Last week I picked an incredibly sad song for this column. In response to that, here is a song that openly mocks sad songs.

The group XTC and its front man Andy Partridge were only second to Morrissey and the Smiths in terms of English bands producing comedic levels of melodrama in their music.

“1000 Umbrellas” is XTC’s finest example of that. Propelled by a lush and beautiful string arrangement, Andy Partridge bemoans the end of a romantic relationship with Shakespearean gusto, using every metaphor he can along the way.

“And just when I thought that my vista was golden in hue,” he sings at the song’s middle. “1000 umbrellas open to spoil the view.”

The word “misery” comes up over and over. When it does, Partridge doesn’t just sing the word – he heaves it like a sobbing lover while an orchestra plays buoyantly behind him.

Of course, it’s all in great fun, since it provides Partridge with a plethora of opportunities to showcase his English wittiness. For all it’s moaning a groaning, there is almost no way to take a line such as “I cried ‘til I floated downstream to a town they call ‘Misery,'” and not smile a little in spite of it.

“1000 Umbrellas” can be found on XTC’s 1986 album “Skylarking,” on Geffen Records.