Meaning of “Making Plans for Nigel” by XTC
XTC was a rock band from a part of England known as Swindon who were around during the last three decades of the 20th century and into the aughts. Within that time they released 14 studio albums, the third of lot being “Drums and Wires”, which came out through Virgin Records in August of 1979. There was only one (global) single issued from that piece, which is “Making Plans for Nigel”, which was officially released shortly thereafter, on September 7th.
The Team behind “Making Plans for Nigel”
The XTC members which participated on the recording of “Making Plans for Nigel” were the following:
- Colin Moulding (lead vocalist)
- Andy Partridge (lead guitarist)
- Dave Gregory (rhythm guitarist)
- Terry Chambers (drummer)
And the producer of the track is Steve Lillywhite, one of the most tenured and successful behind-the-scenes’ British musicians in industry history, and its writer is the aforementioned Colin Moulding.
Song’s Success
“Making Plans for Nigel” had somewhat of a moderate chart showing, most notably breaking the top 20 of both the UK Singles Chart and Canada Top Singles. But it was a major achievement for XTC at the time, marking their commercial breakthrough. This is actually the song which propelled the band from relative obscurity into mainstream success.
Furthermore, this track went on to be highly regarded by the likes of Pitchfork and NME in their ranking of songs dropped throughout the entirety of the 1970s.
Part of this track’s initial success may be partially attributable to the fact that the first 20,000 copies came complete with a playable game board, in the tradition of Chutes and Ladders, though modeled after the life of the fictional Nigel.
This song also had its own music video, as assembled by director Russell Malcahy, which was kinda unusual in the 1970s but not so much so for European acts.
Lyrics of “Making Plans for Nigel”
The lyrics are being relayed from the perspective of Nigel’s parents. So the title / thesis sentiment is indicative of them having already made plans for his life, which apparently consists of a standard mainstream path, i.e. having a career at British Steel, which can be counted as sort of the quintessential corporation in the UK at the time. In fact Colin namedropped them for that very reason, not to highlight British Steel per se.
And the lyrics of this song are very ambiguous, not giving any insight on Nigel from a firsthand perspective. In other words, they only reflect what his parents feel about him. And as implied, from their perspective he is the non-controversial, hard-working type, i.e. the ideal modern worker, if you will.
But somehow someway, you can feel that there’s more to what’s being put forth than what appears on the surface. For instance, as noted earlier we never hear from Nigel himself. And the vocalist states that “he must be happy in his world”, with that word “must” connoting that this is the parents’ belief, i.e. not one that they actually went about verifying.
So it can be ascertained that these lyrics reflect the mom and dad’s ideological vision of Nigel, i.e. the way they perceive him or want to perceive him, rather than hardcore reality.
“And if young Nigel says he’s happy
He must be happy
He must be happy”
And what all of this is supposed to point to, according to Moulding, is the concept of parental pressure. In part, what’s being put forth harps back to his mid-teenage years, when Colin’s dad was very much against his aspiration to be a shaggy-haired musician as opposed to clean-cut schoolboy, i.e. conforming to society’s norms.
But that is not to say that this piece is entirely or even directly autobiographical. Or as Moulding put it, he “didn’t know where” the wording “came from”, and there’s “a lot of things all wrapped up” when writing songs, “like in your dreams”.
So he also went on to describe this piece for instance as being sympathetic towards those who are bullied.
XTC VS. THE MAN
XTC took that shoutout to British Steel all the way, by even including industrial, metal-sounding effects in the track. But as noted earlier, this song was not meant to be critical of said organization in any way, shape or form. However, some listeners did take it as so.
For example, the workers at British Steel once reportedly went on a major strike and proceeded to contact Colin so that he could make a statement on their behalf (which he didn’t). Also, it has been reported that British Steel itself actually gathered its employees named Nigel to gauge their respective job satisfaction levels, perhaps under the presumption that one of them actually served as the inspiration behind this song.
But to note, Colin chose that particular name because “there had been Nigels at (his) school”, and moreover it “felt very English”. And the singer also revealed that throughout the years, he has been approached by “countless Nigels” who could totally relate to what’s being put forth via this piece.
