Good Boy

This is a lyrically brilliant song by Dia Frampton. Amidst its happy tone, the underlying meaning of the lyrics is very dark.

The bottom line is that the song is about a child molester who is abusing Charlie. It may help if you imagine most of the lyrics being words and thoughts of the child molester.

A child molester moves into the town, and starts to abuse Charlie. He tells Charlie that he is a "good boy" so that Charlie won't tell on the abuser. The bridge of the song has the molester asking Charlie, "You can keep a secret right? Right. I can trust you with my life? Right." The secret, of course, is that Charlie is being abused, and the molester is saying that their time together is their own secret and that Charlie shouldn't tell others.

In the first verse, the molester tries to show Charlie that he can give Charlie the love that Charlie did not receive from his "runaway dad," of whom Charlie has a picture.

As Charlie grows up, he starts to rebel, as is the case of children who have been abused. He kept the molester's secrets, and his mother never does find out; both she and the priest are confused about what happened to Charlie.

[Personal note: I have been a fan of Dia (and her sister Meg) for over half a decade. In 2006, her band performed at my university, and I purchased their album Something Real, which they were generous enough to autograph. Needless to say, when I saw Dia Frampton perform on The Voice, I got very excited. I am glad to see that she's finally getting the exposure she deserves.]