I Want to Be the Boy to Warm Your Mother's Heart
From Stripespedia
Contents |
Releases
- Elephant (2003)
- Live in Mississippi (2011)
Other Appearances
Credits
Performers
- Jack White: piano, electric/slide guitar, lead vocals
- Meg White: drums
Production
- Originally recorded by The White Stripes.
- Written by Jack White.
- Produced and mixed by Jack White and Liam Watson.
- Recorded November 2001/April 2002 at Toe Rag Studios in Hackney, East London.
Meaning
- See band quotes section below.
Band Quotes
- Jack White: ""I Want to Be The Boy" is the ultimate sweetheart part of the record. When we went to Toe Rag the first time, we recorded "It's True That We Love One Another" with Holly Golightly. Afterwards, I played "Pocket" and put everybody in a bad mood. It's Meg's favorite."
- Jack White: "I like this song a lot. It's good, it's very good; I love the slide guitar on it. It feels really smooth... and creamy. So I think it turned out nice. It's a nice gesture of a song, anyway."
- Jack White: "I would describe it revolving around this 'sweetheart' notion -- on a lot of lyrics on this album. "I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart" -- I mean the title kind of says it all. You know, just sort of trying to deny parental approval when you're dating somebody and things like that, just sort of bringing things back to what it's like when you're younger, and actually even cared what someone's parents thought... Would I let my daughter date me? That was another question in my head! That doesn't really sound right, but you know what I mean -- someone like me."
- Jack White: "That's another case of just having a line, about a guy wanting to warm a mother's heart, and then figuring out a way to tell the story," White says. "It's something every kid goes through. It's like, 'How do I get your parents to like me - because they don't seem to like me much.' Again, it's reacting to questions or ideas that come up, not something you sit down and think, 'Now what can I write a song about today.'"
Trivia
Lyrics
I want to be the boy to warm your mother's heart; I'm so scared to take you away. I tried to win her over right from the start, but something always got in the way. We've been sitting in your backyard for hours, but she won't even come out and say hi, while my mother baked a little cake for you and even dreaded when you said goodbye. What kind of cartwheels do I have to pull? What kind of joke should I lay on her now? I'm inclined to go finish high school just to make her notice that I'm around. Well, nothing I come up with seems to work. It feels like everything I say is a lie. And never have I felt like such a jerk; I'm afraid to even open my eyes, because I really don't want her to judge me. I want to her really know who I am. And then, and only then, will she love me -- well, at least that was the plan. If ever a boy needed a holiday, if ever a girl needed someone to hold. I just hope I don't act the same way by the time that I get old. I never said I was the heir to a fortune; I never claimed to have any looks, but these kind of things must be important, because somebody ripped out my page in your telephone book. I want to warm her heart.
