Thirty years on, Madness are a British institution and their music has become the soundtrack to many a 30 and 40-somethings youth, young adulthood and middle age. The band's songs have become so ingrained in the modern British psyche that they have been turned into a West End musical and have been used in a variety of jingles and advertisements. Now the band's lyrics are the focus of a new book of Victorian-era English translations and are helping to launch a multi-million pound ad campaign on behalf of Virgin Media.
Madness fan Joe Morris has just published 'Victorian Madness Lyrics' in which he has translated nearly all the lyrics to every Madness song into Victorian English. According to Morris: 'In a nutshell Victorian Madness Lyrics is a mad, wacky and nonsensical homage to Suggs and the lads in zany and incomprehensible Victorian language- in a ridiculously exaggerated style. In a way I've just translated the original lyrics into Dickensian style. I think its a wonderfully affectionate tribute to Suggs and the lads.' For instance 'House of Fun' becomes 'Establishment of Amusement', while 'Baggy Trousers' is now 'Ill Fitting Pantaloons', and the Madness anthem 'Our House' translates to 'One's Abode'.
Here in all their glory are the Dickensian-style lyrics to 'Our House' now translated as 'One's Abode':
Pater dons his Sunday apparel
Mater suffers fatigue she desires some rehabilitation
The youthful ragamuffins are amusing themselves in the lower chambers
Female sibling's breathing awkwardly in her slumber
Male sibling has got a rendezvous to maintain
He can't procrastinate
Our domicile in the vicinity of our tree bordered avenue
Our domicile in the vicinity of our
Our domicile has got a congregation
There are always frequent occurrences
And the acoustics are of the highest amplitude
Our mater is so domicile conscious
Nothing impedes her progress
And a carnage is not permissible
Our domicile in the vicinity of our tree bordered avenue
Our domicile in the vicinity
Our domicile in the vicinity of our tree bordered avenue
Our domicile in the vicinity
Pater awakens tardy for employment
Mater has to mangle his undergarments
Then she transports the infants to their groves of academia
Bids them farewell with an osculation
Mater's the one they may yearn for her presence
In a multitude of attitudes
I reminisce in the mists of time
When all was so sincere
And when we would indulge in riotous entertainment
Such an auspicious period
Such a passage of contentment
And I would reminisce on how we would engage in frolics
Simply squanders the twenty four hours
Then as a collective family unit we'd utter nothing would intervene; double fantasists
Pater wears his Sunday apparel
Mater suffers from fatigue and she needs some rehabilitation
The ragamuffins are amusing themselves in the lower chamber
Female sibling breathing awkwardly in her slumber
Male sibling's got a rendezvous to maintain
He can't procrastinate
Our domicile in the vicinity of our tree bordered avenue
Our domicile in the vicinity of our tree bordered avenue
Our domicile in the vicinity of our tree bordered avenue
Our domicile in the vicinity of our
Our domicile was our turret and portcullis
Our domicile in the vicinity of our tree bordered avenue
Our domicile that was where we formerly slumbered
Our domicile in the vicinity of our tree bordered avenue
Speaking of 'Our House', Virgin Media has unveiled its new advertising campaign, which features the lyrics from the song recited by a male voice over and set to the Dan Black track 'Symphonies'. The multi-million pound ad campaign celebrates families, couples, professionals and friends making the most of the digital world provided by Virgin Media.
'Victorian Madness Lyrics' can currently be found at Amazon.co.uk and most online British book store web sites including Foyles, Waterstones, WH Smiths, Blackwell and the World of Better Books. For fans of Madness living in the U.S., the book is available at the Barnes and Noble web site.
The Virgin Media ad can be seen on television sets across the U.K.
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