{"id":10229,"date":"2019-10-17T19:37:52","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T23:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/millheiser.com\/hokeyblog\/?p=10229"},"modified":"2022-11-01T09:41:19","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T13:41:19","slug":"buttkickin-halloween-songs-baggy-trousers-madness-1980","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/millheiser.com\/hokeyblog\/2019\/10\/17\/buttkickin-halloween-songs-baggy-trousers-madness-1980\/","title":{"rendered":"Buttkickin’ Halloween Songs: “Baggy Trousers” — Madness (1980)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Naughty boys in nasty schools
\nHeadmasters breaking all the rules
\nHaving fun and playing fools
\nSmashing up the woodwork tools<\/em><\/p>\n

All the teachers in the pub<\/em>
\nPassing ’round the ready-rub<\/em>
\nTrying not to think of when<\/em>
\nThe lunch-time bell will ring again…<\/em><\/p>\n

Ahh, Madness. Welcome back lads. You’re always welcome ’round all parts Hokeyblog at Halloweentime. Always.<\/p>\n

The British ska\/pop group from the 80s is pretty much only known by mainstream Americans for their 1983 smash Our House<\/em>, and while I won’t claim to be a deep-cut album fan by any stretch, I do love so many of their lesser known hits. There’s always an element of playfulness, good-natured prankster glee, and rogue boyish mischief.<\/p>\n

And what puts the “trick” in “Trick or Treat” better than rogue boyish mischief? Which of course brings us right to their 1980 hit Baggy Trousers<\/strong>, a wickedly delightful slice of British schoolboy shenanigans and the drunken fed-up school staff who have to put up with them.<\/p>\n

The song itself is all kinds of delight: uptempo, bass-driven, playful keyboard lines that seem to invoke childhood mischief and adult exasperation all at once. “Oh what fun we had”, indeed. This song is nothing BUT pure fun, because when is breaking rules and getting in trouble never a hoot and a half? This is the literal soundtrack to TP’ing a house or poop-bombing a doorstep.<\/p>\n

Baggy Trousers<\/strong> comes in and out quickly, just like the kid you just missed with a carton of rotten eggs and a glorious desire for chaos. Don’t worry; he’ll grow up to be your chiropodist.<\/p>\n

Oh what fun we had
\nBut, did it really turn out bad
\nAll I learnt at school
\nWas how to bend not break the rules<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh what fun we had<\/em>
\nBut at the time it seemed so bad<\/em>
\nTrying different ways<\/em>
\nTo make a difference to the days<\/em><\/p>\n

Baggy trousers, baggy trousers, baggy trousers…<\/em><\/p>\n