Prefab Sprout are an English pop band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham fo… Read Full Bio ↴Prefab Sprout are an English pop band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham formed in 1976, who rose to fame during the 1980s. Though critically acclaimed, and considered by many to have released some of the best pop albums of the decade, the band never matched this acclaim with commercial success. The band's best known lineup comprised Paddy McAloon (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Wendy Smith (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Martin McAloon (bass), and Neil Conti (drums).

Their biggest commercial and critical success came with 1990's Jordan: The Comeback (one of two albums produced by Thomas Dolby), which was a hit in the UK and nominated for a BRIT award. The band also had a UK Top 10 hit with their 1988 song The King of Rock 'n' Roll.

Perhaps their finest album, Steve McQueen (originally released in June 1985) was re-released in August 2007 as a 2-CD deluxe edition, with a bonus disc of eight acoustic reinterpretations of some of the original tracks. Of the release, the record company said: "Digitally remastered by original producer Thomas Dolby, the album is sounding even better than ever. As if that weren't enough it is complemented here with a second disc containing eight sublime acoustic versions, which have been specially re-recorded for this release by Paddy McAloon."

Steve McQueen was released in the US under the title Two Wheels Good following pressure from the late actor's estate.

Prefab Sprout released Let's Change the World With Music - The Blueprint in 2009 on the Kitchenware Records label (website). See also Sprout Trivia below.

Discography:
Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone) / Radio Love - Feb 25, 1982 (their first record, released on their own label Candle)
The Devil Has All the Best Tunes / Walk On - Oct 1983 (Kitchenware) (feat. Wendy Smith and Fiona Attwood)
Swoon - Mar 1984
Steve McQueen aka Two Wheels Good (US) - Jun 1985
From Langley Park to Memphis - Mar 1988
Protest Songs - Jun 1989
Jordan: The Comeback - Aug 1990
The Best of Prefab Sprout: A Life of Surprises - Jul 1992 (compilation; exit Conti hereafter)
Andromeda Heights - May 1997
38 Carat Collection (disc 1) - Oct 1999 (compilation)
38 Carat Collection (disc 2) - Oct 1999 (compilation)
The Gunman And Other Stories - Jun 18, 2001 (sans Smith)

Chronology of Bandmembers:
Paddy McAloon (born Patrick Joseph McAloon, Jun 7, 1957, Durham); vocals / guitars / keyboards
Martin McAloon (born Jan 4, 1962, Durham); bass guitar
Michael Salmon; drums / percussion
Wendy Smith (born May 31, 1963, Middlesbrough); vocals / guitars / keyboards
Neil Conti (born Feb 12, 1959, Luton); drums / percussion
Fiona Attwood (Chester-le-Street); backing vocals

Sprout Trivia:

Paddy conceived the name "Prefab Sprout" when he was just 14 back in 1972, he revealed in an interview with French magazine BEST. It was his attempt at creating an unusual name like groups that were popular at the time (eg Tyrannosaurus Rex, Moby Grape, Grand Funk Railroad, etc.).

The band has had as many as 11 drummers (including Paddy McAloon himself on programmed percussion!) in its lineup. Of these, Conti was the most closely identified with the group. (source: http://www.browningmcintosh.com/plocktonwest/sproutfacts.html)

Paddy had apparently conceived of an album named Let's Change The World With Music (the working title of the band's forthcoming album, due February 2009) as far back as the early 1990's:

"I actually wrote a Gulf War album called Let's Change The World With Music, and I've got a couple of beauties, but there are right and wrong times to do things, and it came after another album I wrote which is much lighter... it's called Billy Midnight, very romantic. So the Gulf War album was a more serious response to that. I keep junking things all the time." - NME June 20, 1992 (source: http://www.browningmcintosh.com/plocktonwest/sprout_misc.html)
"And I have an album called Let's Change The World With Music; lots of songs about music, playing on that horrible thing where you listen to a song like "We Are The World" and the sentiment is great but it's such a cliché that it sticks in your throat. It plays on that edge between that kind of thing and real sincerity." - NME April 15, 1995 (source: http://www.browningmcintosh.com/plocktonwest/sprout_misc.html)
"Look, since 1990 I've written what I think of as my best music. You can hear some of it on Andromeda Heights. But I have also - in detailed demo form - an album called Let's Change The World With Music. It was written as the follow up to Jordan." - BEST magazine (France) July 1997 (source: http://www.browningmcintosh.com/plocktonwest/sprout_misc.html)

