20 YEARS AGO: The Divine Comedy - National Express

Both celebrating and taking the piss out of British society, this 1999 hit was released as the third single from The Divine Comedy's 6th album 'Fin de Siècle', reaching number eight on the UK Singles Chart. The naggingly catchy, almost Broadway-like song is based on Neil Hannon's observations of life from the window of a National Express coach.

"'National Express', even though it was a bit of a silly song, is pure observation, nothing made up – I'm on this bus, this is what I see. 'The family man/manhandling the pram/with paternal pride' is me having a dig at my brother for having a kid and being Nineties Man, you know, and he's not exactly working class."

The single also features a cover of Kraftwerk's 'Radioactivity' on the b side.

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