Brill

One main version:

* (1981) - Chemical Playschool 1 (5:53), Kleine Krieg (6:06), Prayer for Aradia Bonus Tracks (5:55)

The song fades in, contains samples from several other LPD songs in the middle, and then fades out at the end. Totally random and discordant. On Kleine Krieg it cross-fades at the end with a small suffix.

Instruments: Choppy keyboard melody; single drum machine pattern that is not followed by the other instruments; two vocal tracks; brief sped-up backwards chanting; snippets from other songs from Chemical Playschool 1 (see below for a list); sequenced keyboard melody fades in and out; sequenced keyboard with wildly oscillating pitch; occasional vocoder interjections with heavy distortion near the end.

Suffix "Choir" (0:22):

On Kleine Krieg the end of the song crossfades with a recording of what sounds like a cathedral choir, with organ synths and effects in the background. It cuts off abruptly.

What It's About:

My guess is that the lyrics are largely improvised. They're mostly patronizing statements about a "clever boy's" intelligence. Apparently this clever boy won a prize but he'd better run quick if he wants to escape with it.

Lyrics (adapted from the Cloud-Zero archive):

You won the star prize, surprise surprise.
Clever boy, lucky boy. Take the money and run.
Run, run before we change our minds.
Us widows are fickle. Run, run, run, run.

[The Christ of Jesus was ?]

Run, run, run. Run, run.
Run. Run. Run. Run.

[Snippets from the Full Band version of "Waiting for the Call / You 'n Me", "Phallus Dei," "Before the End," "Guess the Politician," and the Boopy Keyboards suffix from "Apocalypse Then"]

Oh you're such a clever boy,
Get out 'for the going's good, I told you.
Such a clever boy, your cranium's so wide, your forehead is so high.
You clever boy.
[?]
What a man, a born winner!
A winner!
And you've got such a good job in an office or a [?].
Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir, more bags, five bags, eighty bags alike!
[?]
Clever boy. Clever boy! [?]
[?] sonny [?]
Mom's little lad's a clever boy!

[The Christ of Jesus was ?]

Why You Should Care:

You shouldn't. This is the most annoying Legendary Pink Dots song ever...and yet they must have liked it because they also put it on "Kleine Kreig."