Released 1979 (1979) Length 4:14 | Label Virgin | |
B-side "Bushman President", "Pulsing Pulsing" | ||
"Making Plans for Nigel" is a song written by Colin Moulding for the English rock band XTC, released as the lead single from their 1979 album Drums & Wires. It spent 11 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 17. The song also reached #12 in Canada and remained on the charts for 22 weeks.
The lyrics are told from the point of view of parents who are certain that their son Nigel is "happy in his world", affirming that his future in British Steel "is as good as sealed", and that he "likes to speak and loves to be spoken to". As a response to the song, British Steel reportedly gathered four Sheffield employees named Nigel to talk about job satisfaction for the trade publication Steel News.
In 2016, "Making Plans for Nigel" was ranked number 143 on Pitchfork's list of the 200 best songs of the 1970s.