I brought you some francs from my travelling chest
You'll spare me the thanks 'til you know I'm the best
So come Hogmonay when love comes in slurs
Resolutions I'll make and you can label them 'Hers'
We threw our hands up high we, nearly touched the sky,
We clicked our heels and spat and swore
We'd never let it die

Chorus:
All those boy wonders
Sold their medals when they saw this train
Now this boy wonders
When he'll feel the fall of honest rain
I came from high land where the hopefuls have to hesitate
Now this boy wonders
Why the words were never worth the wait

I'm waiting, waiting.
In pastel paper pink over grey
We wrap, wrap, wrap and chuck, chuck away
The poor excuse they peddle as their prose.

Dry your tears, tie your tongue and you're never sixteen
And I'll give you a glimpse of the hard and the clean
And my travelling chest will be open to you
And boy will you learn that you haven't a clue

I even asked my best friend but he could not explain
It hit me when I left him
I felt the rain and called it genius,
Called it genius.

Chorus repeat



Lyrics submitted by post-punker, edited by epiwoosh

The Boy Wonders Lyrics as written by Roddy Frame

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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The Boy Wonders song meanings
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    General Comment

    I've always greatly enjoyed this great tune as indeed I do the LP which it's off, but the meaning is not easy.

    I think it's basically about Roddy and his friends having a great time at Hogmanay - he's making resolutions but he's drunk and slurring so he is saying they mean nothing and are actually those of his young girlfriend, but he's also 'wondering' about more sensual and artistic matters like words - and the weather - I think rain is used as a metaphor for inspiration in the LP as whole.

    'Pastel paper pink over grey' may be a reference to his preference for colourful clothes, not the dullness of grey.

    The 'travelling chest' has two meanings in the song I think, one where he has got his money (francs) from for the girl at the party, one his own chest which he will let the innocent girl who is not yet sixteen and to whom he's saying 'you will learn that you haven't a clue' see when he seduces her.

    The 'boy wonders' also has two meanings - one the sporty crowd who 'sold their medals when they saw this train', i.e. they were impressed at Roddy and his wild party going train of friends and I think they are ones who have the 'poor excuse they peddle as their prose' - but it also refers to his own meditations on the rain etc.

    finnegan63on January 09, 2017   Link

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