XTC - Towers Of London Lyrics






Towers of London
when they had built you
did you watch over the men who fell
Towers of London
when they had built you
Victoria's gem found in somebody's hell

Pavements of gold leading to the underground
Grenadier Guardsmen walking pretty ladies around
fog is the sweat of the never never navvies who pound
spikes in the rails to their very own heaven

Bridges of muscles spanning so long and high
merchants from Stepney walking pretty ladies by
rain is the tears of the never never navvies who cry
for the bridge that doesn't go
in the direction of Dublin

And I've seen it in a painting
and I've seen it in engraving
and I've seen it in their faces
clear as children's chalk lines on the paving

Towers of London
la la Londinium.





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XTC Towers Of London Comments
  1. s.... n....

    Xtc still carry the absolutely amazing blend of rich artistic musical tunes that are so brilliantly addictive even after all these years . True god's of musical talent and far better than so called super groups 😎

  2. h.... m....

    Black Sea...Un album extraordinaire....Un son jamais entendu..XTC a été le plus grand des années 80-90.....

  3. P.... B....

    Unpopular opinion..Partridge and Moulding were the real thing. Bowie was phony.

    P.... B....

    If I have to hear Major Tom again...ugh.

  4. M.... 7....

    The Beatles minus the fame.

  5. P.... T....

    The entire Black Sea album is a joy from start to finish

  6. D.... E....

    🇺🇸 MTV never played 2018 1st view.

  7. R.... C....

    Soulless musical destruction.

  8. V.... B....

    The drumming is amazing

    V.... B....

    Terry Chambers was hardcore!

  9. P.... C....

    J'ai toujours adoré ce groupe, original et très anglais

  10. m.... r....

    one of my favourite tracks ever!st like the real london!

  11. M.... F....

    These guys never got the credit they deserved ! At the the forefront of new wave, tons of great songs ... Will always be remembered with warmth

  12. T.... G....

    XTC had a unique sound, singing and style that I don't think had been matched by anybody that I know of.

  13. r.... ....

    Steve Lillywhite produced some awesome  albums in the 1980's and 1990's by XTC, the La's, Big Country U2,  and the Thompson Twins to name a few

  14. K.... H....

    This should have millions of views/listens (But for those of who know this song already, that's of course what we're gonna say.)

  15. p.... c....

    Oh my brilliant i love xtc

  16. N.... M....

    Black Sea blu ray on the way ..... YAY!!

  17. R.... M....

    Quite similar to Eno's "Backwater", not that that's a bad thing at all!

  18. B.... M....

    Love the guitars here.

  19. r.... ....

    better than the Beatles

    r.... ....

    No. 2 -- just behind the Fabs, who influenced them greatly. Criminally underrated and overlooked. Love them.

  20. U.... F....

    Clever lyrics in this song,telling the story of the Irish Navvies.
    Under rated band in my view,very talented.

    U.... F....

    That's true 😀

  21. P.... D....

    If you put punk influences in the Beatles, you'd get XTC!

    P.... D....

    Apparently such a thing did indeed occur.

  22. F.... G....

    Comentei sobre eles no Grupo:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1656044377947782/1757278844491001/

  23. H.... H....

    Could well be my favourite XTC song

    H.... H....

    I appreciate this song more now than I did when it first came out in late 1980. I'd like to see the full lyrics put up as I could never catch all of them. Love Generals and Majors from the same album,that could well be my favourite.

    H.... H....

    I appreciate this song more now than I did when it first came out in late 1980. I'd like to see the full lyrics put up as I could never catch all of them. Love Generals and Majors from the same album,that could well be my favourite.

  24. a.... ....

    Actually..when you think about it...isn't it nice that XTC didn't become U2..a mock-band guided by money.Music is whats leftover from XTC....

    a.... ....

    Completely agree, always saw U2 as a complete sell-out that did not evolve...unlike bands like XTC and The Stranglers...

    a.... ....

    I was just thinking the same thing. U2 to me really sucks now but these guys have stood the test of time. Just great music.

    a.... ....

    U2 rules you queer!!

  25. D.... _....

    Bravado? Andy knew you well!

  26. A.... S....

    "Londinium" - what a refrain!

