Music Monday: Senses Working Overtime

XTC* were one of those British bands that had some successes, and had a following, but were never on the mega-star level. The first song of theirs I heard was “Making Plans for Nigel” back in 1979. That song gave them a reputation for quirky, catchy tunes with thoughtful lyrics, usually written by singer/guitarist Andy Partridge. But “Senses Working Overtime” is by far my favorite of theirs. Again, there’s a quirkiness to it, but it’s incredibly catchy, and very creative. More about the song in a moment.

I don’t really have a particular story to share about this tune, but listening to it does conjure up a particular time in my life. It’s 1982, somewhere around February, and I’m in my first year at Hereford Cathedral School. I’ve settled in at my new school, I’ve made some good friends, and I’m managing to keep my grades decent. Mathematics is a struggle, but Divinity (i.e., Religious Studies), History, Music, and English are fun. My senses are working overtime…

I see my form room (“home room” in the US?), Room D. This is where we gather for morning roll call, and hear announcements before going to chapel in Hereford Cathedral. It’s a ground floor room with a bay window that looks out over a lawn. I remember gathering with other “freshers” the previous summer for orientation on that lawn. As I sit in my chair, the large door is in front of me. The white board is over on the left-hand wall, and our lockers are on the right-hand wall.

I hear the bell for end of the lesson. Classes are about 40 mins long, and we have seven of them each day in different locations around the school campus. This must have been either English or Divinity, because our form teacher, Mrs. Howard-Brown, teaches those in our form room. She’s still talking as we close up our books, but we wait to be dismissed, even though the bell has sounded. It must be lunchtime because…

… I can smell the aroma of cooking from the cafeteria, which is next door to our building. I don’t get my lunch from the cafeteria often–hardly ever, actually. I bring my lunch to school, which saves us money, and, quite frankly, the smell from the cafeteria is not particularly appetizing. Somehow it always smells the same, no matter what’s on the menu: a kind of bland cabbage mixed with the sharp tang of ammonia. But the most memorable smell from Room D is the carpet. Over the summer they laid a new carpet, and the smell of the glue is still strong. To this day, whenever I smell that carpet glue, it takes me back to Room D.

I touch the wooden desk, feel the scratch marks of previous occupants, the varnished wood splintering under my fingers. I get out my lunch box, which has a matching flask containing coffee or tea–I don’t recall. Then I taste my lunch. Sandwiches. Possibly chicken spread (a kind of paté that comes in a jar, made for spreading on sandwiches) and a Mars bar. Ugh–Simon brought sardine and onion sandwiches again. Nasty!

Now let’s talk about the song. For starters, here’s the lead sheet. Click on the picture to download a pdf of the words and guitar chords:

A few notes on the lead sheet. The sections in square brackets [like these] were edited out of the single version. I believe they are on the album version. Also, guitarists, don’t feel compelled to play the bass notes on the “One, Two, Three, Four, Five” part–that’s covered by the bass guitarist on the track. Finally, the G#m-F# and C#m-E chords at the beginning and through the verse are actually implied–they don’t play the full chords. The acoustic guitar seems to be doing this for those chords (click to enlarge):

The “x”s mean “don’t play.” For this section, the strings you do play should be muted. If you listen to the track, you’ll hear what I mean.

I’m not sure what Andy Partridge intended the song to be about, but it seems to juxtapose the darker things of life–greed, poverty, injustice, death, etc–with the richness of the world around us. Despite all the negative stuff going on, this world is full of beauty and wonder that we often struggle to take in through our senses.

Here’s a video of XTC playing the song:

Any questions? Don’t forget, if you have any Music Monday song requests, just mention them in the comments, or email me.

*Do you get it? XTC = Ecstasy. Clever, huh?