Grammar: The song begins by talking about the past, when the singer was a child, and then moves to the present, when she is speaking to a man who offers to walk her home from a party. The use of past-tense verbs (was, took, said) and present-tense verbs (can, am, says, mean) helps us to understand what parts of the song are in the past, and what parts are in the present.

Meaning: read the notes to learn more about what the song means.

When I Was a Boy: Lyrics

I won't forget when Peter Pan came to my house, and took my hand.
I said I was a boy, I'm glad he didn't check.
[Williams remembers a past time when she imagined going on an adventure with Peter Pan, a magical person from a children's book and movies. He is associated with the idea of never growing up, that is, never becoming an adult. Williams told Peter Pan that she was a boy because she wanted to travel with him. She is glad that he didn't check, that is, that he did not look to see if she was physically a boy.]

I learned to fly, I learned to fight, I lived a whole life in one night, we saved each other's lives out on the pirate's deck.
[In the children's story, Peter Pan, children learn to fly and they fight pirates, or criminals, on the ocean. The deck is the wooden surface of a ship or a boat].

And I remember that night when I'm leaving a late night [a party or a gathering] with some friends, and I hear somebody tell me it's not safe, someone should help me - I need to find a nice man to walk me home.
[Now, as an adult, she remembers the night of her imaginary adventure. Her friends tell her that it is not safe for her to walk home alone, and that she needs a man to walk with her for safety.]

When I was a boy, I scared the pants off of my mom, and I climbed what I could climb upon.
[The singer returns to talking about her childhood, when she acted like a boy. To scare the pants off someone is to frighten them, and mothers are often frightened when their children do dangerous things.]

And I don't know how I survived, I guess I knew the tricks that all boys knew.
[The singer survived (continued to live) although she did things as a child that were not considered safe. She guesses – she has an idea – that there were tricks, or special strategies, that that boys knew.]

And you can walk me home, but I was a boy, too.
[Williams returns to the present and speaks to a man who offers to walk with her to her home, so that she will be safe. She wants him to know that in her past, she experienced adventure and danger, like the man did when he was a boy.]

I was a kid that you would like, just a small boy on her bike, riding topless, yeah, I never cared who saw.
[Williams surprises us by saying, "a small boy on her bike," The noun "boy" usually goes with the possessive pronoun "his."
By mixing genders, Williams tries to make us listen in a new way.
To be topless is to be without a shirt. In American culture, girls wear shirts unless they are very young.]

My neighbor came outside to say, "Get your shirt",
I said "No way, it's the last time, I'm not breaking any law."
["No way” is a casual way to say, ”no, I won't do that." When Williams told her neighbor, "It's the last time," she was probably saying that she knew that she would have to stop this boyish behavior of not wearing a shirt. To break the law is to do something that is not permitted by law.]

And now I'm in a clothing store, and the sign says “Less Is More.”
More [clothing[ that's tight means more [for others] to see, more for them, not more for me;
that can't help me climb a tree in ten seconds flat.
[The singer observes that now, in a clothing store, an advertising sign says, "Less Is More." This means that if women wear less clothing, they will create more interest. She comments that if others can see more of her body, that may be more valuable for them, but not for her. She values being able to climb a tree quickly, and tight clothing will not help her to do this. Ten seconds flat means exactly 10 seconds; that would be a fast time to climb a tree.]

When I was a boy, see that picture? That was me, grass-stained shirt and dusty knees.
[Williams shows the man a picture of herself as a child. Her shirt, with grass stains on it, and her knees, with dust on them, show that she was active.]

And I know things have gotta change.
They've got pills to sell, they've got implants to put in, they've got implants to remove.
[The phrase, things have gotta change, is a casual way of saying that the change always happens. Williams says someone wants to sell pills (medications) and implants, probably breast implants to make women's breasts appear larger.]

But I am not forgetting that I was a boy, too.
[Williams says that she will continue to remember the freedom of living like a boy.]

And like the woods where I would creep, it's a secret I can keep...
[The woods, or the forest, is a place where people and animals can be wild. As a child, Williams would creep, or move quietly or secretly, in the woods. To keep a secret is to hide information, to tell no one.]

...except when I'm tired, except when I'm being caught off guard.
[The singer says that when she is tired or caught off guard – having a moment when she does not protect herself – she does not keep her secret.]

I've had a lonesome awful day, the conversation finds its way to catching fire-flies out in the backyard.
[Williams moves the story to the present moment again. She is talking to a man about an experience that many children love, catching fire-flies, flying insects that light up in the dark.]

And I tell the man I'm with about the other life I lived,
and I say now you're top gun,
I have lost and you have won.
[She tells the man about her past, and about her feeling that, as a woman, she loses power and freedom, while as a man, he wins power and freedom.]

He says, "oh no, no, can't you see?
When I was a girl, my mom and I, we always talked, and I picked flowers everywhere that I walked."
[The man tells Williams about his childhood, when he had experiences of love and beauty that are normal for girls, but not always for boys. He says this in a surprising way: "when I was a girl."]

"And I could always cry, now even when I'm alone I seldom do."
[Boy children and men usually are told not to cry, but girls and women have more freedom to do this.]

"And I have lost some kindness, but I was a girl, too,
and you were just like me, and I was just like you."
[The man says, in becoming an adult, he lost some of the kindness or gentleness that he had as a child. He says, "I was a girl, too," showing how he and the woman are alike.]