The Dead Boys were an American punk rock band that formed in Cleveland, Ohi… Read Full Bio ↴The Dead Boys were an American punk rock band that formed in Cleveland, Ohio around 1975. They evolved out of the band Rocket From The Tombs (whose remaining members eventually became the avant-garde band Pere Ubu).

Moving to New York City in 1976, they quickly gained notoriety for their outrageous live performances – lewd gestures and profanity was the norm, and on more than one occasion, lead singer Stiv Bators slashed his stomach with his mic stand. They frequently played at the legendary rock club CBGBs and in 1977 they released their debut album, Young, Loud and Snotty, produced by Genya Ravan. Their song "Sonic Reducer" is often regarded as one of the classics of the punk genre, with the All Music Guide calling it "one of punk's great anthems."

Sire Records pressured the group to change their look and sound to appeal more to the US mainstream (which had yet to embrace punk on the level seen in the UK) and this contributed to Dead Boys breaking up in 1979. A few months after the breakup the band had to reunite to record a live album and thus fulfill their contractual obligations. To exact revenge on the label, Bators purposely sang off mic and the resulting recording was unusable. When the material eventually surfaced on Bomp! Records, Bators had re-recorded the vocals in a studio.

Bators later formed Lords of the New Church with Brian James from The Damned and Dave Tregunna from Sham 69.

The band reformed for several gigs in the 1980's. They released Younger, Louder and Snottier in 1989, which included demos and rough mixes of their debut album.

In 1990, Bators died in France due to injuries sustained in a car accident.

In September of 2004, the band, sans Bators, re-formed for a one-off gig in Cleveland.

In 2005, they played a benefit show for the legendary rock club CBGBs. This same year, they also played a reunion show on Halloween.

Hey Little Girl
Dead Boys Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Hey little girl
You don't have to hid nothing no more
You didn't do nothing
That hasn't been done before

Little girl thought
She wouldn't get caught you see
She taught she'd get away

With her going out on me

Other girls did it
You didn't think of nothing new
You went out on me
So other girls did it too

You can leave little girl
I don't want you around no more
If you come knocking
You won't get past my door

You got nothing to hide
And everybody knows it's true

Too bad little girl
It's all over for you

Overall Meaning

The Dead Boys' song "Hey Little Girl" tells the story of a girl who cheats on her significant other and thinks she can get away with it. The lyrics create a situation where the singer cheats on their partner and gets caught. The chorus of the song suggests that the girl did nothing new, and she won't be the last to cheat on someone. The song speaks to the idea that things will come to light, and hiding something doesn't mean it won't affect you eventually.

The singer's anger and bitterness are evident in the lyrics, as they tell the girl she can leave and that they want nothing more to do with her. They even suggest that the girl won't be able to come back to them and try to reconcile because their trust in her has been broken. It's a harsh and unforgiving message to someone who has made a mistake, but the lyrics suggest that consequences must be faced.

This song is interesting because it leans into the fatalism of human nature that most of us want to believe doesn't apply to us. We want to believe that we can cheat and not get caught, that we're unique, but this song reminds us that we're not. Additionally, the song was covered by Iggy Pop in 1979, making it somewhat of a punk rock classic.

Line by Line Meaning

Hey little girl
Addressing the woman in question

You don't have to hid nothing no more
You no longer need to conceal anything

You didn't do nothing
You didn't do anything wrong

That hasn't been done before
What you did is not unique

Little girl thought
You thought

She wouldn't get caught you see
You believed you could get away with it

She taught she'd get away
You thought you would escape punishment

With her going out on me
With you cheating on me

Other girls did it
Other women also cheated

You didn't think of nothing new
Your actions were not original

You went out on me
You cheated on me