Making Plans for Nigel

"Making Plans for Nigel"
Single by XTC
from the album Drums and Wires
B-side
  • "Bushman President"
  • "Pulsing Pulsing"
Released14 September 1979
RecordedJune 1979
StudioThe Town House, London
Genre
Length
  • 4:14 (album version)
  • 3:54 (single version)
  • 4:15 (demo version)
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)Colin Moulding
Producer(s)Steve Lillywhite
XTC singles chronology
"Life Begins at the Hop"
(1979)
"Making Plans for Nigel"
(1979)
"Ten Feet Tall"
(1980)
Music video
"Making Plans for Nigel" on YouTube
Audio sample
  • file
  • help

"Making Plans for Nigel" is a song by English rock band XTC, released by Virgin Records as the lead single from their 1979 album Drums and Wires. It was written by Colin Moulding, the band's bassist. The lyrics are told from the point of view of overbearing parents who are certain that their son Nigel is "happy in his world", affirming that his future, to be spent working for British Steel, "is as good as sealed", and that he "likes to speak and loves to be spoken to".

The single marked XTC's commercial breakthrough. It spent 11 weeks on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at No. 17. In 2016, the song was ranked number 143 on the Pitchfork website's list of the 200 best songs of the 1970s. It was also ranked number 73 in NME list of 100 best songs of the 1970s.