"John Foxx" is the stage name of English musician Dennis Leigh; born on the… Read Full Bio ↴"John Foxx" is the stage name of English musician Dennis Leigh; born on the 26th of September 1947 in Chorley, Lancashire, England. He was the original lead singer of the band "Ultravox!" (previously known as "Tiger Lily"), before embarking on a solo career in 1979.

Recent work has been as part of John Foxx and The Maths and he has had a number of collaborations including John Foxx & Steve D'Agostino, John Foxx and The Belbury Circle, John Foxx and Jori Hulkkonen, John Foxx & Robin Guthrie, John Foxx & Louis Gordon.

Underpass
John Foxx Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Standing in the dark
Watching you glow
Lifting a receiver
Nobody I know

Underpass
Underpass

Well I used to remember
Now it's all gone...
World War something...
We were somebody's sons

Underpass
Underpass

Over all the bridges
Echoes in rows
Talking at the same time
Click-click drone...

Underpass
Underpass

Misty on the glass now
Rusty on the door
Here for years now

Click-click drone
Click-click drone
Click-click drone
Click-click drone
Click-click...

Underpass
Underpass
Underpass
Underpass

Underpass
Underpass

Underpass
Underpass

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of John Foxx's "Underpass" describe a sense of loneliness and detachment as the singer stands alone in the dark, watching someone else from a distance. Despite lifting a receiver to try and connect with someone, the singer is unable to make a connection with anyone they know. The repetition of the phrase "underpass" emphasizes the idea of being trapped or stuck in a certain space or position, with no escape.

The second verse suggests a loss of memory and an uncertain sense of time, with the reference to "World War something" and being "somebody's sons". The bleak imagery of "misty on the glass now / rusty on the door" evokes a sense of abandonment and neglect, further emphasizing the feeling of being trapped in a stagnant space. The repeated phrase "click-click drone" adds to the eeriness of the song and suggests a mechanical, monotonous existence.

Overall, "Underpass" explores themes of isolation, memory loss, and a sense of being stuck or trapped. The somber tone and repetitive lyrics create a haunting atmosphere, emphasizing the feelings of loneliness and detachment.

Line by Line Meaning

Standing in the dark
I am standing in the darkness

Watching you glow
I am observing your radiance

Lifting a receiver
I am picking up a phone

Nobody I know
I do not recognize the voice on the other end of the line

Underpass
I am in an underpass

Well I used to remember
I used to have memories

Now it's all gone...
Now those memories have disappeared

World War something...
There was a war that took place

We were somebody's sons
We were sons of someone

Underpass
I am in an underpass

Over all the bridges
I see bridges over me

Echoes in rows
There are sounds repeating in succession

Talking at the same time
Voices are speaking in unison

Click-click drone...
I hear the sound of clicking

Underpass
I am in an underpass

Misty on the glass now
Condensation has formed on the window

Rusty on the door
The door is corroded with rust

Here for years now
I have been here for some time

Click-click drone
I hear the sound of clicking

Click-click...
The clicking sound continues

Underpass
I am in an underpass

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DENNIS LEIGH

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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06A New Kind Of Man4:31

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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@Nervejam

2y↑13

Standing in the shop
Stroking my thighs
Lifting up the Y-fronts
Nothing in my size

Underpants!
Underpants!

Well, I used to wear boxers
Now they're all worn
Wasn't it some...thing...
They warmed somebody's bum

Underpants!
Underpants!

Scouring through the britches
I think I like those
They're comfy at the same...time...
Leg, leg, bum

Underpants!
Underpants!

Snuggly on my ass now
Crumpled on the floor
They'll last for years...now...
Leg, leg, bum
Leg, leg, bum
Leg, leg, bum
Leg, leg, bum
Leg, leg...

Underpants!
Underpants!
Underpants!
Underpants!

(repeat to fade)

(Alternative lyrics courtesy of Mrs X, on the Ultravox forum)

All comments from YouTube:

@cosmicckkev

38w↑22

This was the sound of the future in 1980 and still is. Epic and unequalled.

@andrewperkins8532

2y↑56

the man was light years ahead of his time, this is a classic.

@danielpayne500

36w↑2

It is my top 500 of all time as a DJ of Electronic Alternative music

@christopherwest4580

48w↑16

Forgot how good this song was, it was groundbreaking and still sounds amazing.👍

@hyperdrive608

6y↑62

Groundbreaking music, and that keyboard chorus is hypnotic and sinister! Just amazing

@seansmith5692

25w

@Alan.92n

2y↑28

Timeless, hypnotic, sinister, chilling. Brilliant.

@klintoninfiniteheart8990

1y↑12

Super classic, love this electronic masterpiece. 80's forever

@Judith.13.

