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What A Good Boy Lyrics
Words by Steven Page
Music by Steven Page & Ed Robertson When I was born they looked at me and said What a good boy, what a smart boy, what a strong boy And when you were born they looked at you and said What a good girl, what a smart girl, what a pretty girl We've got these chains that hang around our necks People want to strangle us with them before we take our first breath Afraid of change, afraid of staying the same When temptation calls we just look away Chorus This name is the hairshirt I wear And this hairshirt is woven from your brown hair This song is the cross that I bear Bear it with me, bear with me, bear with me Be with me tonight I know that it isn't right But be with me tonight I go to school, I write exams If I pass, if I fail, if I drop out, does anyone give a damn? And if they do, they'll soon forget 'Cause it won't take much for me to show that my life ain't over yet I wake up scared, I wake up strange I wake up wondering if anything in my life is ever going to change I wake up scared, I wake up strange And everything around me stays the same Chorus I couldn't tell you that I was wrong Chickened out, grabbed a pen and paper, sat down and I wrote this song I couldn't tell you that you were right So instead I looked in the mirror watched tv laid awake all night We've got these chains that hang around our necks People want to strangle us with them before we take our first breath Afraid of change, afraid of staying the same When temptation calls.... Chorus When I was born they looked at me and said What a good boy, what a smart boy, what a strong boy And when you were born they looked at you and said What a good girl, what a smart girl, what a pretty girl, hey Andy Creeggan: Organ, piano Jim Creeggan: Double Bass Steven Page: Guitar, Lead vocal Ed Robertson: Guitars, vocals Tyler Stewart: Drums
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01-27-2006
When he says that his name is hairshirt or whatever- a hairshirt is a thing of shame right? Well you obviously get your last name from your parents, and sometimes even your first name. No matter what he does, he still feels their expectations weighing him down becuase its in his very name.
and its woven from her hair because something about her would shame his parents (perhaps that fact that he wants to be with her before marriage).
I think you looked into the Jewish thing a bit too much. I don't think that the chains are nessisarily indicative of his religion. I know several jewish people who don't wear stars of david around their neck. i think the chains are strictly a metaphor. However, it is a jewish beleif that the soul enters the body with the first breath, or so I am told.
while I suppose it could be as you intially said, this just seems more likely to me.
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01-30-2006
"I go to school, I write exams
If I pass, if I fail, if I drop out, does anyone give a damn?
And if they do, they'll soon forget
'Cause it won't take much for me to show that my life ain't
over yet"
as tho academic success is all that matters instead of actually livin life
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03-24-2006
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04-08-2006
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10-17-2006
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12-24-2006
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04-06-2007
A hairshirt is like a Cilice (like from the DaVinci Code)
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A cilice was originally a garment or undergarment made of coarse cloth or animal hair (a hairshirt). In more modern religious circles, the word has come to simply mean an object that can be worn to induce some degree of discomfort or pain.
Totally makes sense to me now
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04-23-2007
1) we do not wear chains! what gave you that stupid idea? SOME of us MIGHT wear a Magen David on a chain around our necks, but so what? how does that imply that as a culture we wear chains? I've seen way more Christians with crosses than Jews with Magen Davids. you are just wrong.
2) which brings me to my next point. We most certaintly do NOT bear crosses! I can't believe how stupid it is to assume it's a Jew talking about him bearing a cross.
3) what is with the assumption that, because incest is considered taboo by this guy's community, he must be Jewish? correct me if i'm wrong, but can anybody tell me of a modern-day religion where incest is in fact NOT frowned upon?
OK, sorry about that, everyone, but these assumptions of his are too much to bear.
On a much more mellow note, and probably arising from my desire to muddy the waters here and draw the conversation away from Jews, did he ever say that "This name" was in fact HIS name? It's a reasonable assumption to make, and i can't really think of anything else he could be referring to, but did he actually SAY it?
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06-06-2007
Be with me tonight ' I think he says 'bury it with me' as if he is telling the girl/other person to bury all the expectations and hair shirts that have been placed on them, and then they can be with each other. I'm English and BNL aren't so big over here, so maybe its an accent that just makes it sound different :P but iv listened to it over and over to try and tell...
