Working the village shop
Putting a poster up
Dreaming of anything
Dreaming of the time when you're free
From all the trouble you're in

In the mud, on your knees
Trying hard not to please
Anyone, all the time
Being a rebel is fine
But you go all the way to being brutal

You will have a boy tonight
You will have a boy tonight
On the first bus out of town
On the first bus out of town

Let's see your kit for games
All the girls look the same
You are challenging style for running miles
You're running miles in some boy's jumper

Boo to the business world!
You know a girl who's tax free
On her back and making plenty cash
While you are working for the joy of giving

You will have a boy tonight
You will have a boy tonight
On the last bus out of town
On the last bus out of town
You will have a boy tonight
You will have a girl tonight
And you hope that they will see
And you hope that they will see

You are in two minds
Tossing a coin to decide
Whether you should tell your folks
About a dose of thrush you got
When were licking railings

But you read in a book
That you got free in Boots
There are lotions, there are potions
You can take to hide your shame
From all those prying eyes

Lazy Jane, all the time
Painting lines
You are sleeping at bus stops
Wondering how you got your name
And what you're going to do about it

You will have a boy tonight
You will have a boy tonight
On the last bus out of town
On the last bus out of town
You will have a boy tonight
Maybe you will have a girl tonight
And you hope that she will see
And you hope that she will see



Lyrics submitted by michaelbondy

Track duration: 05:50


Lazy Line Painter Jane song meanings
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32 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:Sorry folks but I think, as with most Belle & Sebastian lyrics, the meaning is far more literal then you're making out.

    "Let's see your kit for games...." verse is all in reference to Jane skipping Gym or a cross country run to mess around with some boy, i.e. "run miles in some boys jumper" instead.

    "About a dose of thrush you got when were licking railings..." I would take as a reference to her looking for a way out to try and explain to her parents how she got oral thrush. The only thing she can come up with is to tell her folks that she's been licking the hand rails in the park to avoid telling them about all the guys \ girls she's been sleeping with. Why would she tell her folks she's been sucking c*ck all the time!!!?

    Much like others have said though I don't get the "Line Painter" reference at all. Drugs doesn't really seem to fit so I wonder whether its Scottish slang for someone who's easy
    Flag brigglesworthon July 26, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:The first time I ever heard this song I thought it was pretty good, cool guitar part, but then Monica Queen's part comes in... I just about jumped out of my skin. I was blown away by her voice and the power she had in the song. This is hands down my favorite Belle and Sebastian song. Did anyone else have the same sort of reaction to the song?
    Flag rocklobster407on August 01, 2009   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:There are lotions, there are potions
    You can take to hide your shame

    abortion devices.
    Flag thefredwasfredon June 25, 2009   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:Let me see if I can assemble the pieces here.

    Jane works in a shop in a small town. She wants to get out.

    She has been having sex with strangers while riding on intercity buses. - "You will have a boy tonight" means you will "possess" him sexually.

    OR she has been having sex with the first man she meets ("the first bus out of town"), i.e. the first person who will take her away from her parents, the first person who will give her a place to stay or some money.

    But in contrast to some other girl she knows, Jane is doing this for free. The other girl is "tax free, on her back", i.e. having sex for cash. But Jane is doing it "for the joy of giving".

    "And you hope that she will see" seems to refer to this other girl. Maybe Jane is competing with her, or maybe trying to prove that she (Jane) is totally suicidal in terms of being willing to "do" any guy anonymously and for free. (Competing with the other girl in terms of who is most desperate, who is the most tragic.)

    In the recorded version this line mutates into "you hope that they will see" - which could refer to the whole world - teenagers often regard the whole world as their stage - if they make a suicide attempt for example they might think "I'll show them." (And teenage prostitution can be kind of similar to a suicide attempt or self-harm of some kind.)

    "Let's see your kit for games, all the girls look the same" - this sounds like a line some boy might say to her if he wanted her to take off her clothes. "Your kit" - could be her tits (as in "rack"), or could be the other kit down below.

    "You're running miles in some boy's jumper" could refer to having vigorous sex, e.g. expending the same effort as if she was running miles, but while remaining stationary. For instance she could be standing in the street, having slipped under the boy's jumper so they can be skin-to-skin.

    Jane got a dose of thrush (oral yeast infection) from sucking d**k ("licking railings"), and she is debating telling her mother about this. But she got a free booklet at the chain drugstore "Boots" that says there are pharmaceutical products she can buy that would get rid of the rash, and that way nobody would know.

    Another dirty/innocent ballad from Belle and Sebastian. What are we to make of the social reality behind this charming but degenerate song?
    Flag ormuzsauveuron May 04, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:Maybe a reference to Shel Silverstein poem called Lazy Jane:
    Lazy
    lazy
    lazy
    lazy
    lazy
    lazy
    Jane,
    she
    wants
    a
    drink
    of
    water
    so
    she
    waits
    and
    waits
    and
    waits
    and
    waits
    and
    waits
    for
    it
    to
    rain.

    It's possible...
    Flag lies.and.pieson March 24, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:dictionary girl, the impression i got about the line about running miles in a boys jumper was that she was getting into their clothes, not wearing them. Maybe?
    Flag FirstImpressionson February 11, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Brilliant song, one of their best. I love how B&S so elegantly evoke the melodramatic uncertainty and naivety of teenage life. You can't help but get all dewy-eye and nostalgic.

    And boy-girl vocals always sound fantastic. The female vocal here could melt glaciers, it's stunning.
    Flag shedboy82on October 04, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think she is painting lines with her travels, like a red marker over a map.

    "Whether you should tell your FOLKS"
    Flag Hey_thereon August 31, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think this is a reference to nick drake's hazey jane.
    thematically they're similiar..not to mention hazey/lazy...jane.

    perhaps?
    Flag greatghostson November 16, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:why she hope that she/they will see?
    Flag besoticaon October 01, 2007   Link

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