1y↑10

Absolutely brilliant!!! Happy to hear this again🙏🏻🥳🥰😍❤️

@karenbroadhurst7302

38w↑3

This was absolutely awesome piece of synth music of 1980 loved it ❤️ he was once in ultravox if I'm correct and then went solo a classic from the eighties xxxx 🎹🎤🎶💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

@silenceblue82

2y↑16

Timeless classic!

@hozonkai9967

6y↑71

John Foxx is criminally underrated
Without him there would be no Gary Numan and of course no Ultravox

@johnfriel1316

And Fad Gadget was around before both of them

@DaveDaRave1980

4y↑8

@John friel, no he wasn't... Fad Gadget released his first single in 1979 and first album in 1980... Gary Numan (active since 1975) and John Foxx (active since 1967) had both been around for years before Fad Gadget... I do like Fad Gadget though

@JHollowayNetwork

4y↑3

@No One Driving And speaking of Ultravox, Midge Ure took his place after he left for a solo career.

@proclaimed75

2y↑1

Do not agree. Gary Numan almost solely set the synth scene fully above grond without any help! OMD, Depeche, Human League Alphaville, and many others, no one got it popular before Gary! But indeed Foxx is heavily underrated.

@DaveDaRave1980

2y↑6

@proclaimed75 - I think Joe Meek / The Tornados, Wendy Carlos, Giorgio Moroder, Hot Butter, The Peppers, Chicory Tip, Kraftwerk, Vangelis, Donna Summer, Space, The RAH Band and Jean Michel Jarre might disagree with you on that point TBH! They all wrote or scored synth / electronic hits before Numan, so he certainly didn't "almost solely" set the synth scene fully above ground without any help, it was already well above ground before he arrived! Numan has admitted himself numerous times he would never have made it without Foxx...

7 More Replies...

@saraknight3605

2y↑14

Absolutely iconic track

@offbeat65

And u-conic, too.

@Ken_Casanova

28w↑2

Still love dancing to this
Timeless

@ashfaq1999

2y↑17

Electronic Masterpiece

@curtisunit

1y↑5

First heard it on vinyl when I was about 12 at my brothers apartment in San Fran. Loved the sound of it. Hard to believe it was 1980 when it came out. The only thing I ever heard at the time that sounded something like it was the pleasure principle. Intensely cold and impersonal but so smartly put together and there is a beauty in there and yeah, Gary was a fan. GN put up a video talking about how JF was an essential inspiration.
I guess it was mutual.
Hah, I just saw a polymoog! I knewit!

@danielmarquis5258

25w↑2

I love New Wave music. Imo, John Foxx, Gary Numan, Human League, OMD, and Kraftwerk paved the way for New Wave.

@neilsteadman762

3y↑10

Always loved this track

@SerenaBlackCat

2y↑7

Music from the year I was born...this is a thing of beauty

@twistedeternal8053

52w↑3

this song is insane

@georgegiapitzis8204

1y↑1

Love that synth sound

@dawnjeanballard2874

17w

Back in my hometown today. Walked thru the underpass today. Walked it every day in the 80s. This song came to me. Singing it as I walked thru the underpass todsy.

@robindutt7169

1y↑2

Just wonderful.

@1hundredflip554

41w

Both synths sound crazy in this song

@davelazar2600

2y↑3

Just .... Epic!

@miketaylor7440

5y↑13

Just listening to Metamatic right now - superb album!

@elizabethprice6600

27w↑3

My husband has just admitted he’s never heard this! I may have to divorce him. 😂

@ms8279

3y↑2

Brano e Video ancora Affascinanti. Validi e Particolari i Suoi primi tre Album.

@chairyogadarwen

2y↑6

John Foxx said this track was very much influenced by his reading of the works, of J G Ballard.

@DaveDaRave1980

2y↑1

And it shows! Loved the Ballardian themes on the Metamatic album

@jeremybolwell1283

3y↑4

I bought this back in the day.

@geoffolehane

43w

I remember this song and others from the John Foxx era. But sadly, I didn't become a Depeche Mode fan until later. Sorry about that.

@sonofhibbs4425

1y↑3

1980!!! ??!! Unbelievable.

@BENTHEF

damn space land chooses the best songs from 1980

@JohnPeel3904

7y↑4

Catchy song I may add !!

@BaddaBigBoom

35w↑3

"UNDERPANTS!!" (you can't unhear it) Now re-start and watch again :-)

@philipsleddenhouston6764

29w

Driving back when this was recorded was totally a better experience.
Todays roads and drivers just are pathetic

@steveholman3169

2y↑3

and he would have been 32 when he released this!

