Easter Theatre - Misplaced Pages

1999 single by XTC

"Easter Theatre"

Single by XTC

from the album Apple Venus Volume 1

Released

2 April 1999 (1999-04-02)

Recorded

1998

Genre

Chamber pop

Length

4:37

Haydn Bendall
Nick Davies

XTC singles chronology

"The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead"
(1992)

"Easter Theatre"
(1999)

"I'd Like That"
(1999)

Audio sample

"Easter Theatre" is a song written by Andy Partridge of the English rock band XTC, released as the lead single from their 1999 album Apple Venus Volume 1. According to Partridge, the lyrics were an attempt to match a "muddy" ascending chord progression. "There's the little melodic figure at the beginning, which I thought sounded medieval and earthy, combined with placid, droning high keyboard chords, which sound like you're floating—so it suggested floating over a land." He further elaborated in an interview with Guitar Player magazine: "The ascending figure sounds like something pushing up and growing out - like springtime. The whole meaning of the song came out of the onomatopoeia of these ascending chords."

Partridge called "Easter Theatre" one of the few "perfect songs" of his career in a 2010 interview for the XTC fansite Chalkhills, feeling that he had "exorcized a lot of those kind of Lennon-and-McCartney, Bacharach-and-David, Brian Wilson type ghosts out of my system" with the song. He jokingly apologized for "the fake Brian May guitar solo ... I thought it was really incongruous, but everyone thought I should leave it." Demo and instrumental versions of the song appear on Homespun (1999) and Instruvenus (2002), respectively.

Personnel

XTC

Andy Partridge – vocals, electric guitar, keyboards
Colin Moulding – bass, backing vocals
Dave Gregory – Mellotron, acoustic guitar, keyboard programming

Additional performers

Prairie Prince – drums, percussion
Steve Sidwell – trumpet

References

Rooksby, Rikky (2006). Lyrics: Writing Better Words for Your Songs. Backbeat Books. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-4768-5344-4.
^ Swenson, Kyle (April 1999). "Orchestral XTC". Guitar Player.
Bernhardt, Todd (27 June 2010). "Andy answers fans' questions about guitar playing and players -- Part I". Chalkhills.

External links

"Easter Theatre" on Chalkhills

v t e XTC
Andy Partridge Colin Moulding Terry Chambers Barry Andrews Dave Gregory
Studio albums	White Music Go 2 Drums and Wires Black Sea English Settlement Mummer The Big Express 25 O'Clock Skylarking Psonic Psunspot Oranges & Lemons Nonsuch Apple Venus Volume 1 Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)
Compilations	Waxworks: Some Singles 1977–1982 Beeswax: Some B-Sides 1977–1982 The Compact XTC Chips from the Chocolate Fireball Explode Together: The Dub Experiments 78-80 Rag and Bone Buffet: Rare Cuts and Leftovers Drums and Wireless: BBC Radio Sessions 77–89 Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977–92 Upsy Daisy Assortment Transistor Blast: The Best of the BBC Sessions Coat of Many Cupboards Apple Box Psurroundabout Ride
EP	3D EP
Singles	"Statue of Liberty" "This Is Pop?" "Life Begins at the Hop" "Making Plans for Nigel" "Generals and Majors" "Towers of London" "Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)" "Respectable Street" "Senses Working Overtime" "Ball and Chain" "Wonderland" "Love on a Farmboy's Wages" "Thanks for Christmas" "All You Pretty Girls" "This World Over" "Wake Up" "Grass" "The Meeting Place" "Dear God" "Mayor of Simpleton" "King for a Day" "The Disappointed" "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" "Easter Theatre"
Other songs	"Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her" "Garden of Earthly Delights" "Wrapped in Grey"
Related media	A Testimonial Dinner: The Songs of XTC Fuzzy Warbles 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Great Aspirations Homespun Homegrown Take Away / The Lure of Salvage Waspstrumental XTC: This Is Pop Planet England
Other topics	Discography The Dukes of Stratosphear Ian Reid Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her (band)

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