XTC Wiki

"Complicated Game" is a song written by Andy Partridge. It appeared on XTC's third album Drums And Wires in 1979.

The demo appeared on Andy's Fuzzy Warbles Volume 1 in 2002.

The song was covered by Peach in 1981.

The song was covered by Poster Children in 2004 on the EP On The Offensive.

The song played in the middle of film “Disconnected” 1984 and at the end of “Vivarium” 2019

Quotes[]

Andy (on the demo): “This is here for purely archaeological reasons. A dusty broken artifact from the punk wars of 78. Me, pushing Kingshill Road's swish recording facilities to the limits of drop out and warble, twin planets of the Woolworth C10 system. Cassette the controls. . . etc. Well, I had an idea for a song and I thought I'd better capture it quick, (brain of a fruit fly). The lyrics are improvised babble, don't ask me to pick them all out. You can guess the gist.”

Lyrics[]

I ask myself should I put my finger to the left, no

I ask myself should I put my finger to the right, no

I say it really doesn't matter where I put my finger

Someone else will come along and move it

And it's always been the same

It's just a complicated game


A little girl asked me should she part her hair upon the left, no

A little girl asked me should she part her hair upon the right, no

I said it doesn't really matter where you part your hair

Someone else will come along and move it

And it's always been the same

It's just a complicated game


A little boy asked me should he put his vote upon the left, no

A little boy asked me should he put his vote upon the right, no

I say it really doesn't matter where you put your vote

Someone else will come along and move it

And it's always been the same

It's just a complicated game


They wanted Tom

They wanted Joe

To dress 'em up and stick 'em out on show

They were arrows in a very bad aim

It's just a complicated game


God asked me should he ought to put his world on the left, no

God asked me should he ought to put his world on the right, no

I said God, it really doesn't matter where you put your world

Someone will come along and move it

And it's always been the same

It's just a complicated

Game