XTC English Roundabout

From their 1982 album English Settlement

Lyrics:

People rushing round with no time to spare.
I'm so dizzy,
I'm neither here nor there.
In this traffic jam,
I just want to shout,
Let me off o' this English roundabout

English roundabout

And all the the horns go 'beep! beep!'
All the people follow like sheep,
I'm full of light and sound,
Making my head go round, round.

Everyone is cursing under their breath,
I'm a passenger,
I feel close to death,
Hopeless situation,
I have no doubt.
Stop the madness, English roundabout

English roundabout

And all the cars go 'brum! brum!'
And in my ears I feel a hum,
The neons blind my eyes,
All those tempers rise, rise.

Cars and buses go,
Puffing out their smoke,
Roll my window down,
I begin to choke.
I have had enough,
I just want to get out.
Let me off o' this English roundabout.

English roundabout.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• XTC
• English
• Roundabout
• Settlement

[MrWallygator2]

Hailing from Swindon, England XTC always managed to play (oftentimes outplay) every band out of the U.K--the Police being a perfect example. And what production qualities, and great producers..e.g., lillywhite, ect., Partridge & Moulding were/still are shining examples of excellent pop writers (Lennon/McCartney; etc) and they truly deserve more recognition in the annals of Rock n' Roll's Hall of Fame--this tune is merely a small taste of what they were able to accomplish.

[mgappleg8]

This music pulls me up to places I've never been but need to go!

[jagdpanther1944]

@bandcouver

good call mate, I confess i forget about Radio 6, I heard they wanted to shut it down, so I should listen to it more to make sure it keeps going, I heard many people say it is quality....I just lost interest in radio, and my artistic desires are provided by my CD's and you tube

PS: great to hear XTC again after all these months:) I bought this album in 1982 on tape when I was at school in Australia...it meant so much to me, it was my connection with England, my home

[bandcouver]

@jagdpanther1944 The reason The Eagles get a lot of the airplay is because radio and the industry is run by people who don't give a damn about music. Shut those stations out and listen to BBC 6 Music online ( for one ) to hear much more music ( new and old ) than the limited play-lists of the regular stations. You can also actually learn more about music there too.

[bandcouver]

@pbrick6301 The singer and writer of this song is Colin Moulding. Some people think he wrote the more winsome of XTC's songs. But Andy Partridge ( who wrote most of their songs ) has come up with some good ones too. I think it's silly ,but, some people go on how 'pitchy' Andy's voice is. Not all of us are 'pitch perfect' singers. They're obviously not listening to the fantastic music that's being created without the gawd awful 'auto-tune" in place.

[pbrick6301]

the singer on this song: no offense but he is much better then the other singer, and i know the other 1 is a fairy, & that is cool, but this guy is alot better songwriter and singer, that is just fact, and again no offence to the other guy,

[hufclufc]

@m06een00 MIGHT BE WHY THESE ARE 2 MY FAV BANDS FROM 77-92 PERIOD

[Dave45582]

Clever lyrics, catchy, snappy key changes, just some great pop tunes.