XTC-The man who sailed around his soul

[JakeStarstorm]

Only thumbing down because the video is lame and a song this amazing deserves better. XTC are the greatest.

[101Volts]

Nice, Flipron are showing up in the suggestions bar.

[BifMcAwesome]

This song is so well crafted. Listen the the parts apart and then together. The bass line, the drums, the piano, the flute, the brass embellishments, the "secret agent" guitar, topped off by Andy Partridge's flawless vocal work. Listen to it's dynamics, it sneaks it on flute and bogos, it winds itself up with the piano, it keeps a syncopated time with the drums, it gets brassy and loud with the horns, and then it sneaks back out on its flute with bongo feet. Cool Daddy-O!!!

[CONSIDERABLYMORE1]

The life size chess board was actually a temporary fixture used in the Prisoner. It is not actually there when you visit Portmeirion! When I first heard this track I was gobsmacked. It was a real rabbit from a hat moment - just when you thought XTC couldn't get any better they puttled this little beauty out of the deck. Its like bathing and then submerging in a giant fondu of Woodford Reserve!

[M0nkeeman1200]

XTC and The Prisoner together at last.

[SleepyTymeT]

A contrived video, but a great song, band, album.

[handymandan100]

This sis so COOOOOL! I love this song, neve5r knew there was a video for it! So so so... British! And retro, even for the day...

[walkerbrothersmusic]

Thank Todd for this one, this was his arrangement. Actually the whole sequence and song cycle was his doing along with a lot of uncredited playing.

[redscarletto]

video-schmideo. the song and band are tight. and head and shoulders above today's drivel. listen closely, there are actual instruments being PLAYED in the background. and andy is SINGING, not "auto-tuning".

[paulbuttrill]

XTC are my favourite band, the Beatles 2nd. I'm in an electronic band myself and still prefer XTC over Gary Numan for creativity. It was the Skylarking album that first got me into XTC although it's difficult to decide which XTC album is my favourite because they all have their own individual styles.

[x9x8x7x61]

I am starting to appreciate skylarking more and more... 1986-1992, their best albums i suppose. Partridge is great.

[zaphodd42]

one of few bands of all time that consistently sang ABOUT something. Intelligence is so underrated.

[ePhilosopher9]

/watch?v=LSnXjE66tvQ

[ePhilosopher9]

the man who walked around the world and found his twin. and they sit at that home no place like alone, both of which were kings for a day.

perhaps i'll have a jellyfish sandwich ;)

[TheBrilliantGeniuses]

and in the year as mute as the year 2010 if the jellyfish stings and you piss on it, does the ammonia tag you're it no place like like life's souvenir's swimming in just bare with the bear mkt or bull carkass bullfight on acid broke it off and the barb of that jellyfish dare bye bigh love this song 2011 around the cape of the horn

[petermcintyre100]

Remember seeing this on the 'Tube'

Typical excentricity from the xtc'ers. Loved the original 'Prisoner' as well, which is the location of that series used in the video. Of course you knew that. Po.....me...on

Superb Song by the way

[monkeytrousers]

XTC Man who sailed]

[BlackMonk66]

That's what The Prisoner needed; choreography from West Side Story.

[beaverliqour]

fantastic song

[deadwoodmountain]

I love the Latin influenced piano riff during the first breaking leading into the chorus; they should have repeated it in the latter parts of the song as well. Just my opinion. Amazing song nonetheless.....these guys are very creative and out of the box thinkers.

[kleptizle]

jizzz in your eyes

[valvemania]

This song is such a drum lesson... Prairie Prince is one of the most under-rated drummers on the planet.

[TimServo]

Agreed, great song and neat drums. However, I think you're confusing this video "from 'The Tube'" with a video from the BAND called The Tubes. Prarie Prince is the drummer for The Tubes, but this band is XTC.

[mattypark]

There was a British pop music show around in the 80s called The Tube-this clip is taken from said TV show.I guess you're from the US so you can be forgiven for not knowing that.

[TimServo]

Whoops! My bad. I did a little research and found that it really was Prairie Prince who played drums on the Skylarking album!! I though Valvemania was confused, but it turns out I was the one who needed straightening out. :) And yes, he's a VERY good drummer.

[valvemania]

Quite alright.  He is also the drummer on Stupidly Happy off of Wasp Star.

