Holly Up On Poppy

Andy says this one's about his daughter Holly. She's in her twenties now, with her own band called the She-Beats. Boy, does that make me feel old.

Nope. Andy's daughter Holly named her rocking horse "Poppy". It's just a happy papa writing about his daughter, probably no drug references. And her eyes are the "eyes of storms" as in the eye of a hurricane... that is, the one perfectly calm spot in a chaotic world.

"where they bake beautiful girls"

Really? I always heard it as "with a big beautiful girl" -- i.e. the horse.

"Every time I look at my watch I'm reminded we are poor in hours per day." -Precious time flys when he's with his daughter whome he obviously love so very much. I believe this time is cut shorter due to visitation hours running out. Sad but beautiful. Partridge is a master.

Highly doubt there are intentional drug references here. Andy Partridge has gone on record about his aversion to recreational substances that aren't alcohol. This comes from his previous addiction to Valium, which he was stuck on as a kid and didn't come off until years later. Andy loves psychedelia as an art and music style, but he isn't one to romanticize drug use, especially something hard like heroin.

On the other hand, given where he was in his life when he wrote this song, the daughter explanation's perfectly sound.

I believe the part about it being based on Andy's daughter.

Before I read that, I had this impression that it could be about heroin/opium, at least partially. "Up on poppy" sounds like a clever way of saying "high on opiates". Also, take into account the overall feel of the song, which to me has a pleasantly warm, druggy-vibe, esp bc of the nice synth/organ which paints the backdrop of the sound. It sounds almost like a mid-period, Lennon-Revolver/Sgt Pepper's song. There are also possible drug references in psychedelic lines like "secrets crayoned in swirls". "Ride and play the alchemy" sounds like a metaphor for using chemicals (alchemy being a forerunner of modern chemistry), in this setting the chemicals could be drugs.
Then there's the darker side of opiates, which inevitably arises despite the romanticism sometimes associated with them (particularly heroin) - "...look her in the eyes, the eyes of storms..." Something definitely troubles this girl, perhaps only visible when looking through the "windows to the soul", as eyes have been described. This also explains the author's difficulty in mustering the strength to look into those eyes - he doesn't want to see the pain, which might normally be hidden (opiate-addicts in particular can keep their secret for much longer than most drug addicts before the truth becomes obvious). Also, simply repeating "laughing!" could mean anything, but going with my interpretation, it could be an expression of the nearly inexpressible (which would explain its simplicity and seeming lack of context when used) joy of being "up on poppy", and giggling all about it. Finally, there's the references to "escape", a common usage for drugs, esp in the case of opiates. Along this line of thinking, perhaps "she has escaped from the world where they bake beautiful girls" - implies she has used drugs to escape the reality where she, as with many women in today's society unfortunately, is constantly compared both by the world at large, as well as her own inner judgment, to the "beautiful girls" that grace the cover of magazines and such (and are artificial, hence them being "baked" as though cooked up by the industry, an idea similar to many themes in Partridge's lyrics), perhaps challenging her sense of self-worth. With the poppy, she can forget all that.

Then again, it could just be an ode to his daughter ;)

If so though, there's some troubling stuff going on here, I'd almost rather it be about heroin than his daughter having eyes full of storms

Of course the song is about Andy's daughter and her horsey. But it is also a clever way of writing about somebody on heroin. How many of you know that Partridge is a master of the double and sometimes triple meaning? If you consider yourselves to be XTC fans the hidden meaning in his songs should be clearly evident. "Pink Thnig" anyone?