XTC The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul

From their 1986 album Skylarking

Lyrics:

The man who sailed around his soul
From East to West, from pole to pole
With ego as his drunken captain
Greed, the mutineer, had trapped all reason in the hold

The man who walked across his heart
Who took no compass, guide or chart
To rope and tar his blood congealed
When he found his self revealed ugly and cold

And the sirens that sing
By your nose with its ring
They'll drag you in
For your sins

Now he sits all alone
And it's no place like home
It's empty skin
A bag to keep life's souvenirs in
The man who sailed around his soul
The man who sailed around his soul

The man who sailed around his soul
Came back again to find a hole
Where once he thought compassion and the truth
Had laid to warm his freezing carcass on return

The man who walked across his heart
Was doomed to journey from the start
Of every love affair he'd broken
All the lies he'd ever spoken
Tattooed on his arm
And the jellyfish stings
Even angels with wings
Who look too deep
And dare to peep

Now he sits all alone
Knowing flesh blood and bone
Is everything
He found the treasure he'd been seeking
The man who sailed around his soul

Category:

Music

Tags:

• XTC
• The
• Man
• Who
• Sailed
• Around
• His
• Soul
• Skylarking

[CONSIDERABLYMORE1]

This is fucking brilliant. Their best in every respect.

[dvdsea]

A direct hit! Cool sixties vibe and super-nihilistic lyrics. Love!

[rundoetx]

Sine I first heard XTC, they have never ceased to amaze me. awesome. thanks for posting.

[trhsailor]

one of my favs.... r they singin' 'bout me??

[DonVanVliet83]

the drum is crazy

[Boylieboyle]

@JavelBleach Andy Partridge nearly had the tender for the James And The Giant Peach movie but Randolph Scott ended up doing it instead. The good news though is that many of the would-be movie songs available to hear.

Ask one of the many fans on this page and I'm sure they will inundate you!

[k2ombs]

One of my favorite drumming songs I can think of....just too cool.

[unkleskratch]

@gfrancisbacon- thanks for the reply. I looked up the wiki of the album to be sure, but it really doesnt matter, does it..I had it for years before a friend told me it was a concept album- either or, the songs are marvelous, and as a born again atheist (?) the song Dear God still makes me cry to this very day.

All the best -Unk.

[gfrancisbrown]

@unkleskratch I see it as more like a number of story threads woven together, for instance: I can picture the teenage couple from "Grass" as the same young adult couple from "The Meeting Place". Likewise, the character singing "1000 Umbrellas" could be the same guy from "That's really super, Supergirl" Etc.

[JavelBleach]

I can see this 50-60s movie happen all the way through it.

I presume they've done film music? I don't know of any.

[unkleskratch]

somebody i know made a great observation about this album- its actually a life story!

Hear it again from that point of view, and it holds a whole new dimension.