I love the song and the lyrics are typical of the quirkiness of JR's songs.
I think it's about a boy who is neglected by his parents. The kid could be living with both parents and the father is abusive OR he could be just living with his mum who seems to constantly find abusive boyfriends (the last line - "picking up the old man, rolling him round in her room" could be the father or some random bloke)
But, I think it is more about a single mother who has a knack of finding bad relationships. The facade of a normal life for the boy is in the first two lines,but - "things are never quite as they seem".
The kid is giving material things that a kid gets, but his mother is in an abusive relationship - "Mama's grabbed her jewelery, Hidden in the bathroom, Calling the cops"..
He is tired of the cycle of he and his mother leaving a house abruptly and he laments having no where to go and for a change, wants a good reason to travel somewhere. He feels as though his mother nor his father loves him.
But, like most abusive relationships, the cycle repeats itself and after a few drinks, his mother shacks up with another man.
The last line - "Picking up the old man, rolling him round in her room". If she is a single mother, she is picking up some random man. If you interpret "the old man" as his father, then the whole song is about an abusive husband (not boyfriends) and the mother keeps repeating the cycle and family life is "never quite as they seem".
@jimmyreyne yeah i think you've pretty much got it there, although i would say the man mentioned is an abusive ex-husband/father, because of the comparison between the boy in the first verse, and the man in the second. It seems with nothing to do but break into stores when they're closed and get drunk, the boy sees his future and is having a conflict deciding whether or not to leave everything behind and follow his own path, or stay and live a life like his parents.
@jimmyreyne yeah i think you've pretty much got it there, although i would say the man mentioned is an abusive ex-husband/father, because of the comparison between the boy in the first verse, and the man in the second. It seems with nothing to do but break into stores when they're closed and get drunk, the boy sees his future and is having a conflict deciding whether or not to leave everything behind and follow his own path, or stay and live a life like his parents.
I love the song and the lyrics are typical of the quirkiness of JR's songs.
I think it's about a boy who is neglected by his parents. The kid could be living with both parents and the father is abusive OR he could be just living with his mum who seems to constantly find abusive boyfriends (the last line - "picking up the old man, rolling him round in her room" could be the father or some random bloke)
But, I think it is more about a single mother who has a knack of finding bad relationships. The facade of a normal life for the boy is in the first two lines,but - "things are never quite as they seem".
The kid is giving material things that a kid gets, but his mother is in an abusive relationship - "Mama's grabbed her jewelery, Hidden in the bathroom, Calling the cops"..
He is tired of the cycle of he and his mother leaving a house abruptly and he laments having no where to go and for a change, wants a good reason to travel somewhere. He feels as though his mother nor his father loves him.
But, like most abusive relationships, the cycle repeats itself and after a few drinks, his mother shacks up with another man.
The last line - "Picking up the old man, rolling him round in her room". If she is a single mother, she is picking up some random man. If you interpret "the old man" as his father, then the whole song is about an abusive husband (not boyfriends) and the mother keeps repeating the cycle and family life is "never quite as they seem".
@jimmyreyne yeah i think you've pretty much got it there, although i would say the man mentioned is an abusive ex-husband/father, because of the comparison between the boy in the first verse, and the man in the second. It seems with nothing to do but break into stores when they're closed and get drunk, the boy sees his future and is having a conflict deciding whether or not to leave everything behind and follow his own path, or stay and live a life like his parents.
@jimmyreyne yeah i think you've pretty much got it there, although i would say the man mentioned is an abusive ex-husband/father, because of the comparison between the boy in the first verse, and the man in the second. It seems with nothing to do but break into stores when they're closed and get drunk, the boy sees his future and is having a conflict deciding whether or not to leave everything behind and follow his own path, or stay and live a life like his parents.