Madness was one of the most popular groups.I've heard their lyrics referred to as- Well rooted in real life-Lots of depth-you name it,although I suspect those who talk like this are over-egging the pudding somewhat.They clocked up fifteen top ten numbers I believe within the space of about four years.Personally speaking I've never found their stuff up to much,especially when you're sat there listening to a guy intoning the words One step beyond over and over again at the top of his lungs-One step beyond even madness itself is the phrase that may soon spring to mind.[If there's one thing guaranteed to get on my nerves mega style it's repetition.I find it excruciatingly irritating.To give an example-My mother stubbornly refuses to wear a hearing aid.Listening to my dad saying the same phrase THREE times drives me around the twist.-There's something about this THREE times that really eats me.Twice I can live with.Say a thing THREE times in my company and watch out for the petrifying look I can give.As far as I'm concerned if you deliver said triple irritant you're starting to sound like some sort of demented human parrot.]All of which brings me to Baggy trousers,and,apart from the fact that this is one of the silliest pieces of oddness I've ever encountered,it also features quite a lot of repetition itself,with the title being reiterated over and over again.One wonders just WHAT kind of schools we're dealing with here.Check this out-[Headmasters breaking all the rules-Like,were these particular headmasters in their right minds?-Smashing up woodwork tools-What were these particular TOOLS made of?Glass?-ALL the teachers down at the pub come lunchtime-No staffrooms?ALL these teachers were alcoholic idiots,with no idea of setting a standard whatsoever?-ALL the teachers passing round the ready rub-Like,by a staggering coincidence,EVERY teacher smoked ready rub-Kicking pushbikes after dark-Like,what's with all this KICKING of said pushbikes?Some subconscious desire to kick the teachers or something?The mind boggles with lyrics like these.We're also informed that end of term meant the guys from this school of insanity met up with the guys from the neighbouring school of insanity,thence to knock crap out of each other.]You're really left wondering if you've just listened to something which sounds like a cross between Monty Python and Scum,that gut crunching film set in a borstal.Ofcourse,the ironies come thick and fast aswell.We hear that the headmaster loved to have a few practice swings with his cane,in readiness to tan a few backsides as red as he was able,and of teachers banging these kids from Hell across the head with things.It's a far cry from today when you could get yourself into lumber almost by LOOKING at kids in a reprimanding way,and I really pity today's teachers.We're also told that the younger kids there were infamous for their,quote-tall tales-probably talking about the harmless,silly little yarns they circulated about stuff like beating up older pupils or something.Again a far cry from the kind of injurious TALL TALES you hear emanating from some kids these days about their teachers.Like I said,heaven help those in authority now.What's really setting my teeth on edge about Baggy trousers however is this.In today's rabidly anti-smoking society,in which even smoking rooms in workplaces are soon to be outlawed-like,where does it end?-the bit in the song most likely to provoke discontent is-Passing round the ready rub.Finally,a mention about this idiotic line I've specially extracted from the entire web of dumbness-Oh what fun we had,but at the time it seemed so bad-A case of a single statement exploding with self contradiction-If it seemed so BAD back then,how can it be referred to as FUN now?Drivel,thy name is Baggy trousers.