There were both UK and US versions of this song, mainly because a lot of the items mentioned in the lyrics were in British English, something that may have kept Squeeze from duplicating their UK success in the States. For example, in the lyrics "Sunlight on the lino," Lino is short for linoleum, a type of floor covering. The line, "My wife has moved to Guernsey" (UK version) was changed to "My wife has moved to Boston" for the US release. Guernsey is one of the Channel Islands owned by Britain just off of the North coast of France.
In the book Squeeze: Song by Song, Glenn Tilbrook explains: "Gilson (Lavis)' influence in the arrangement was massive, not bringing the drums in until the third verse. Gilson had four percussion parts that he overdubbed one after the other that went throughout the song. It had a jolly tune, which later to my horror someone pointed out sounded like The Muppets theme tune. Chris Difford added: "Gilson constructed a washing line of bottles and bits of metal and tin and played them instead of a drum kit. It was a very inventive thing to do, slightly surreal, but it worked a treat. Our trademark octave apart vocal is all over it."
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