The song began as a
reggae tune and went through numerous iterations. The song began with a sequenced bass part triggered from a keyboard and a
programmed kick drum. Once these components were settled, guitars and a
scratch vocal were also recorded. The guitar track that appeared on the final recording was performed by
Dave Gregory on a
twelve-string guitar.
Pat Mastelotto, who played drums on the track, recalled that considerable attention was placed on the
snare drum tone. Components of the snare drum track were achieved by recording the
release of the instrument with a
Shure SM57 and loading the sound into an
Akai sampler. The device's Warp feature was used to bend the sound of the snare drum sample. Partridge settled on its final arrangement after discovering a C major to D major picking pattern that he thought resembled
Blue Öyster Cult's "
(Don't Fear) The Reaper" (1976). Unlike many other XTC songs, he instructed a specific bass part to
Colin Moulding, who replaced the sequenced bass pattern that was previously recorded. "Colin had to work very hard to get that bass line. It's very precise. It took me a long time to work it out, because I wanted to get into the
J.S. Bach mode of each note being the perfect counterpoint to where the chords are and where the melody is. The bass is the third part in the puzzle." While the band was conducting
overdubs, Moulding presented a new bass part for the song's
coda. This part was a relatively late addition to the song and was integrated after the live drums were recorded. Partridge said that he received criticism for the song's similarity to
Sam Cooke's "
Wonderful World" (1960), but Partridge denied copying the song intentionally. He said that the lyrics were partially autobiographical and related to his waning interest in school as a teenager. ==Charts==