of music ever created by human beings.

[screamingmimes]

Power Mullet on Colin - love it.

[blatspanner]

i have to disagree,all the songs are pretty great.for shame!

[pint6x]

excellent - all the stuff from Skylarking is superb

[koslow88]

i disagree.skylarking only has like 3 or 4 good songs the rest isnt any good.

[jordancooperlalala]

Did not know this existed. Thank you so much for putting this up. I love actually seeing Colin play those weird bass lines.

[RonG40]

I played this CD CONSTANTLY in the late 80s and 90s. One of my absolute favorites! Seriously over looked as a group. I still Summers Cauldron to mark the beginning of summer...It's become a tradition. Classic.

[xtstevie]

Nice to see this, I still can't believe the lads didn't release Earn enough for us as a single though.

[frithar]

in our area, it was played on radio stations every bit as much as any released single...you sound sure it wasn't, though?

[lunardeed]

Obviously a great tune, but whats even more interesting is the direct nod to the 60's TV show the Prisoner. Along with the video "The man who sailed around his soul" both are a pastiche of the show down to the costumes,the location of the shoot at The Portmeirion resort in Wales, even a brief cameo of Patrick McGoohan #6. Awsome!!!

[oogie11]

'tis a fine song this is....aah, Sacrificial Bonfire reminds me of the Wicker Man for some weird reason....hmmm....hmmm...

[julianveronica]

"skylarking"... christ, what can i say? every bit as good as sgt. pepper. i honestly don't think there's a single track i skip... i wish someone would make a video with the studio version of "sacrficial bonfire" (lord of the flies themed, maybe...?)

[starbrite526]

i always thought the same thing about lord of the flies vid for sacrficial bonfire

[koslow88]

every bit as good as pepper?haha you are aN IDIOT.skylarking only has a few good songs like grass and dear god and the meeting place and summers cauldron and thats it,the rest is crap.

[Watchtower7]

didn't we go over this already? And do you just walk around calling XTC fans idiots because you have nothing better to do?

[koslow88]

unlike you i go to college,and i play tennis.i have a life.you obviously don't

[crimsonkng]

Skylarking is definitely XTC's Pepper. Whereas Wasp Star is XTC's Abbey Road.

[strongbutmighty]

Colin and Andy are so cute

[almadora]

thank you so much for this...a great colin composition. andy's grey guitar is gorgeous.