"Wrapped in Grey" is a song written by

Andy Partridge Andrew John Partridge (born 11 November 1953) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who founded the rock band XTC. He and Colin Moulding each acted as a songwriter and frontman for XTC, with Partridge writing and sing ...

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing in ...

, released on their 1992 album '' Nonsuch''. It was to be issued as the third single from the album, but its initial pressings were withdrawn by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

for an unknown reason. This was a stimulus for the band to go on "

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

" against the label for a few years until their contracts were terminated.

Lyrics and composition

Partridge described the song as "ersatz

Bacharach Bacharach (, also known as ''Bacharach am Rhein'') is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Rhein-Nahe, whose seat is in Bingen am Rhein, although that town is not withi ...

". Along with "Rook" (1992) and " Easter Theatre" (1999), he named "Wrapped in Grey" as one of the "perfect songs" of his career, feeling that he had "exorcised a lot of those kind of Lennon-and-McCartney, Bacharach-and-

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, Brian Wilson type ghosts out of my system by doing all that." He remembered once hearing the song on the radio and feeling like "the boy from

Penhill Penhill ( high at the trig point, at Height of Hazely) is a prominent hill, south west of Leyburn, in the Pennines, North Yorkshire, England. It forms a ridge that commands the southern side of Wensleydale and the northern side of Coverdale ...

made good". Although he sings lead vocal, he played none of the instrumentation on the recording. Music journalist

Pete Paphides Peter Paphides (born 1969 as Panayiotakis Paphides or Panayiotis Paphides) is a British journalist and broadcaster. Early life Paphides was born in Birmingham to a Greek Cypriot father, Chris, and a Greek mother, Victoria. He has an elder broth ...

highlighted the song's "transcendent

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

-style harmonies" and felt it would one day make "a most fitting epitaph". Reviewing '' Nonsuch'', Kronto Reviews' Leo Breebaart considered the song "very chamber-music like". Spectrum Culture's Stacey Pavlick likened the song's chorus to "a sparkling firework" while Kronto Reviews' Leo Breebaart considered it "the best song on the album" and "a truly touching song".

Withdrawn single

Virgin's choice of Wrapped in Grey as a single pleased Partridge, who considered it a leap into "the adult market". He planned and storyboarded a

silhouette animation Silhouette animation is animation in which the characters are only visible as black silhouettes. This is usually accomplished by backlighting articulated cardboard cut-outs, though other methods exist. It is partially inspired by, but for a ...

music video for the song inspired by the work of

Lotte Reiniger Charlotte "Lotte" Reiniger (2 June 1899 – 19 June 1981) was a German film director and the foremost pioneer of silhouette animation. Her best known films are ''The Adventures of Prince Achmed'', from 1926, the first feature-length animated fil ...

. This was cancelled when Virgin aborted the song's single release, despite a number of copies already being pressed, reported to be between 2,000 and 5,000. Partridge considered the withdrawal "a big nail in the coffin of the relationship with Virgin", and on the suggestion of Dave Gregory, the group refused to work for Virgin until they left the label in 1998. Partridge later recognised "Wrapped in Grey' as among the songs from ''Nonsuch'' that pointed towards the orchestral textures and acoustic backbone of its follow-up '' Apple Venus Volume 1'' (1999).

Personnel

XTC * Dave Gregory – piano *

Colin Moulding Colin Ivor Moulding (born 17 August 1955) is an English bassist, singer, and songwriter who was one of the core members of the rock band XTC. Though he was less prolific a songwriter than his bandmate Andy Partridge, Moulding wrote their first t ...

Additional musicians *

Dave Mattacks David James Mattacks (born 13 March 1948) is an English rock and folk drummer. Best known for his work with Fairport Convention, Mattacks has also worked both as a session musician and as a performing artist. Apart from playing the drums, he ...

– drums

References

External links

* {{Authority control XTC songs Songs written by Andy Partridge Song recordings produced by Gus Dudgeon Songs about depression 1992 songs