Adolescence
Prefab Sprout Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Adolescence — what's it like?
It's a psychedelic motorbike
You smash it up ten times a day
Then you walk away
It's moonlight on a balcony,
It's pure hormonal agony
Bad poetry –
It's greeting card Will the bard

Adolescence - why's it so?
Ask someone else how should I know?
It's a song I sang
And then forgot too long ago
When I was a

Romeo in love forever,
Unable to forget some Juliet
Romeo, Romeo, inconstant? Never!
It's knives flashing in fountains
Poison, Capulets, letters that go astray
Molehills bigger than mountains
You're pre sat nav.
Learning to find your way

Adolescence - what's it for?
It's for keeping your nerve endings raw
While relay teams of fevered dreams escape each pore
It's moonlight on a balcony,
It's pure hormonal agony
Bad poetry –
It's greeting card Will the bard

Romeo in love forever,
Unable to forget some Juliet
Romeo, Romeo, inconstant? Never!
It's knives flashing in fountains
Poison, Capulets, letters that go astray
Molehills bigger than mountains
You're pre sat nav.
Learning to find your way

Adolescence can be rough
I hope your heat-shield's tough enough
I hope that no one dares to scoff
When you blast off
Adolescence Crimson/Red
Fireworks inside your head

You're three times brighter than the sun
- have some fun

Overall Meaning

The song "Adolescence" by Prefab Sprout is a nostalgic look back at the ups and downs of teenage years. The song starts with the question "what's it like?" and describes it as a "psychedelic motorbike", something wild and unpredictable that can crash and burn at any moment. The second verse acknowledges the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet, emphasizing the intensity of first love and the feeling of being unable to forget a certain person. Then the chorus repeats the description of adolescence as "moonlight on a balcony" and "pure hormonal agony" before concluding with a catchy rhyme about bad poetry.

In the third verse, the question shifts to "what's it for?" and the answer is to keep your "nerve endings raw" and experience the fevered dreams that escape from your pores. The final chorus brings the metaphor full circle with a space-themed analogy - adolescence is like blasting off into space, and you better have a tough heat shield to survive. Despite the challenges and intensity of adolescence, the song encourages the listener to have fun and embrace their own brightness.

Overall, "Adolescence" captures both the excitement and the pain of being a teenager. It acknowledges the cliches and the stereotypes (like bad poetry and Romeo and Juliet), but also celebrates the unique intensity of the experience.

Line by Line Meaning

Adolescence — what's it like?
The experience of adolescence is compared to a psychedelic motorbike that one crashes many times a day and then walks away from. It's also like experiencing pure hormonal agony on a moonlit balcony and writing bad poetry like a greeting card from William Shakespeare himself.

Adolescence - why's it so?
The singer doesn't have an answer to why adolescence is the way it is, but it's something they sang about and eventually forgot, like a distant memory from their past when they were a lovesick Romeo.

Romeo in love forever, Unable to forget some Juliet, Romeo, Romeo, inconstant? Never!
The singer references Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and compares themselves to a forever-in-love Romeo who can't forget their Juliet. They refuse to be called fickle or inconstant in their devotion.

Adolescence - what's it for?
Adolescence is for experiencing the raw nerve endings and relay teams of fevered dreams escaping each pore. It's the hormonal agony of a moonlit balcony and writing bad poetry like William Shakespeare on a greeting card.

Adolescence Crimson/Red, Fireworks inside your head, You're three times brighter than the sun, - have some fun
Adolescence can be overwhelming and intense, with the artist describing it as crimson/red with fireworks inside your head. Despite everything, the artist encourages anyone going through adolescence to have some fun and shine bright like the sun.

Contributed by Lucas H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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