This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
When I get into the game
But it's always the same
I'm the man with the name
Hip Eponymous poor boy, poor boy
Call me whatever you may
I ain't stoppin' the train
I got a pill for the pain
Hip Eponymous poor boy, poor boy
And I know
That I can't defeat you
Yeah but you don't worry now
I ain't going to preach to you
Well, there ya go
But I'll be going right there with you
Yeah wherever you'll be
You'll be lookin' at me
But don't get out of your chair
Or put a bow in your hair
You might be makin' 'em stare
So leave the care to the poor boy, the poor boy
And that's the name of the game
Keep on stayin' the same
Ain't nobody to blame
Nobody but the poor boy, the poor boy
Well okay
So you fell asleep today
What's funny to me though
Is that you did that yesterday
You might think I'm mad
Doing all the things that I don't need to do
But while you're laughing at me
Well I'll be laughing at you
So I get into the game
But always keep it the same
And I'll be usin' your name
But they'll be yellin' at me "poor boy, poor boy"
But I'll be happy for you
'Cause you got nothin' to do
And I'll be singin' the blues
Walkin' around singin' "poor boy, poor boy"
Sometimes
A cold shiver comes over me
And it turns me on
When the song takes over me
But alright
I can't fight it the odds are against me
But I can't sit still
Because I know that I will
And you'll be watching me girl
Takin' over the world
Let the stripes unfurl
Gettin' rich singin' "poor boy, poor boy"
And I'll be comin' to play
I do it every day
And the title will stay
Hip Eponymous poor boy, poor boy
Yeah
But it's always the same
I'm the man with the name
Hip Eponymous poor boy, poor boy
Call me whatever you may
I ain't stoppin' the train
I got a pill for the pain
Hip Eponymous poor boy, poor boy
And I know
That I can't defeat you
Yeah but you don't worry now
I ain't going to preach to you
Well, there ya go
But I'll be going right there with you
Yeah wherever you'll be
You'll be lookin' at me
But don't get out of your chair
Or put a bow in your hair
You might be makin' 'em stare
So leave the care to the poor boy, the poor boy
And that's the name of the game
Keep on stayin' the same
Ain't nobody to blame
Nobody but the poor boy, the poor boy
Well okay
So you fell asleep today
What's funny to me though
Is that you did that yesterday
You might think I'm mad
Doing all the things that I don't need to do
But while you're laughing at me
Well I'll be laughing at you
So I get into the game
But always keep it the same
And I'll be usin' your name
But they'll be yellin' at me "poor boy, poor boy"
But I'll be happy for you
'Cause you got nothin' to do
And I'll be singin' the blues
Walkin' around singin' "poor boy, poor boy"
Sometimes
A cold shiver comes over me
And it turns me on
When the song takes over me
But alright
I can't fight it the odds are against me
But I can't sit still
Because I know that I will
And you'll be watching me girl
Takin' over the world
Let the stripes unfurl
Gettin' rich singin' "poor boy, poor boy"
And I'll be comin' to play
I do it every day
And the title will stay
Hip Eponymous poor boy, poor boy
Yeah
Lyrics submitted by mike, edited by mistermark
Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy Lyrics as written by John Anthony White
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
I definitely thought this and Hypocritical Kiss were about Meg!
Anyway the words the verse with words missing is "Call me whatever you may I aint stopping the train I got a pill for the pain Hip eponymous poor boy, poor boy"
I think it most def. is about Meg and the whole White Stripes era.<br /> <br /> "Let the stripes unfurl," is about as unsubtle as he's gotten IMO! The whole song makes ya wonder if it's about her, but I think that lyric pretty much seals the deal! <br /> <br /> It's rather a cutting song really...with him saying yeah you'll be around, but so will I and way more than you. He pretty much also says that she's lazy and isn't really doing much while he's going around achieving all that he is. It's a cold song, but also motivational...you know you like to just keep proving yourself when you've had a falling apart with someone.
I don't think it's about her being lazy, I think it's just about the fact that the White Stripes was his 'thing' but that he had to rely on her for that and she didn't want to do it anymore.<br /> Definitely with 'let the stripes unfurl' and 'I'll be using your name' too. I think it's obvious but I guess to some it might not be if they don't know the imagery and were purely judging it on his solo work without background White Stripes knowledge.