Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead

About Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead

"The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" is a song written by Andy Partridge of XTC for their 1992 album Nonsuch. It was their second number one hit on the Modern Rock Tracks chart after "Mayor of Simpleton", and reached number 71 on the UK Singles Chart. The song tells the story of Peter Pumpkinhead, a man who comes to an unspecified town, "spreading wisdom and cash around." He is extremely popular with the public, but extremely unpopular with the government. In the end, he is nailed to wood by his enemies for "being too good". The song was inspired by a jack o'lantern Partridge had carved and placed on a fence post in his garden for Halloween. Afterward, Partridge walked past the pumpkin each day on the way to his composing shed and, feeling sorry for the increasingly decaying fruity head, decided to write a song about him. He said that he began thinking about "what would happen if there was somebody on Earth who was kind of perfect ... God, they'd make so many enemies!" more »