"
I'm a Boy" was part of a larger aborted rock opera by
Pete Townshend called
Quads about the future when parents could control the
sex of their kids, as explained in the above write-up. This song was featured on
Who's Missing and
Live at Leeds. It was released as a single 26 August, 1966 and reached #2 on the UK charts.
Certainly the first song about tranvestism, this was one of the first Who songs in a line of singles taking on taboo subjects, such as masturbation ("Pictures of Lily"), hand jobs ("Mary Anne With the Shaky Hands")...to...um....acne ("Medac"). Ok, that's not really taboo, but it's funny....
I couldn't find the lyrics anywhere, so I transcribed them from
Live at Leeds. Lyrics by Pete Townshend, vocals by Pete Townshend and
Roger Daltrey.
One girl was called Jean Marie
another little girl was called Felicity
Another little girl was Sally Joy
The other was me, and I'm a boy!
My name is Bill and I'm a head case
they practise making-up on my face
And I'll be lucky if I get trousers to wear
Spend evenings taking hairpins from my hair
I'm a boy, I'm a boy, but my mum won't admit it
I'm a boy, I'm a boy, if I say I am, I guess
Put your frock on Jane-Marie
Flatten your hair, Felicity
Paint your nails, Sally Joy
Put this wig on, little boy
I'm a boy, I'm a boy, but my mum won't admit it
I'm a boy, I'm a boy, if I say I am, I get it
ooooh, ooooh
ahhh, ahhhh
I wanna play cricket on the green
ride my bike across the street
Cut myself and see my blood
I wanna come home all covered in mud
I'm a boy, I'm a boy, but my mum won't admit it
I'm a boy, I'm a boy, I'm a boy
I'm a boy, I'm a boy, I'm a boy
I'm a boy, I'm a boy, I'm a boy, I'm a boy!
CST Approved