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Born illegitimately
To a whore most likely
He became an orphan
Oh what a lovely orphan
He was sent to the reformatory
Ten years old was his first glory
Got caught stealing from a nun
Now his love story had begun
Thirty years he spent wandering
A devil's child with dove wings
He went to prison
In every country he set foot in
Oh how he loved prison
How awfully lovely was prison
All those beautiful boyz
Pimps and queens and criminal queers
All those beautiful boyz
Tattoos of ships and tattoos of tears
His greatest love was executed
The pure romance was undisputed
Angelic hoodlums and holy ones
Angelic hoodlums and holy ones
All those beautiful boyz...
To a whore most likely
He became an orphan
Oh what a lovely orphan
He was sent to the reformatory
Ten years old was his first glory
Got caught stealing from a nun
Now his love story had begun
Thirty years he spent wandering
A devil's child with dove wings
He went to prison
In every country he set foot in
Oh how he loved prison
How awfully lovely was prison
All those beautiful boyz
Pimps and queens and criminal queers
All those beautiful boyz
Tattoos of ships and tattoos of tears
His greatest love was executed
The pure romance was undisputed
Angelic hoodlums and holy ones
Angelic hoodlums and holy ones
All those beautiful boyz...
Lyrics submitted by diabolical
Track duration: 04:37
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His mother was a prostitute who put him up for adoption. He spent time with a few families and began a long habbit of petty theft. He spent many years in and out of prison, was thrown out of the Foreign Legion for homosexual acts but eventually his writing was recognized and he was spared a long sentence when some notable figures (such as Picasso) appealed on his behalf and he never set foot in prison again.
The mention of his greatest love being executed is slightly off in that he fell in love with a tight rope walker of all things who commited suicide.
The "tattoos and ships and tattoos of tears" is of course a reference to well known, almost traditional prison tattoos. I almost gagged when I saw that someone posted a comment here suggesting the tear tattoos were "emo" related. Really? Couldn't possibly be the well known tradition of a tear drop tattoo representing one murder.
And by the way, 'Tattoos of ships' Ships means that they have had to go through hard times and/or are free spirits.
And then 'tattoos of tears'. Everyone in the whole wide world knows that means that you have commited homocide.
His mom was a prostitute.
She abandoned him.
As a kid he was a petty theif.
When he was 16 he was sent to mettray reformatory.
'Got caught stealing from a nun
Now his love story had begun'
I don't know if he really loved crime but thats what it's referring to. His love of crime.
He was a beggar, narcotics smuggler, thief, forger and male prostitute.
A tattoo of a large ship is often found on prisoners, usually on the stomach or back. A ship symbolizes "Homebound", or "Godspeed".
However, another common tattoo among prisoners is "the lonely teardrop."
When someone has a tattoo (one or multiple) on their face, it usually means that they have murdered someone. The only other common meaning is "lost love", and that you are always crying inside. These are common with gangsters, or people who take pride in commiting a murder. Other prisoners choose not to get one, so that, upon getting out of prison, they don't have to remember their crimes.
i mean im obsessed with hp too...but....
It's about a boy who grew up poorly and made wrong decisions which landed him in jail. He loved it so much though because of all of the "beautiful boyz" (he was, obviously, homosexual) so he kept going back there because he liked the environment of all of these men.