The Mayor of Simpleton - XTC, 1989

 
 

Never been near a university
Never took a paper or a learned degree
And some of your friends think that's stupid of me
But it's nothing that I care about

Well I don't know how to tell the weight of the sun
And of mathematics well I want none
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton,
But I know one thing and that's I love you

When their logic grows cold and all thinking gets done
You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton

I can't have been there when brains were handed round
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton)
Or get past the cover of your books profound
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton)
And some of your friends thinks it's really unsound that
You're ever seen talking to me

Well I don't know how to write a big hit song
And all crossword puzzles well I just shun
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton
But I know one thing and that's I love you

I'm not proud of the fact that I never learned much
Just feel I should say
What you get is all real I can't put on an act
It takes brains to do that anyway (And anyway...)

And I can't unravel riddles, problems and puns
How the home computer has me on the run
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton
But I know one thing and that's I love you (I love you)

If depth of feeling is a currency
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton)
Then I'm the man who grew the money tree
(No chain of office and no hope of getting one)

Some of your friends are too brainy to see that they're paupers
And that's how they'll stay

Well I don't know how many pounds make up a ton
Of all the Nobel prizes that I've never won
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton
But I know one things and that's I love you

When all logic grows cold and all thinking gets done
you'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton
You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton
You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor

Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton...

 
---
 
XTC was officially born in 1976, although members of the band had been playing together since the early '70s. Signed with Virgin Records, they were part of the British New Wave movement in the late '70s. The name has nothing to do with the drug, by the way, which wasn't developed until the mid-80s. According to co-founder Andy Partridge, they chose three letters simply to be noticed...
 
Some of XTC's more successful 80s releases included Life Begins at the Hop, Making Plans For Nigel, Generals and Majors, Dear God and The Mayor of Simpleton. The band experienced limited success on into the '90s with The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead.

XTC evolved into a studio band, due in part to the stage fright experienced by vocalist/guitarist Andy Partridge. He was apparently addicted to Valium since his teenage years, so his well-meaning wife threw away his supply just before a performance. The resulting anxiety soon forced him to withdraw from touring permanently.

The Mayor of Simpleton can be found on the album Oranges and Lemons, published through Geffen Records. The 1989 video for the song can be viewed here.