Generals and Majors
| "Generals and Majors" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by XTC | ||||
| from the album Black Sea | ||||
| B-side | "Don't Lose Your Temper" | |||
| Released | August 1980 | |||
| Recorded | 1980 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
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| Label | Virgin | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Colin Moulding | |||
| Producer(s) | Steve Lillywhite | |||
| XTC singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Generals and Majors" on YouTube | ||||
"Generals and Majors" is a song written by Colin Moulding of the English rock band XTC, released as the first single from their 1980 album Black Sea. Moulding accordingly wrote the song as a satirical take on the phrase "oh, what a lovely war". The song charted in the UK single chart at No. 32 and No. 104 on the US singles chart, while reaching No. 28 on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart. It was the first XTC single to chart in the U.S., and it also had chart success in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The track was initially released as a double 7" single with a gatefold sleeve, limited to 15,000 copies. The additional record featured Moulding's "Smokeless Zone" and Partridge's "The Somnambulist".