I'm a boy - The Who

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I heard this on the radio in the car yesterday.

The Who song I'm a boy was written by Pete Townsend . The song was originally intended to be a part of a rock opera called 'Quads' which was to be set in the future where parents can choose the sex of their children. The idea was later scrapped, but this song survived and was later released as a single.

It was never clear if it was intended to be about a boy who was treated as a girl, or a girl that wanted to be a boy.

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 headcase
They practice making up on my face
Yeah, I feel lucky if I get trousers to wear
Spend evenings taking hairpins from my hair

I'm a boy, I'm a boy
But my ma won't admit it
I'm a boy, I'm a boy
But if I say I am I get it

Get your frock on, Jean Marie
Plait your hair, Felicity
Paint your nails, little Sally Joy
Put this wig on, little Boy

Here is a video that was made for an oldie songs TV show. Can't work out if the actor is a male or female? Seems to move like a boy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRj-NokS2xI

Anyone feel a story coming on? it's probably already been done.

Comments

That brings back the memories

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I saw them live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London in the 1970s. This was on their setlist. I've always been a fan of their music.
Samantha

The Last Line

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Daphne Xu's picture

... makes it clear. Of course, Ma will deny or ignore that she said it. Ma has decided to torment her one son.

-- Daphne Xu

I should have done more

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leeanna19's picture

I should have done more research just found this

I’M A BOY was part of an ambitious song cycle called QUADS set in the year 2000 where parents can select the sex of their children. “This woman orders four girls,” explained Pete, “and one of them turned out to be a boy, so she pretends it’s a girl … horrifying!”

Wish that had been my mum!

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Leeanna

There IS a story based on that Who song here

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laika's picture

I'm pretty sure it was posted within the last 5 years.
But I'm damned if I can remember the author
or anything other than that it was very short.
It might have been an I'M A GIRL rewrite...

Oh, and speaking of classic rock songs
with transgender themes, here's an old blog
of mine about a TG song by the Kinks that wasn't LOLA:
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/blog/14924/other-great-kinks-...
~hugs, Veronica

.
"Government will only recognize 2 genders, male + female,
as assigned at birth-" (In his own words:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1lugbpMKDU

I had never heard that.

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leeanna19's picture

I had never heard that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSkX6eG6fzM

This is the song with they lyrics. They weren't called the kinks for nothing.

There's also the Beatles Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

Happy ever after in the market place
Molly lets the children lend a hand (foot!)
Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face
And in the evening she's a singer with the band

or that could refer to Glam Rock, which wasn't about at the time?

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Leeanna

There's Another TV/TG Album...

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Lou Reed's Transformer. It has "Walk On The Wild Side" and another song about makeup. I have the album, but the record cabinet it's in is buried by junk. The album cover has Lou as a greaser/tough guy on one side and Lou, I think, as a "real hot babe wanting sex" on the other.

Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee

plucked her eyebrows on the

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leeanna19's picture

plucked her eyebrows on the way shaved her legs and then he was a she. 1972 I was 9 used to love that line.

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Leeanna

A song about gender confusion from 1932

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laika's picture

Not a great song in my opinion, kind of a 2nd rate Noel Coward, but pretty brave for its day. And I imagine it wasn't widely distributed since most record stores in the US wouldn't carry it; so it's a miracle any copies at all survived.

Although 1932 was a better time for folks like us than 1942 or 1952. There was a "Pansy Craze" in the 1920's, smart alec swishy gay characters appearing in films that even though they never said it even a blockhead could figure out they were homosexual, and drag reviews in major cities, but by the mid 1930's this proto-LGBT movement had been driven underground, partly because of the motion picture Hays Code being adopted in 1934. The climate had changed in America, with no hint of tolerance for sexual and gender minorities; and it would stay that way until the late 1950's, when the closet door began to open just a crack. Let's hope those who would love to return to that sort of repression and lack of representation never get there way...

Anyway your blog here seemed like the best place for me to post a link to this little ditty 'cause it's vaguely on topic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNkdI8-88eE&list=RDKNkdI8-88...
~Ciao for now, Ronni

.
"Government will only recognize 2 genders, male + female,
as assigned at birth-" (In his own words:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1lugbpMKDU

Hi Ronnie, very interesting.

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leeanna19's picture

Hi Ronnie, very interesting. I never knew about that. There is a video that comes up on the same page about the pansy craze.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDTUJ3VgJDA

Here's a fact that is not well known about James Cagney . Cagney played a lady dancer in the chorus line of revue Every Sailor.

When a co-worker in a department store, who had seen Cagney’s great dancing, mentioned a role in Every Sailor, Jimmy went for an audition.

A wartime tale centred on servicemen dressed as women, previously titled Every Woman, Jimmy auditioned successfully.

Considering the tough image he would become famous for, Cagney wasn’t in the least bit embarrassed about playing a female.

On the stage, he said: “I am not the fellow Jim Cagney at all. I certainly lost all consciousness of him when I put on skirts, wig, paint, powder.”

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Leeanna

Another song...

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Erisian's picture

This one is nowhere near as famous and was a tribute to her friend. Song starts at 53 seconds. Warning though that despite the silly youtube video intro the song itself is anything but. Have had it as a bookmark for many years.

Born in the wrong body

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