  27. T.... ....

    XTC outstanding English rock, and their LP The Black Sea is amazing!  Love them still.

  28. R.... P....

    Perhaps if XTC had been able to tour extensively for 30 years, they would rule the world instead of U2.  Then again artistic genius doesn't seem to trump marketing savvy in the music business.  Thank the muses we can still listen to their recorded works.   

  29. T.... ....

    Is that Davis Gregory in there? That solo sounds like him. What album is this from?

    T.... ....

    +TheIndianDoctor Black Sea.

  30. S.... R....

    I was fortunate enough to have seen them at the Paladium in Hollywood years ago. It still stands out as one of the best concerts I ever attended!

    S.... R....

    +Scott Ratzloff I saw them in San Diego. Amazing. We are lucky people, Scott.

    S.... R....

    +Dorrie Board Indeed we are! Take care..........

    S.... R....

    me too!

  31. T.... ....

    Personally, I find it a crime against humanity to make this much good music, and not let your aging public hear it just for a night. I mean, what the fuck, and I'm an American. These guys outclass most of their peers, and are around, and yet I cannot get to hear it. Is it really that hard being worshipped Andy? WTF? I mean, someone else could play the guitar, and all you have to is sing your songs. I don't care if you have a teleprompter. Just let's get it done.

    T.... ....

    if making something good always came with strings like this, why would anyone ever do it? 

  32. k.... s....

    wicked best kept rock n roll secret ever

  33. m.... s....

    Saw them play live in San Diego back in the early 80's a couple of times. The first one alternating with THE POLICE and OINGO BOINGO and the other touring the ENGLISH SETTLEMENT album. One of my favorite bands of all time.

    m.... s....

    Wow. You saw XTC in San Diego?! The English Settlement tour date there was their last-ever gig! You are one lucky geezer. It was the only gig of the US tour in '82 they managed to do, right after Partridge's fateful Paris meltdown

    m.... s....

    I saw that ,too.  police and xtc.  do you remember the acibederians

    m.... s....

    +Keeley Moss I saw it, too. My friends got on stage and danced. Lol.

    m.... s....

    The enlightened.

    m.... s....

    yep- I was there too!

  34. O.... ....

    Still my favorite song by them. Love that guitar work. Everything else is top-notch as well.

  35. �.... ....

    ネバネバな水wwwwwwwwww

  36. P.... C....

    They were OUTSTANDING, FABULOUS, TALENTED, SUPERB and FANTASTIC. My favourite band, the new Beatles. But they didn't make it to absolute and complete success. The world is to blame...

    P.... C....

    I think maybe if they'd kept touring, and Partridge didn't have a nervous breakdown, and maybe if Moulding had sang more of the songs, they could have had more commercial success.

    P.... C....

    I have to admit I never heard about this at the time. They kept on making new songs,though,right through the 80s and as far along as ones like The Disappointed in 1992. I remember Partridge decrying Visage/Steve Strange and the New Romantics as "flirting with Fascism" over some of the imagery they used and its origins,at the time of Visage's hit The Damned Don't Cry and its video in the spring of 1982. David Bowie's Thin White Duke character was seen in the same way by some,of course,this all being at a time of economic and social upheaval not seen since the 30s and you had demonstrations going on by on one side the National Front and organisations like it and on the other the Anti-Nazi League and that angst that the events in Germany in the 30s could somehow get repeated over here at a time of a prevailing shift from the left towards the right politically.

    P.... C....

    d7: Partridge suffered from stage fright, the pivotal event in this band's life being when his well-intentioned-but-misguided wife took away his anti-anxiety meds as they were embarking on their first major tour--tragic!

  37. J.... C....

    SO ironic that this video was cut when it was, in 1980, when the Docklands were still a slum-like fading industrial centre yet to be redeveloped into 'condo flats for the Arabs' as one cabbie predicted.  The shots of the Albert Memorial are cool-- wonder what the public reaction was to seeing a video being filmed there!

    The music of this song is simply terrific.  I expect I never appreciated it when the song was out then.  Thanks, David, for another great posting.

  38. d.... ....

    Very good!

  39. N.... M....

    I used to play tennis with their manager, Ian Reid. Some of their work is just joyous - Burning With Optimism's Flame for example - lyrically and musically sublime.

    N.... M....

