Richard Thompson - When We Were Boys at School Lyrics

All he ever wanted to do was harm
All he ever wanted to be was cruel
At 12 years old, fate marked his brow
And he said, "I have a mission now"

But we laughed at his clothes
And the blackheads 'round his nose
When we were boys at school

Teachers spoke of Hannibal and Hector
Nimrod and Nietzsche were more his fuel
Swastikas and pentagrams
Flourished from his tender hands

But we watched in the rain
As the bully beat him up again
When we were boys at school

And he said, "My camouflage will hide me
I'll be gray as the world is gray
Turn a thousand government corridors
Behind which of a thousand doors
Will I delegate and rule, oh, little boys at school"

All he ever wanted to do was harm
All he ever wanted to be was cruel
And sometimes when the night is still
I can feel the gatherin' of his will

I can feel him flex the strings of power
And grope to his appointed hour
But we laughed at the dirt
And the frayed cuffs on his shirt

When we were boys at school