"This World Over" | ||||
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![]() Cover art of 7-inch single | ||||
Single by XTC | ||||
from the album The Big Express | ||||
B-side | "Blue Overall" | |||
Released | 29 October 1984 | |||
Recorded | 1984 | |||
Length |
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Label | Virgin | |||
Songwriter(s) | Andy Partridge | |||
Producer(s) | David Lord, XTC | |||
XTC singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"This World Over" on YouTube |
"This World Over" is a song by the English rock band XTC, written by Andy Partridge, and the second single from their 1984 album The Big Express . It reached number 99 on the UK Singles Chart during a one-week stay.
"This World Over" is a song protesting the use of nuclear weapons [1] as a reaction to recent speeches by Ronald Reagan, which instigated Partridge's fears of another Cold War. [2] According to Partridge, "My first child was on the way and [I] just thought that, if I survived, how terrible it would be to have to tell her what life used to be like, that there was once a place called London and it was a fantastic place but it's not there anymore." [2] It is one of two politically-charged songs on the album, the other being "Reign of Blows". [3]
All of the drum sounds are pre-recorded samples. [2] One of the guitar parts is a slew of sustained feedback notes played through a Marshall amplifier. The "high stratospheric squeaking noises in the last verse", Partridge said, are viola harmonics played by session musician Stuart Gordon, who "saws the bow over at a harmonic point, very whistly, and that was put into a [Roland] Chorus Echo. Glorious, reminiscent of birds and ... grand things." [4]
In the magazine Smash Hits , guest writer Morrissey penned a review of the song that stated "XTC have stepped back from music industry machinations and are making better records." [5]
Chart (1985) | Peak position |
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UK Singles (OCC) [6] | 99 |