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07-15-2007
I wake up scared, I wake up strange
I wake up wondering if anything in my life is ever going to
change
I wake up scared, I wake up strange
And everything around me stays the same
Depression can seem like that, endless, and yet you should always try to find a way out of it.
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08-02-2007
"This name is the hairshirt I wear
And this hairshirt is woven from your brown hair "
The name is not the one by birth but the assumed titles of expecations: "good boy", strong boy", "smart boy." The hairshirt is woven from the hair of the girl he lusts after because her sight forces him to wrestle with difficult feelings/emotions... she tempts him to violate family/religious principles but he should be a "good boy" and resist because they aren't married or whatever.
"I go to school, I write exams ..."
This covers how he is supposed to be a "smart boy"
"I wake up scared, I wake up strange ..."
"I couldn't tell you that I was wrong..."
These feelings contradict how he is supposed to be a "strong boy" and some more "good boy"
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08-30-2007
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11-07-2007
we always sing this song at the summer camp i've attended for years. where i met my boyfriend, who was a counsellor at the time, and i was a camper, he used to sing this song to me after the campfires, because he is a few years older than i am. & it "wasn't right" at the time, because he was a counsellor.
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11-18-2007
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12-05-2007
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02-09-2008
I sometimes wonder though if my dedication is inappropriate because of the subtle taboo or sexual implicaction.
I believe the "hairshirt" is a metaphor for the Gender Name Boy or Girl. He's saying that it's hasty and maybe some kind of an imposition. I can't rule out the brother sister theory, but I wonder if he's homosexual and he's talking about himself and maybe the female "what a good girl." is just the person he's talking to or maybe just part of his argument.
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02-18-2008
"I wake up scared, I wake up strange
I wake up wondering if anything in my life is ever going to change
I wake up scared, I wake up strange
And everything around me stays the same"
Who can't identify with that?
That's why this song is timeless.
11-20-2008
People want to strangle us with them before we take our first breath"
Now then this could go into a controversial topic but i personally view it now before and after reading your comments that it's about people trying to control our lives and we're suffocated before we get our first real breathe of freedom, we go from immature children and go directly from there into high school and people expect you to be mature, then college where your immature again or your to focused on passing to let yourself be seen.
I'm going to say this song is about being born and trapped into a world where being yourself is considered wrong by a lot of people, it's also about loving somebody but being unable to either see them or more literally "be" with them.
I must agree that it is indeed a very powerful song and anybody who can't see it as such i will pity.
Oh and hey guys, I'm a newbie here just signed up really to post for this particular song :D
11-20-2008
People want to strangle us with them before we take our first breath"
Now then this could go into a controversial topic but i personally view it now before and after reading your comments that it's about people trying to control our lives and we're suffocated before we get our first real breathe of freedom, we go from immature children and go directly from there into high school and people expect you to be mature, then college where your immature again or your to focused on passing to let yourself be seen.
I'm going to say this song is about being born and trapped into a world where being yourself is considered wrong by a lot of people, it's also about loving somebody but being unable to either see them or more literally "be" with them.
I must agree that it is indeed a very powerful song and anybody who can't see it as such i will pity.
Oh and hey guys, I'm a newbie here just signed up really to post for this particular song :D
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11-20-2008
This song, just like all songs is set to be interpreted by the listener. A lot of us can relate to it based upon specific lines, but the ones I've always had trouble with interpreting for myself was the line "We've got these chains that hang around our necks
People want to strangle us with them before we take our first breath"
Now then this could go into a controversial topic but i personally view it now before and after reading your comments that it's about people trying to control our lives and we're suffocated before we get our first real breathe of freedom, we go from immature children and go directly from there into high school and people expect you to be mature, then college where your immature again or your to focused on passing to let yourself be seen.
I'm going to say this song is about being born and trapped into a world where being yourself is considered wrong by a lot of people, it's also about loving somebody but being unable to either see them or more literally "be" with them.
I must agree that it is indeed a very powerful song and anybody who can't see it as such i will pity.
Oh and hey guys, I'm a newbie here just signed up really to post for this particular song :D
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