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English Roundabout Lyrics
people rushing round with no time to spare.
I'm so dizzy I'm neither here nor there,
in this traffic jam I just want to shout
let me off o'this english roundabout
english roundabout
and all the the horns go 'beep! beep!'
all the people follow like sheep
I'm full of light
and sound making my head go round, round.
everyone is cursing under their breath
I'm a passenger, I feel close to death
hopeless situation I have no doubt
stop the madness,
english roundabout english roundabout
and all the cars go'brum! brum!'
and in my ears I feel a hum
the neons blind my eyes
all those tempers rise, rise.
cars and buses go, puffing out their smoke
roll my window down, I begin to choke
I have had enough, I just want to get out
let me off o' this english roundabout
english roundabout.
I'm so dizzy I'm neither here nor there,
in this traffic jam I just want to shout
let me off o'this english roundabout
english roundabout
and all the the horns go 'beep! beep!'
all the people follow like sheep
I'm full of light
and sound making my head go round, round.
everyone is cursing under their breath
I'm a passenger, I feel close to death
hopeless situation I have no doubt
stop the madness,
english roundabout english roundabout
and all the cars go'brum! brum!'
and in my ears I feel a hum
the neons blind my eyes
all those tempers rise, rise.
cars and buses go, puffing out their smoke
roll my window down, I begin to choke
I have had enough, I just want to get out
let me off o' this english roundabout
english roundabout.
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This is a song about a roundabout in XTC's hometown of Swindon. Locally known as the Magic Roundabout it consists of 5 mini roundabouts that circle one, large, central roundabout. A bit of a nightmare for anyone unlucky enough to have navigate their way around it, especially in rush hour. I live in Swindon so I know the roundabout well... but let me tell you, it's no fun having to find your way round it in a driving test!
I actually read somewhere, I believe it was in Song Stories, that this didn't refer to an actual roundabout. I can't remember what it is about, though.
For our non-english friends, a "roundabout" is the British term for a rotary....I think.
@pumkinhed For our non-Bostonian friends, "rotary" is the New England term for what the rest of the US calls a traffic circle. :)
@pumkinhed For our non-Bostonian friends, "rotary" is the New England term for what the rest of the US calls a traffic circle. :)
In the UK, "roundabout" technically refers only to a specific kind of traffic circle that meet the modern (1960s?) official standard. But in practice, old-style ones, and foreign ones, are also usually called roundabouts.
In the UK, "roundabout" technically refers only to a specific kind of traffic circle that meet the modern (1960s?) official standard. But in practice, old-style ones, and foreign ones, are also usually called roundabouts.
Colin was singing about Swindon's infamous Magic Roundabout, but I think he was also using it as a metaphor for modern (at the time) England.
The Magic Roundabout is technically a brilliant innovation. In fact, by nearly doubling throughput without doubling speeds, it actually has a better safety record per auto than almost any other junction in England.
But that doesn't change the fact that most people who drive it are scared to death. Putting up self-congratulatory signs about the excellent safety record didn't change that. Doing local news stories about its brilliant design didn't change that. You can't just tell people to stop having human reactions.
Technocratic 70s Labour felt inhumane, and the Thatcherite Tories even worse, both governments treating people like machine parts and then saying they have no reason to whinge because Britain is more efficient than ever. But being part of an efficient machine isn't enough for people. Sure, maybe England was indisputably going somewhere, but people need to understand where they're going, and how they're getting there, and feel as if they some control over it. Showing them efficiency statistics has no more effect than showing them the safety statistics of the Magic Roundabout.