XTC

XTC's "Sense Working Overtime" is playing and the Swimming Pool is messing with the acoustics, breaking Andy Partridges vocals into a gloopy, hallucinogenic stew...

"

1982. Yeovil Swimming Gala. I'm standing at the edge of the pool, just about to compete in the Freestyle Final. The guy next to me is supposed to be about ten or something but he looks like he's been fashioned out of wood and steel. I'm supposed to fry this guy but everyone in here knows that it's never gonna happen. Even my parents, up in the crowd, are preparing for consolation, for teeth-sucking, for head shaking.

"And I’ve got one, two, three, four, five
Senses working overtime
Trying to take this all in."
The guy looks at me. I'm sure there's a faint trace of moustache about him. The muscles alone must have taken a few terms to hewn. I noticed dimly that his goggles cost more than my bike. I think fucking Strode have sent a Millfield ringer; a professional, a dead-cert.

"And all the world is football-shaped,
It’s just for me to kick in space
I've never heard this song before but it's preparing to burn itself into my consciousness. It seems like it's speaking directly to me, trying to explain someting that I'm too young to understand. I look at the Mr Cuprinol standing next to me, flexing his knees, popping muscles, his chin looks like a iron. The song seems to be playing forever, there's some problem with the start, some spazz in the armbands category gasping for air...
And I can see, hear, smell, touch, taste,
And I’ve got one, two, three, four, five,
Senses working overtime"
I've never seen the cover of the XTC single but I'm getting a vision of it now. I'm starting to understand.

I just want the whistle, I just want this to be over. I look at my parents and they're looking at Mr Cuprinol and they know that it's not gonna be okay. They smile crazy when they catch me looking but the dead goblins behind their eyes tell me all I need to know...

Fuck, there's the whistle-

XTC - Senses Working Overtime