And I'm not the Judge or the referee
And I can't accept, cause I am uptight
And the smokes getting into my eyes are burning
My concern is I just might give you a life

And I can't relate to the hypnotist
And I can't get close , cause the plastic wrap
And I want to have kids, but their father's up inside the
clouds
The distance between is on my mind

Up Until now things have been fine, temporarily
You're cute, but the circumstance has changed
Your substitution method, crutch
Your whole protection from your pain
This presentation of my ploy
Is to change my cellophane boy

Oh, it's not the 70's
Let your future fly with me

Up until now things have been fine, temporarily
Your cute, but the circumstance has changed
Your substitution method, crutch
Your whole protection from your pain
This presentation of my ploy
Is to change my cellophane boy

And I want your habit to be me
Your harbor and your refugee


Lyrics submitted by precobytes

Cellophane Boy Lyrics as written by Thomas Dumont Gwen Stefani

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Cellophane Boy song meanings
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10 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    Wow I can't beleive anyone has said anything about this song! This is one of my favorite No Doubt songs! Well I think its a bit of an older song from the style, so I'm guessing its about Tony and was writen durring the last part of their relationship. SHe is sort of frustrated because she wants to get married and start a family and he doesn't want to. She thinks his trying to protect himself from something (her? The world?) and she wants him to get out of his bubble and be with her!

    sentimentalf0olon June 04, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i love this song but no one really knows about it

    punkloserchic85on July 29, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    yep okay another b side from return of saturn, gee whiz, there's so many, ehh? yeah this song is okay but it's always just exciting to find b sides that you've never heard cause you're like YES! a new song! yarr

    starkisson August 12, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    k, it is about gavin and how she was fed up with his pot addiction

    funny because now she sings about what could be pot

    ndchickletteon December 21, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Its about Gavin smoking pot and doing like other drugs...and they've reached a point in their relationship where it's like she wants to get married and have kids, but is he someone she can depend on to be there...

    hystericgLAMBouron December 30, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think it's partly about Gavin's drug use and also partly about how she wants to have kids and he doesn't. I don't know if that's actually true, that's just the impression I get after hearing this song and Simple Kind Of Life. The line "Sometimes I wish for a mistake" in Simple Kind Of Life just makes it seem like she's the only one who wants to start a family. I dunno, I'm probably way off.

    StraightNoChaseron January 01, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Ahh, I love this song. Like everyone else said, it's about Gavin and how she wants to settle down and have a family with him but at the time it doesn't seem like it'll happen.

    HappySoulon December 13, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is an amazing song...I'm happy people are No Doubt finatics as much as I am...

    weese_ttm31on April 04, 2007   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning

    "And I'm not the Judge or the referee And I can't accept, cause I am uptight And the smokes getting into my eyes are burning My concern is I just might give you a life"

    I don't know how pot affects you because i've never smoked it, but if you give all that up then I could give you a real life in the form of a child.

    "And I can't relate to the hypnotist And I can't get close , cause the plastic wrap And I want to have kids, but their father's up inside the clouds The distance between is on my mind"

    I can't relate to what you're entranced with (pot) but I want to have kids with you. But we can't because you're always high and seem like you're so far away that I can't talk to you.

    "Up Until now things have been fine, temporarily You're cute, but the circumstance has changed Your substitution method, crutch Your whole protection from your pain This presentation of my ploy Is to change my cellophane boy"

    When we were just casually dating it was fine, but now I want to start a proper family. What I want to do now is to change you into a father.

    "Oh, it's not the 70's Let your future fly with me"

    People smoked pot in the 70's, it's not cool anymore, why don't you get high on life with me instead and we can make a future together.

    "And I want your habit to be me Your harbor and your refugee"

    I want your obsession and number one priority to be me.

    jayjay768on April 14, 2013   Link
  • -1
    General Comment

    this song can't be about gavin, it was written before gavin

    marybibikon December 09, 2007   Link

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