Grass (XTC song)
| "Grass" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by XTC | ||||
| from the album Skylarking | ||||
| B-side | "Dear God" | |||
| Released | 16 August 1986 | |||
| Recorded | 1986 | |||
| Genre | Psychedelic rock[1] | |||
| Length | 3:05 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Colin Moulding | |||
| Producer(s) | Todd Rundgren | |||
| XTC singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Grass" is a song written by
Background
"Grass" is sometimes mistaken to be about cannabis, but was actually written about Seven Fields, a parkland in Swindon. Moulding composed it on an open E-tuned guitar and found its harmonic changes by playing the chord shapes of Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air" (1969). The mixing of violin and guitar was an idea lifted from John Lennon's "How Do You Sleep?" (1971). Skylarking producer Todd Rundgren added a tiple to the blend. Moulding originally sang the song with a deeper voice. He said Rundgren voiced concern that the effect was too close to "a molester", and so Moulding "did the Bowie thing and added an octave above it".[2]
On Skylarking, the track bookends "Summer's Cauldron" with a reprise of its "insect chorus".[2]
Personnel
XTC
Charts
| Chart (1986) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| 100 |
References
- ISBN 978-0-634-05548-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7868-8338-7.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 November 2018.