[KaitainCPS]

@TimServo

This video is actually from a one-off TV programme called "The Laughing Prisoner", a spoof of "The Prisoner", with Jools Holland in the Patrick McGoohan role.

[k2ombs]

I agree for sure. The first time I heard this song...when the album came out....I was immediately drawn in, and blown away by the drumming . The song arrangement allows for such imagination for a great drummer..

[sweetdilly]

I can't imagine that Prarie Prince played on this.

[sweetdilly]

sorry, Todd did that record so of course it was Prarie Prince.

[TighelanderII]

Love the song, hate the video.

[NewestViewest]

I do have advanced understanding but it has nothing to do with thinking I have it because I listen to XTC. I have it. I listen to XTC because they too live there. Advanced Understanding Street is a pleasant place to live and play. Put down your silly emptiness, stop in and play a while. We accept the passionless too.

[nbsabat]

great tune, probably there best jazzy number, but it's so obvious colin isnt actually playing the double bass haha its so funny

[cjathena]

Know my 60's. The coolest girl you might ever know will tell you that (in all of our opinions) that the ultimate ripoff of some of the best of the best is The Prisoner. Seen here ,weep for the future...let's make sure they do!  Remember. that is...Love Emma(never Tara!) Ta!

[45spindle]

@cjathena

No, no...never ever Tara!

[thewakz]

Andy said this is one of his favorite songs, because it is James Bond-ish. It surprised me because we all know the drama behind Skylarking

[sheogroth]

rad

[zebonaut]

Such a dramatic song..and cool Prarie Prince on Drums (not in the vid..who IS that?)

[monkeytrousers]

Ian Gregory (Dave's brother aka EIEI Owen)

[SpreadingLoveAround]

Utopia is thinking of me

[motorwawt]

the funny thing about the Skylarking period is that Todd Rundgren and Dave Gregory look almost identical at that time

[ridedirtba]

Is that improvisational dance

[notjoes]

I dont know, but I dig it.

[pamphish]

Andy is brilliant, along with the rest of the group.

[lokrume04]

Jacob, you've already told us. And still you're coming back to this song. Interesting,

[adamg709]

There is something in what you say - when they were great they were great - but some of the songs do not stand up to scrutiny.

[petegib7]

Most who know XTC believe they WERE really good. They didn't try too hard to be different - they did what they were capable of and they were better than 99% of the competition.

[Jacobrester]

I must be in thet 1% minority who thinks their songs had the potential to be really good. Instead, what ww got, was an overzealous attempt of being different from everyone else.

[ibazookajoe]

Why would watch this video then?

[Darrylizer1]

Why would a band or any artist want to sound like or be like everybody else?!? Its their individuality that makes XTC interesting. Go back to listening to Creed or Nicklecrack, for gods sake.

[Jacobrester]

You are a perfect example of the person who likes this odd material from XTC......you think you are different and have some sort of advance understanding because you say you like it

[101Volts]

@Darrylizer1 Agreed. However, Influence is a strange thing. If a person has too huge of an influence from one band they end up sounding pretty close to that band even if they don't want to be a ripoff. On another hand, I want to sound like The New Pornographers but I don't sing often so instead I try to sound like them through guitar parts - My guitar playing is influenced by the singing!

[TheBrilliantGeniuses]

@Darrylizer1 Creed is that old guy on "The Office", right?

[BirdyDear]

ASTONISHINGLY great song.

someone should be arrested for the criminally bad dancing however!

;)

[PeterMayer]

Praire Prince smokes on drums on this cut.

[PeterMayer]

Scooner jazzzzz.......

[instantstrudel]

look at them trying to dance along in 7:4 :L great song though

[Jacobrester]

XTC can be so good......and yet at times....so fucking bad

[lokrume04]

Hi Jacob, I accept that you maybe don't like this video.  But what's wrong with the song. Think it's one of the strongest ones on Skylarking. And besides I believe the composer (Andy Partridge) himself has this one on his own XTC top 10 list.

[Jacobrester]

This song is okay.....nothing wrong with it......for my personal taste......I like more mainstream songs by XTC.....like "King for a Day"......."The Mayor of Simpleton"......