@chrislondo2683

Imagine hearing this instead in the pool scene from Fast Times at Ridgemont High instead of Moving in Stereo.

@ymotechnopopfan

Very synthetic.

@lucamingotti6931

avanti 100 anni 😍

@sirandrelefaedelinoge

51w↑1

John Foxx's electronic underpants...

@davidseaford797

25w↑1

Oh these blitz days

@martinmidgley7544

3y↑22

So he wasn't singing "UNDERPANTS" all this time. Quite a disappointment after so many years :(

@martinfitzgerald1605

3y↑1

Isn't it?😂

@tornadodee148

Omg same🤣🤣🤣

@tovm74

2y↑1

I allways thought he shouted "ALL OF USSSSSSSS"

@Nervejam

2y↑13

@user-vi7xr2ey1y

46w

You. Never hear. This. On the radio😮

@elizabethhann4028

[30 August 2021] As Simon Puxley might have said (maybe)(I think): "Oh, NOW ! That IS ...so COOL ..."

@AgnesOctavia4

No way is this HQ

@Laserdreamz

2y↑7

UNDERPANTS! cool song.

@sonofhibbs4425

😆

@MontrealMan1970

3y↑2

i like to floor my car in a underpass

@estebansteverincon7117

1y↑1

Gary Numan would be proud ;)

@undergroundwarrior70

6y↑6

Before Synth Pop bands.

@DaveDaRave1980

The Human League, Japan and Tubeway Army were around before this

@undergroundwarrior70

3y↑5

@No One Driving And Ultravox with John Foxx (founder) was before them, 1974.

@proclaimed75

Not before. Because you would then rule out Kraftwerk which were already active years before this.....

@aprendizdebrujo100

@@undergroundwarrior70 only 1977, but yes, before them.

@DaveDaRave1980

@Underground Warrior - Ultravox were not a synth band at first, their early music was more rock / guitar-orientated... They definitely weren't around before Kraftwerk

1 More Replies...

@broilerfresser9707

2y↑3

UNBEZAHLBAR 💖 💖 💖

@r.s.dissendissen6752

De fabriek - hersenvreters

@r.s.dissendissen6752

Its. ..like. Waking. Up. In a. World. ,that dont belings to yu. ... I,ll. Give yu someore. .... Now&*¿ Maybe later. ... I know. Tooooomuch bands. Like??? 14.000???..; maybe more. ..but. I,ll give yu now. ... Crist. Difficult. I almost. Sleep. Ohyeah. I remember. *. Maybe mental- drought. & Wittness. Same band. &. Overseeer. And. Woooow! ¿ Can i stop giving yu songs??? *Solid space - destination moon. ... Anyway.... Contact me. If yu. Like to hear. Muccccccchhhhh much more. Obscure. Songs🙏🕯️

@user-vi7xr2ey1y

46w↑2

Me robot dancing😊

@user-hj6dm1yn9q

Scooter take me baby😊.

@sirandrelefaedelinoge

51w↑2

underpants!

@tornadodee148

2y↑2

UNDERPANTS🤣

@jenniferharrison1010

1y↑1

Child trafficing under ground tunnels

@geed8499

1y↑1

Watch synth britannia on you tube.

@psycoscillator

23w

getting free of steven strange was a good moove mr fox.
)))))))))UNDERPANTS(((((((((.

@magdalenawaw673

2y↑2

thank God for Midge Ure

@DaveDaRave1980

2y↑5

Midge Ure could only dream of being as innovative, creative or influential as John Foxx

@magdalenawaw673

2y↑1

@No One Driving and yet pretty much nobody heard his name and the band was not very successful. Only a few care about the old Ultravox. Most know Ultravox because of Midge.

@DaveDaRave1980

2y↑4

@Magdalena Wawrzonek - you couldn't be more wrong. Commercial success over a relatively short period is only half the story. In the years before / during Midge Ure's tenure with Ultravox, and then after Ultravox dissolved, more musicians have cited John Foxx as an influence than Midge Ure (by far)... Without John Foxx there would be no Ultravox at all - and Foxx's albums have still been charting / garnering critical acclaim as recently as 2020 - when was the last time Ure had a charting album, or indeed when was the last time he made a decent record? Not that I dislike Ure. He did make a few decent records in the 80s. But he was simply a more commercially savvy frontman than Foxx (and let's not forget, Ultravox's most successful release, Vienna, was outperformed by Joe Dolce - and yet, how many people would claim that Dolce was "better" than Ure, then or now? )... When it comes to innovation / creativity, career longevity, influencing the synth / electronic genre over the years, and pure, raw musical talent, Foxx is the more talented artist, not Ure