In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
(Rancid?... Jah love...)
Yeah!
Here's the new face of rock-n'-roll!
It's about fightin' toe to toe...
Hard times come,
Yeah the hard times go.
When I say, come one, come all.
Well all the hooligans and bootboys know one thing for sure,
Scars been stricken on their face
Well all the hooligans and bootboys know one thing for sure,
Scars been stricken on their face
One man's decision brings another's opposition completely unbound.
Down on the flats where the seaside meets my lonely youngtown
Well all the rudies and skins well they're out on the streets making the way on the dole,
Between the bottles and sex they smash and they wreck for something to live
Well all the hooligans and bootboys know one thing for sure,
Scars been stricken on their face.
Sometimes you know there's no place to go,
But to a long life of crime.
Yeah but it's so wrong to steal,
Someone's very last meal to profit up a dime.
Your poe poes and greys well they end up in jail gonna swing the cowboys
Well you took a bite outta the apple of decision that got ya there boy.
Well all the hooligans and bootboys know one thing for sure,
Scars been stricken on their face
Well all the hooligans and bootboys know one thing for sure,
Scars been stricken on their face
Hooligans and bootboys, I don't want no racial hatred
"Black and white, who are portrayed without bias
These are the people whose voice I want to be..."
I said the hooligans!
Rancid
Bootboys!
Rancid
Hooligans!
Rancid
Bootboys!
Rancid
Well all the hooligans and bootboys know one thing for sure,
Scars been stricken on their face
Well all the hooligans and bootboys know one thing for sure,
Ahhh ahhhh ahhhhhh...
Yeah!
Here's the new face of rock-n'-roll!
It's about fightin' toe to toe...
Hard times come,
Yeah the hard times go.
When I say, come one, come all.
Well all the hooligans and bootboys know one thing for sure,
Scars been stricken on their face
Well all the hooligans and bootboys know one thing for sure,
Scars been stricken on their face
One man's decision brings another's opposition completely unbound.
Down on the flats where the seaside meets my lonely youngtown
Well all the rudies and skins well they're out on the streets making the way on the dole,
Between the bottles and sex they smash and they wreck for something to live
Well all the hooligans and bootboys know one thing for sure,
Scars been stricken on their face.
Sometimes you know there's no place to go,
But to a long life of crime.
Yeah but it's so wrong to steal,
Someone's very last meal to profit up a dime.
Your poe poes and greys well they end up in jail gonna swing the cowboys
Well you took a bite outta the apple of decision that got ya there boy.
Well all the hooligans and bootboys know one thing for sure,
Scars been stricken on their face
Well all the hooligans and bootboys know one thing for sure,
Scars been stricken on their face
Hooligans and bootboys, I don't want no racial hatred
"Black and white, who are portrayed without bias
These are the people whose voice I want to be..."
I said the hooligans!
Rancid
Bootboys!
Rancid
Hooligans!
Rancid
Bootboys!
Rancid
Well all the hooligans and bootboys know one thing for sure,
Scars been stricken on their face
Well all the hooligans and bootboys know one thing for sure,
Ahhh ahhhh ahhhhhh...
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i dont thihnk so, rudeboys were what kids who were into the 2nd wave ska in coventry and then the rest England called themselvs. this song is clerly (to me) a tribute to the specials and the genre they kicked off, and yeah i think the guest appearance kind-of proves that. not only that but if you speak/hear in english then its pretty clear he says rudeboys, not bootboys. hooligans and rudeboys are supposed to be opposites. like the hooligans who turned up to 2tone gigs and caused trouble.