I have great respect for them......but sometimes it just seems like they were trying too hard to be different.......and it shows

[AbouliaTrilobyte]

A good artist has to walk that line a bit. I started off listening to Skylarking which was easy on the ears. Alot of other stuff sorta bounced off for a while till I got into it. But personally I find I spend more time listening in the end to stuff it took a while to get into. This song sorta strikes me as a sly attempt at a James Bond theme.

[TheDistorted]

To quote magneato23:

"The original Fuzzy Warbles version sounds a little more straight-forward xtc, kinda strummy and nice. I read that the spy movie sound was Todd Rundgren's idea."

Irregardless, to not consider this a fine piece of music (no matter one's personal taste) is to be willing obstinate, at best IMHO.

[Jacobrester]

I don't care for this song.....is sounds cheap and gimmicky.

[xnonsuchx]

@lokrume04  - Keep in mind Andy has held music videos as not at all a good thing...usually lampooning them. In one interview, he mocked a fictitious director as saying, "OK, boys...just go stand over by that exploding jockstrap!" or words to that effect. Andy HATED most of XTC's videos.

[kurt52073]

@lokrume04 Where, just out of curiosity, can one find that top ten list?

[caseyforever]

@lokrume04

yeah this video doesn't add to the song but man... this song is AMAZING. the bass line and drum track is pure genius, and no, i don't use that word often. one of my all time favorite drum tracks but yeah... WOW this video is AWEFUL. i'm gonna go before it imprints in my memory! hahah.

[thewakz]

Andy once said that this is one of his favorite songs.

-stingray

[MusicJew158]

How the fuck is this band so underappreciated. It boggles my mind!

[melcher]

You mean.....BOTTLES your mind, right?

[instereovideos]

@MusicJew158 Lol, well it should only boggle your mind if you're used to seeing musical geniuses be appreciated... But in this world it's usually really awful shit that is appreciated, because people want to identify with their music, and most people are really awful people who like do really lame shit like dance to hiphop, or watch beer commercials, or mosh, or go to nascar races... how the fuck are those billions of losers supposed to identify with XTC? And it really boggles your mind? : )

[bryngOneOn]

@MusicJew158 how does it feel...having your mind......boggled...

[Nakedprey]

@MusicJew158 Because people seem to fall into 3 categories: 1) Those who get XTC, 2) Those who don't get XTC, 3) Those who REALLY don't get XTC.

[agay40]

Prairie Prince rules. Love XTC, but somehow the drumming fits

this song like a stylish pair of shoes - does Todd Rundgren get the credit for putting the brilliant musicianship of PP

together with a great band - anybody?

[haruuj]

Some of the BEST drumming I have ever heard, on this song. Hail Prairie Prince!

[IfIfsandands]

Dude, I couldn't agree more!!! I love this song for the drums apart from it being a killer song too!

[purm0ndis]

this should have been a james bond theme song.

[PeterMayer]

Scooner jazz! Of course we never saw this on f-ing MTV!

[SonicD4]

Vince Guaraldi sounding, if you don't know who he is then you never watched Charlie Brown holiday specials. XTC put out some of the most varied and thoughtful music ever. No one has come close to this in recent years. It's a shame that we haven't heard anything new from them in quite a while, again.

[bothreturn]

Unfortunately dreadful camerawork and production on this one; XTC were cheated out of decent videos for the most part.

[butiamthedoctor]

This is from The Laughing Prisoner, a Tube special from 1986, cool stuff.

[noheadhollow]

Of course this song is brilliant - it's XTC! But Ruben Blades' cover of it from the "Testimonial Dinner" tribute album is excellent as well. If you've never heard it you should seek it out. Very different than the original, but still great. Probably the best cover version of any song that I've ever heard.

[TheRealCritique]

My favorite song off of Skylarking, but I had no idea there was a video for this. I love XTC, but this is where the punk was going and the new wave was taking over. I wonder if they really really wanted to break through and got softer. Regardless, this song shows major musical and writing chops. This is real musicianship, on the order of jazz or classical, and leaves modern pop music drooling in its ignorance. DRUMS, melody, horns, congas - amazing....

[IfIfsandands]

I'm not being smart, I'm just correcting, they're bongos, not Congas.

[TheRealCritique]

an important distinction...

[IfIfsandands]

You'd never be able to walk the streets of Havana calling congas 'bongos' :-)

[asdffd]

I had no idea there was a video for this crazy. I can see Andy being a big fan of The Prisoner.

