The cover of XTC’s 1978 album, “White Music.”
The British new wave band XTC included a catchy, bouncy song about New Jersey’s leading landmark, the Statue of Liberty (which is technically in New York, though we won’t hold that against it), on its debut 1978 album White Music. As written and sung by the band’s frontman, Andy Partridge, the song is more about lust than liberty.
Partridge treats the statue like a lover. He sees her as “nearly naked’ and “unashamed,” and confesses to be “A little jealous of the ships with whom you flirt/A billion lovers with their cameras snap to look.”
Check out the song’s video, below.
New Jersey celebrated its 350th birthday in 2014. And in the 350 Jersey Songs series, we marked the occasion by posting 350 songs — one a day, from September 2014 to September 2015 — that have something to do with the state, its musical history, or both. To see the entire list, click here.
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