Madness keyboard player Mike Barson wrote this on the back of a cigarette packet while employed delivering Fyffes bananas. He explained to the Kent Messenger newspaper: "The bloke I worked with on the lorry was always talking about 'My girl and me, we're going to live in Essex. My girl and me, we're going to the coast this weekend."
This song is about a guy who likes to keep to himself, which doesn't go over well with his girlfriend. He'd rather stay home and watch TV than head to the theater, and talking on the phone is a chore, filled with long, awkward silences. According to Mike Barson, the song is semi-autobiographical. According to his girlfriend at the time, Kerstin Rodgers, it's spot on. "He's not intrinsically a sociable, chatty person," she said in a video feature. "Men like to stay in their man cave, watch football and drink beer on their own, and women are trying to relate to them."
Madness emerged from the ska band the Invaders, who formed in London in 1976. They changed their name to Madness in 1978 in honor of an old Prince Buster Ska song. In the UK, they had 16 Top 10 singles between 1979 and 1999, including a #1 in 1982 with "House Of Fun." Their most successful single in the US was "Our House," which peaked at #7.
See your Spotify stats (with number of plays and minutes listened) and discover new music.
Music data, artist images, album covers, and song previews are provided by Spotify. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB.