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 as grey as the world is grey A thousand government corridors Behind which of a thousand doors Will I delegate and rule O 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 gathering 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