bubbly on the outside, dark on the inside.
XTC was a british band formed in 1972, in the moderate-sized city of swindon, by andy partridge (vocals/guitar) and colin moulding (vocals/guitar) who formed the core songwriting duo. the band’s music occupied a weird space between avant-garde post-punk and accessible new wave, and while they weren’t too commercially successful, their influence and wit would come to reach bands as recent as blur and arctic monkeys, however indirectly.
now, before i talk about the song, allow me to go on a small tangent here. the most noticeable part i found while listening to “Making Plans for Nigel”, besides the drums, was colin moulding’s accent as he sings in this song. i’ve listened to enough british music at this point to notice something very different about the way moulding pronounces “r” and “ing”, and i did a little digging to find that he has a very strong west country accent. it sounds lively, and even a little quirky, which compliments this song perfectly. if you’re curious, read about it here.
anyways, “Making Plans for Nigel” was XTC’s biggest commercial success, and it’s an unorthodox arrangement of small musical elements and glitchy, synthy guitar blips that somehow come together to be catchy and interesting. the guitar tone reminds me of “12:51” by the strokes. one of the best parts about this song are the gated drums, which have a reverberated effect to give it the feel of something between a cymbal crash and a wash of sound. the upbeat, futuristic feel of the song contrasts sharply with the lyrical content: moulding is singing from the perspective of the titular nigel’s overbearing and cruel parents.
it’s a timeless theme. your parents want you to be successful, so they inadvertently try to control your life. moulding was in fact writing from experience here- the lyrics were based off of his father, who wouldn’t accept his musical ambitions. this gives the sparse instrumentals an almost eerie, personal edge: while the song sounds upbeat, it really only reflects the simplistic and misunderstood perspective of the parents in this scenario, without offering any concession for nigel’s feelings. in a way, that makes this fun, groovy song a little dark.
as a teenager myself, i can relate, especially because i’m working through my college applications. the future is so close, and i’ve found it to be a constant wrestle between parental expectations and personal desires. besides being relatable, i love simple songs with hidden complexity like “Making Plans for Nigel” right here. 🙂