    Ian..Andy Reid is the coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.
    Did you tell him he was a jackass for fucking up XTC's career?

    N.... M....

    @32INCHSTRIPER yeah sorry Ian Reid, him and Virgin Records tötally wrecked Xtc, no wonder Andy Partridge lost the plot!

    N.... M....

    @Nathaniel Mead
    lol

  40. S.... M....

    Rain (The Beatles).

    S.... M....

    But with better words and arrangement....

  41. A.... L....

    For anyone who's not understanding the lyrics; They're about the people who built London and some who died doing it.

  42. s.... ....

    1:53 ネバネバな水♪

  43. R.... C....

    life is good in the greenhouse!

    R.... C....

    Rather be a plant

  44. R.... C....

    Millions

  45. M.... ....

    Just absolutely dead right pop
    .

  46. i.... m....

    i used to have this album....loved it!

  47. G.... J....

    Andy's genius - agreed. Colin's soulfulness, undoubtedly. They also had Terry Chambers for a brief while and he brought a raw, hard edged, gritty quality to the percussion that was just brilliant. Xtc has been my favourite band since Drums & Wires...my first and only band that continually mesmerizes and charms me. Follow @XTCFans for the real Andy. He's amazing. Cheers!

  48. R.... T....

    Classic. The video has now become a historical document featuring Tower Bridge and the area outside the Tower Hotel (now THAT would have made a good Tower of London); the Albert Memorial; the Midland Hotel at St Pancras when it was still closed; and the moderm block doesn't seem to be the Trellick Tower. Of course, in 2012, things have got even worse,,,

  49. K.... M....

    Magnificent, that is all.

  50. r.... ....

    Good memories hearing this. One of my favorites from back in the 80s... great post!!

  51. G.... O....

    good stuff.

  52. e.... ....

    La La Londinium!

  53. M.... H....

    @joelavalo FUCK YOU.
    THIS IS XTC.

  54. J.... W....

    @LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH no such thing as being ahead of ur time? modern musics shit

  55. T.... ....

    GUITARISTS check out Andy Partridges guitar lessons here on you tube.... the guy is such an innovator playing with his own warm chord variations and scale transitions...

  56. J.... A....

    HEY CHECK OUT MY DANCE MIX I DID FOR LADY GAGA.

    - JOEL AVALO
    - JOEL AVALO

    JUST ENJOY THE MUSIC:)

  57. s.... ....

    i missed the guitar solo, removed from this version

  58. E.... ....

    I bought 'Black Sea' in 1980 when I was 15- 32 years later.and it's still amazing!

  59. g.... ....

    Alan is a good Penhill boy from Swindon. Bravo Bravo

  60. s.... ....

    Yeah there's a height restriction in London. I love it!

  61. L.... M....

    @oldmusicrevisited OK, no problem :-)

  62. L.... M....

    @oldmusicrevisited The album "A Hard Day's Night" is probably the one where you find that trick more often - I'm thinking of songs like When I Get Home and I'll Be Back, for example. Are you saying you've never listened to any Beatles album in full, except Revolver? :-O Go and do it a.s.a.p., mate!

  63. L.... M....

    @oldmusicrevisited "And in Into The Atom Age they start with an intro then the chorus, not a verse! " - I like XTC, but that's something that The Beatles already used to do in their time... So, it's hardly an innovation. But I repeat: I like XTC :-)

  64. B.... B....

    @taxus750 naw not a rip-off. it does 'indeed' show you how much of an influence XTC has had, that's for sure....

  65. B.... B....

    @LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH 90s brit-pop = XTC. they had a big influence on Kurt Cobain and Les Claypool too.

  66. t.... ....

    @taxus750
    And especially "Tracy Jacks" - if that's not a rip-off of an XTC riff I dunno what is.

  67. t.... ....

    @LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH
    I love Blur too, but every time I listen to Park Life all I can hear is XTC :)

    Like others here I reckon XTC is one of the greatest British pop bands ever, wholly uner-rated but with a legion of fans still.

  68. j.... a....

    yep these fellas are masters of the craft...it's a damn shame they don't do shows...they'd be one of the biggest bands in the world if they did.

  69. L.... F....

    Over life performance!

  70. p.... t....