[y2kae]

Another great Andy Partridge song...

[rubbletrubble1]

Having been a fan since I was 9 years old i thought i knew i everything there was to know. And yet...

Age 37 what do i find, unbelievable, brilliant

[Carlito1988]

People keep digging up all these XTC videos I never knew existed...Great!!

[letdown201]

Great song. Best played when near the sea.

[jazzmom66]

This band was unbelievably creative and unique

[lokrume04]

Only exist videos for Grass, The meeting place, Dear God and this one from the Skylarking era.

[jsilence418]

Two of my favoritte British imports in one XTC , and the Prisoner. any post for Dying? thanks for the post!

[EnnioRome]

With Skylarking the XTC introducing the atmospheres of the past,very good!

[Vpmatt]

All XTC fans need to see this documnetary of the band from 1983 I just discovered on this site - do a search for "XTC Documentary (Play at Home) 1983" by user cowsill2x2 - it's brilliant!

[ePhilosopher]

reason of your own 2008

reason: the cock who chirped birds and whistled and the only ones who hear dare 2 deep 008 is evy

[tonebenderx]

Awesome song. And I love the homage to "The Prisoner" one the most interesting and surreal TV shows from the 60s.

[pizzacat311]

I'm that man they're singing about...just kidding of course. Great song, Skylarking is one XTC's greatest.

[persinos]

Great fun.

[gregtudor]

Thanks you - But of course!

E.I.E.I. Owen. Looks like Dave as well.

Thanks again.

[gregtudor]

Who is 'drumming' on this? Can't hardly imagine that is Prairie Prince...

[lokrume04]

It's Ian Gregory, Dave's brother. Also known as E.I.E.I. Owen, drummer in The Dukes of Stratosphear.

[wrongheaven]

Greatness

[tmsaturn]

gem of a song, but could have done without the campy dancing

[BigAlDavies]

It was on the Tube TV show when Jools Holland left the show, the whole show was in Portmeirion and was explaining why Jools was leaving in the style of he Prisoner, so I guess the dancing was all down to the TV producers.

[marpbird]

What a gem. Such a good song, and reminds you that XTC were/are? truly wonderful and a credit to english eccentric pop genius. Thanks for putting this up.

[scissorsman311]

Love the harmony in the last line of chorus.

[3rdbillygoat]

Peep the vocal lines in this song. Nice bend in the verses and diminished outline in the chrous AP!

[3rdbillygoat]

Friggin' dope wordplay and metaphors in this one.

AP - you goddamned genius!

[NegPhil]

Man, dig those jazz hands.

[nigel630711]

This song is soooo cool it should be viewed from within a freezer.

[xxxChrist]

This was originally shown on a programme called 'The Laughing Prisoner' hosted by Jools Holland and starring Stephen Fry as 'Number 2'. It was filmed at Portmeirion, N Wales which was the original location for 'The Prisoner' starring Patrick McGoohan. What a song and what an album.

[pastperfecttense]

OMG---thanks for sharing---have been looking for this forever! Awesome!

[wrongheaven]

Lyrically this is an amazing song!!!!

[shortyktfc]

I did not know they did a video to this song! Top bombing lads. Skylarking has to be up there with the great albums of all time. It's only "Dear God" that got it some reasonable airplay in the first place... and it wasn't even on the original album!

[magneato23]

The original Fuzzy Warbles version sounds a little more straight-forward xtc, kinda strummy and nice. I read that the spy movie sound was Todd Rundgren's idea. Classic song and record.

[DarthClam]

Cool I didn't know that.

[oogie11]

a james bond theme this were surely meant to be, eh? ;)

[StillOnFire]

I think it's meant to be themed on the British television show 'The Prisoner' from the late 1960s, which starred the fantastic Patrick McGoohan!

[opusnone]

Bravo, indeed. I love youtube! Great tune, also.

[jackdollhandler]

bravo!

[julianveronica]

man, this song starts off measured and cool, but by the end, it swells and crashes...brilliant. love it. genius. gorgeous. perfect.

[boosh4u]

The last "crash" was cut off. :(

[Zetapimpkin]

Yeah, not quite the same without it, is it?

[strongbutmighty]

i love this song

[escarcha]

Nice song, first time I hear it, love XTC versatility!