XTC – Making Plans For Nigel

@IvoKent Parents, or school administrators? Something about the tone of the song makes me think the narrator is a school official or something bureaucratic.

I think my own interpretation is pretty close to yours. I always just assumed that Nigel was challenged in some way, or that at least his parents THINK of him as being challenged. I feel it's meant to reflect the way parents SEE their children, and may not quite understand them, and who try to give them what they think of as a good future because they don't think the child can do it for themselves. Or that these are parents who are trying to convince themselves that the only way to get by and have a good life is to become the typical modern upright citizen worker, and trying to convince themselves that their son will be happy in that role.

doodleboy's impression of this song is by far the most accurate. I was a tween during this era and this music very much made me who I am.

The song is ironic, in that British Steel ultimately laid thousands of employees off because the Conservatives (the British version of the U.S. Republican Party) got it all horribly wrong. There was much unemployment (the source of the Sex Pistols angst towards Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth) and getting a job in the mining, steel, or automotive industry was supposed to be the panacea. Of course, those industries are all but dead now in Britain.

sugarfish, Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in 1979, a year after the Sex Pistols split up...

@doodleboy I think Nigel symbolizes 'Joe Six Pack' and my gut feeling is that the original lyrics were "He has his future in a British still" I think the song is a social commentary on the evil social engineering undertaken to dumb down the average working Joe, lower his expectations, and make him numb to his own suffering and misery . Hence, he is easily pacified via all the food additives and other poisons like alcohol and adulterated water and vaccines etc. At a guess the real meaning of the song has been concealed, and the real lyrics concealed, because these guys were co-opted by the system. Nigel has his whole future awaiting him in alcoholism and poverty, and he will even be happy with it , because that is all that he can expect in today's world. He'll shut up and stay in his place, 'his world';, if he knows what's best for him. So its not his parents speaking, its the societal planners, the top think tanks, who have plans for Nigel. The term 'British still" is particularly brilliant , because it implies a class thing, ie: Nigel cannot even afford the imports , he's got to drink the cheap British swill, and the powers that be are quite content with that too, because they quite intend to make a lot of money on the arrangement. Another subtly implied angle is that Nigel will never escape his class confinement, so 'his world' will be limited to Britain. He will never taste freedom. The line "he must be happy, he must be happy in his world" is also brilliant, with double meaning. Meaning of course that Nigel is confined to his standing in life and if he is to be happy at all, he is going to have to be happy with the way things are , 'his world', so to speak. He HAS to be happy in his world , because there is no escape from his poverty and oppression. And 'his world' is one in which other people plan his future for him, limit his future possibilities etc. I'm starting to realize why I always loved this song , those biting words are fascinating. At a guess 'British Steel' and 'British Still' were interchanged as the song evolved. I think it is mocking of the apathy of the working classes as well. They are too easily satisfied, too apathetic, accepting to the point of being almost mentally retarded, which of course many alcoholics and working class peole are , essentially. Mentally impaired due injuries, substance abuse, malnutrition etc. the various vagaries of poverty and ignorance. So the song implies that Nigel is retarded enough to go along with it all.