"King for a Day"

From the album (Oranges & Lemons, 1989) which would turn out to be one of XTC's last, great attempts at reaching an audience beyond its cult status, "King for a Day" is a Colin Moudling song.

This is what Andy Partridge said about it:

This is one of the three songs Colin wrote (for Oranges & Lemons). All of them are rather down and dark but put to jolly music, which makes them even more poignant. The song's about ass-licking and making a fool of yourself just to get fame and riches and success (sounds a lot like blogging). The song's a commando knife, dark and cutting. (source)

Here is XTC on David Letterman in 1989. As Letterman points out, this live performance marks the first one the group had done anywhere in seven years. Like Brian Wilson, Andy Partridge basically had somewhat of a complete breakdown due to the pressures of live performance. And much like with the Beach Boys, this caused XTC to funnel all their creative energies into studio experimentation: