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The Troubador
Streetlight Manifesto Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

This is a morbid story about a fella that had to die,
he had a beautiful wife but he also had a roving eye.

She planted him by the roadside,
She planted him by the roadside,
She planted him by the roadside,
for all the unfaithful husbands to see.

Come let me tell you the story,
of little Willie the Troubador
And just how it happened to pass my friends,
little Willie won't see no more.

You know why?
She planted him by the roadside,
She planted him by the roadside,
She planted him by the roadside,
for all the unfaithful husbands to see.

Willie was handsome as he could be,
he met a girl in society
Thin Willie was cursed with a rovin' eye,
and never let a pretty chick pass by.

So he bought himself a convertible bird,
to ride the fine chicks around
He found out he was being followed,
so he could never let the top down.

You know what happened to him?
She planted him by the roadside,
She planted him by the roadside,
She planted him by the roadside,
for all the unfaithful husbands to see.

If he drove a girl to a drive-in,
he'd have to go after dark
He knew he'd always have to hide,
so he'd wind up sitting in the park.

She caught him down by the water,
lovin' the fisherman's daughter
she pulled a little pistol from right out of the air,
and shot poor Willie right then and there.

She planted him by the roadside,
She planted him by the roadside,
She planted him by the roadside,
for all the unfaithful husbands to see.

Overall Meaning

The Troubadour by Streetlight Manifesto tells the story of a man named Willie who had a tendency to cheat on his wife. Despite having a beautiful wife, he could not control his roving eye and would never let a pretty woman pass him by. He even bought himself a convertible to impress women and take them on joyrides. However, his wife eventually caught on and followed him. She found him with another woman, the fisherman's daughter, and in a sudden fit of rage, she shot and killed Willie.


The lyrics detail his wife's actions after the murder. She plants Willie's body by the roadside for all unfaithful husbands to see. The song highlights the importance of faithfulness in relationships and the consequences of infidelity. Overall, the song is a cautionary tale about the dangers of cheating.


Line by Line Meaning

This is a morbid story about a fella that had to die,
The song narrates about a story of a man who died.


he had a beautiful wife but he also had a roving eye.
Even though the man had a beautiful wife, he was unfaithful to her.


She planted him by the roadside,
After killing the man, the wife buried him beside the road.


for all the unfaithful husbands to see.
The wife buried the man's body by the roadside so that other unfaithful husbands could learn a lesson from his fate.


Come let me tell you the story,
The singer invites the audience to listen to the story he is about to narrate.


of little Willie the Troubador
The story is about a musician named Willie.


And just how it happened to pass my friends,
The singer highlights that he is about to tell the story of how Willie died.


little Willie won't see no more.
Willie has died and there is no chance of him witnessing or experiencing anything else in life.


She caught him down by the water,
The wife caught Willie near a body of water.


lovin' the fisherman's daughter
Willie was involved romantically with the daughter of a fisherman.


she pulled a little pistol from right out of the air,
The wife produced a gun from nowhere (possibly from a concealed place).


and shot poor Willie right then and there.
The wife shot Willie immediately and he died on the spot.


If he drove a girl to a drive-in,
Willie used to take his girlfriends to drive-ins (cinemas where people watch movies from their cars).


he'd have to go after dark
Willie would only take his girlfriends to drive-ins when it was dark to avoid getting caught.


He knew he'd always have to hide,
Willie was aware that he needed to keep his affairs a secret.


so he'd wind up sitting in the park.
Willie would often end up sitting in the park instead of taking his girlfriend to the drive-in because it was risky.


Willie was handsome as he could be,
Willie was an attractive man.


he met a girl in society
Willie met a girl from the upper class/high society.


Thin Willie was cursed with a rovin' eye,
Willie had a tendency to be unfaithful to his partners.


and never let a pretty chick pass by.
Willie was always attracted to beautiful women and would not hesitate to try to win them over.


So he bought himself a convertible bird,
Willie purchased a convertible car.


to ride the fine chicks around
Willie bought the car to impress (and possibly attract) women.


He found out he was being followed,
Willie discovered that someone was tracking or following him.


so he could never let the top down.
Willie could not put the roof of his car down because he was always afraid of being caught.




Contributed by Sadie C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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Comments from YouTube:

Tom Rooke

This song is heavenly. My favourite from the quite brilliant album (minus 'Hurt')

Kyle Rittenberry

Streetlight Manifesto will never cease to amaze me. When I first heard about 99sor, I was kind of dissapointed because I knew it meant no new shit from them for a while. This album is amazing though, theyve taken each of these songs and made them completely there own while still managing to keep the original essence of each song.

Juan Concepcion

Lol I'm starting a band with some old marching band friends from high school.

If we cover this song it'd be a cover of a cover haha

DONGSQUAT

It really is. His New York accent is perfect.

wood6735

@tjtell93 THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!! I have been LOOKING for this album forever! Thank you thank you thank you!!! :D

connor-maoilchiarain

Does anybody else hear Mike Brown at 1:30 shout in a ghetto voice: "Ah nah he din't!" Best part of the song.

Henry Gallenstein

seriously where did streetlight even hear the original in order to cover this?

Jamie A2Z83

@greendayfan234 Well I hope that their horn section at least has owned plenty of good jazz music. I assume thats why their music shows talent because of influences like this. This guy was kinda important too as being one of the first black musicians whose music transcended race boundaries.

Soundwave Entertainment

Am I the only one that hears a sitcom intro at 1:53

Dunk Master Dewey

What sitcom?

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