He was born on a summer day 1951
And with a slap of a hand
He landed as an only son
His mother and father said what a lovely boy
We'll teach him what we learned
Ah yes just what we learned
We'll dress him up warmly and
We'll send him to school
It'll teach him how to fight
To be nobody's fool

Oh, oh what a lonely boy
Oh what a lonely boy
Oh what a lonely boy

In the summer of '53 his mother
Brought him a sister
And she told him we must attend to her needs
She's so much younger than you
Well he ran down the hall and he cried
Oh how could his parents have lied
When they said he was an only son
He thought he was the only one

Oh, oh what a lonely boy
Oh what a lonely boy
Oh what a lonely boy

Goodbye mama, goodbye to you
Goodbye papa I'm pushing on through

He left home on a winter day 1969
And he hoped to find all the love
He had lost in that earlier time
Well his sister grew up
And she married a man
He gave her a son
Ah yes a lovely son
They dressed him up warmly
They sent him to school
It taught him how to fight
To be nobody's fool

Oh, oh what a lonely boy
Oh what a lonely boy
Oh what a lonely boy

Oh, oh, oh, oh what a lonely boy
Oh what a lonely boy
Oh what a lonely boy


Lyrics submitted by richie, edited by mcouzijn

Lonely Boy Lyrics as written by Andrew M Gold

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

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Lonely Boy song meanings
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  • +1
    General Comment

    I think this song is about a kid with very over-protective parents, by the lines "we'll teach him what we learned, Ah yes JUST what we learned" and "dressed him up warmly" suggest that they are trying to shield him from the parts of the world that they don't approve of. They tell him that he must be sheltered so much because he's their only son, which he accepts because he will have all of their love and attention. Then, they have another child and give all of their attention to it instead of him, yet continue to shelter him. He lives out his life as a minor very lonely because he is sheltered into loneliness and has no one that fully loves him. When he turns 18 (51-69), he left the family home, hoping to find someone to love him and make up for the sad and lonely life he had growing up.

    La_Grange57on July 16, 2007   Link

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