Come to Milton Keynes is a single released by the English band the Style Council in 1985. It was the second single from the band's second studio album, Our Favourite Shop, and charted at No. 23 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 14 on the Irish Singles Chart.
The title refers to Milton Keynes, a new town established in 1967, midway between London and Birmingham. In an interview given at the time of the song's release, Paul Weller stated that the song was inspired by the "Red Balloon" Milton Keynes advert, which was produced on behalf of the Milton Keynes Development Corporation.
Paul Weller biographer John Reed argues in Paul Weller: My Ever Changing Moods (1996) that: <blockquote> The songâÂÂs lyrics suggested a reality of drugs, violence, and âÂÂlosing our wayâ behind a façade of âÂÂluscious houses â where the âÂÂcurtains are drawnâÂÂ, the idea being to create a musical pastiche which matched the supposed artificiality of Milton Keynes itself.</blockquote> More recently, Thomas McLean has called the song "a missing link between the Kinksâ âÂÂVillage Green Preservation Societyâ and BlurâÂÂs âÂÂCountry HouseâÂÂ," and "a dark commentary on one of the last of the new towns."