    Also. After the fantastic gig at the 'Kings Head', they played at 'Friars Aylesbury' soon after. Barry Andrews had put himself right at the front of the stage with his keys (maybe to offset Andy's stagefright) and a punter, at the front of the crowd, went and poured his pint into Barry's boot while he was playing, the punter was obscured from vision by the keyboards. You had to be there for it. Andrews didn't miss a note but went radio rental and, well, the look on his face was priceless!

  71. p.... t....

    @sugarandspice4815 I really like your comment. The song'Towers of London' is pretty unique in my opinion because you can't tell the difference between the verse or chorus! By That, I mean, (as a songwriter myself), there are no 'up' bits or 'down' bits. The song's dynamics are remarkable and this has to be their finest moment. The composition is perfection!
    Have a read of the lyrics as well, google the song and have a look, they are remarkably beautiful. Doesn't even look like a 'pop tune'.

  72. p.... t....

    I saw this lot at a pub called 'The Kings Head' at Aylesbury in the late 70's. One bloke pogoed so hard that his head went through the ceiling. I watched it happen! Happily, he was uninjured and you can see the repair work to this day. It was the best band they ever had there by a long stretch.

  73. b.... ....

    Is that an Eko ranger 6 guitar?

  74. s.... ....

    Altogether an uncommonly beautiful song. Previously, my favorite XTC song had been "The Wheel and the Maypole" off of Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2), but "Towers of London" has usurped it. It's amazing not only how long the band was together (specifically Andy & Colin), but how their music constantly evolved, yet still retained an XTC quality. True music gems.

  75. K.... K....

    Goddamn this is the good stuff. Andy, Colin, XTC 4ever!!!!!

  76. D.... P....

    power pop gods...

  77. c.... ....

    Eminently sing-a-long-able! Cmon, do it now!

  78. m.... ....

    awwwwwww.....a video for this song......awwwwwwww

  79. D.... B....

    second only to the beatles

  80. N.... ....

    @PAULLONDEN Wow, you aren't terribly bright are you?

  81. P.... D....

    i saw em in san diego in their LAST US concert appearance--awesome band!!!

  82. a.... f....

    They would have been much huger if they had played live a bit more often (not that they weren't big anyway) but Andy P's stagefright was really kicking in and appearances became less and less. They had some fantastic songs...and not just the singles.

  83. L.... ....

    @PAULLONDEN As Clint Eastwood's 'Dirty Harry' character used to say, "OPINIONS ARE LIKE ASSHOLES, EVERYBODY'S GOT ONE!" You are welcome to yours & you know where you can stick it! :)

  84. M.... C....

    Love these guys. Saw em at the palladium in Hollywood circa 1980 (with wall of Voodoo of all things)- give em their due

  85. a.... ....

    @LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH I'd say any except for Pulp. But Pulp were around in the 80s before they got famous, so I don't think they count. :)

  86. D.... J....

    Can someone get the other Senses Working Overtime uploaded also? I like the live one but the original is best.

  87. b.... ....

    Saw XTC years ago at Chelmsford Odeon, great band.

  88. c.... ....

    @retnuHDJ

    Stay with it brother. Look up their Dukes material. Album over album, Partridge influenced many artists. The Big Express was the peak, imho

  89. b.... ....

    If you don't like XTC, you don't like music.

  90. r.... ....

    So this is the second song I have ever heard from XTC (The first was Making Plans For Nigel).... And I have to agree with everyone else here, this band were ahead of their time! Very good song! I would never have discovered this band had Primus not covered one of their songs.

  91. p.... ....

    @101Volts

    Epiphone Newport bass!!!

  92. p.... ....

    @101Volts

    #
    psychobollox @psychobollox

    great!

    many thanks

  93. A.... L....

    @ninelivecat Coincidentally Joe Jackson covered XTC's "Statue Of Liberty". I haven't listened to his cover yet.

  94. A.... L....

    @psychobollox Its an Epiphone bass of some kind. I can't remember the model.

  95. A.... L....

    @psychobollox xtc4u (Dawt) org is where you can see the documentary.

  96. p.... ....

    @101Volts

    any idea what bass Colin plays here?

  97. p.... ....

    @101Volts

    where?

  98. n.... ....

    Sounds Like Joe Jackson's music