The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Never been near a university,
Never took a paper or a learned degree,
And some of your friends think that's stupid of me,
But it's nothing that I care about
Well I don't know how to tell the weight of the sun,
And of mathematics well I want none,
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton,
But I know one thing and that's I love you
When their logic grows cold and all thinking gets done,
You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton
I can't have been there when brains were handed round
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton),
Or get past the cover of your books profound,
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton),
And some of your friends thinks it's really unsound,
That you're even seen talking to me
Well I don't know how to write a big hit song,
And all crossword puzzles well I just shun,
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton,
But I know one thing and that's I love you
I'm not proud of the fact that I never learned much,
Just feel I should say,
What you get is all real, I can't put on an act,
It takes brains to do that anyway (And anyway...)
And I can't unravel riddles, problems and puns,
How the home computer has me on the run,
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton,
But I know one thing and that's I love you (I love you)
If depth of feeling is a currency,
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton),
Then I'm the man who grew the money tree,
(No chain of office and no hope of getting one)
Some of your friends are too brainy to see,
That they're paupers and that's how they'll stay
Well I don't know how many pounds make up a ton,
Of all the Nobel prizes that I've never won,
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton,
But I know one thing and that's I love you
When all logic grows cold and all thinking gets done,
You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton
You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton
You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton)
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton)
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton)
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton)
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton)
Never took a paper or a learned degree,
And some of your friends think that's stupid of me,
But it's nothing that I care about
Well I don't know how to tell the weight of the sun,
And of mathematics well I want none,
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton,
But I know one thing and that's I love you
When their logic grows cold and all thinking gets done,
You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton
I can't have been there when brains were handed round
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton),
Or get past the cover of your books profound,
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton),
And some of your friends thinks it's really unsound,
That you're even seen talking to me
Well I don't know how to write a big hit song,
And all crossword puzzles well I just shun,
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton,
But I know one thing and that's I love you
I'm not proud of the fact that I never learned much,
Just feel I should say,
What you get is all real, I can't put on an act,
It takes brains to do that anyway (And anyway...)
And I can't unravel riddles, problems and puns,
How the home computer has me on the run,
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton,
But I know one thing and that's I love you (I love you)
If depth of feeling is a currency,
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton),
Then I'm the man who grew the money tree,
(No chain of office and no hope of getting one)
Some of your friends are too brainy to see,
That they're paupers and that's how they'll stay
Well I don't know how many pounds make up a ton,
Of all the Nobel prizes that I've never won,
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton,
But I know one thing and that's I love you
When all logic grows cold and all thinking gets done,
You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton
You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton
You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton)
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton)
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton)
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton)
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton)
Lyrics submitted by BlueAndStarry
The Mayor of Simpleton Lyrics as written by Andy Partridge
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Man, this is such a good pop song. Why has no one commented on it?? "when their logic grows cold and all thinking gets done, you'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton." It's genius I tells ya. As for meaning, well it seems pretty self-explanatory.
This comes across as a reply to the question "Don't you know she's too good for you?"
It's really an interesting take on a love song, since he's pretty much saying in a very roundabout way that he doesn't need to know much else besides his love for her. The fact that Partridge does this with a sarcastic and witty way I believe is his way of saying that even if he's just a ditchdigger, that doesn't mean that he can't love.
Yes, feeling/emotions is what many consider to be what makes us 'human'. He's advocating this as the most important aspect of humanity (of which the speaker has lots of - especially for this particular girl).
THIS SONG IS AWESOME! I think it is is about a stupid guy who loves some girl. well duh. that's all that's important anyway.
It doesn't take a high class or a high degree to be able to feel and love with all your heart, which is what matters.
Mayor of Simpleton was on the Oranges and Lemons album. This was the album after XTC's biggest seller to date Skylarking. "XTC, 'Skylarking' - 100 Best Albums of the Eighties | Rolling ... rollingstone.com/...best-albums.../xtc-skylarking-201... Rolling Stone.
Skylarking, as it turned out, was the album that broke XTC to a larger audience in .... It was the second best-selling album of 1985 in the UK.
Skylarking was produced by Todd Rundgren, a much touted "genius". Todd and Andy had epic clashes during the recording of this album. Todd was very cold to the band (esp Andy) because he was under order to get the album done quickly without the antics that Andy was famous for wearning down producers to get his way. Colin Molding actually left the band during these session for a short time.
I think that Mayor of Simpleton is a poke from Andy to Todd saying, you may be a technical and musical wizard, but that does not count for much when it comes down to true human emotions.
Echoes the great Sam Cooke song "Wonderful World," but with a brilliant patina of irony, since the lyrics of "Mayor of Simpleton" could only have been written by an extraordinarily clever lyricist. Truly one of the best pop songs of the 1980s.