Formed in 1985, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones started playing in Boston clubs in the mid-1980s. After a brief period of inactivity due to the schooling commitments of its members, they reformed and released their album Devil's Night Out on Taang! Records. The Bosstones toured relentlessly throughout the 1990s, playing hundreds of shows a year, releasing albums and spinning off the popular rock radio hit "Someday I Suppose". They were eventually signed to Mercury Records. The band appeared in the movie Clueless. In 1997, the success of their single "The Impression That I Get" and its follow up, "The Rascal King" earned them mainstream recognition. In 2000 they put out their critically acclaimed disk Pay Attention. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones released their last album on Side One Dummy Records. They officially went on hiatus in 2003, citing too much time on the road and desire to branch out and do different things. In 2007, the Bosstones announced that they were reforming. They played their 10th Hometown Throwdown in Boston and released a new album, Medium Rare, which consists of rare B-sides, and 3 new songs, including the single, "Don't Worry Desmond Dekker".
The band announced their split in early 2022.
The Bricklayer's Story
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He was like fifty when I met him maybe fifteen years ago
A scottish american and a master with the trowel
He swears that he's the urban legend you hear about on every job and site
A lifetime lifting cinderblocks, stacking bricks and mixing mortar
Gave this man his crooked walk and kept his life in order
Until the day he died he bragged that he's the one that rode the rope
All six stories of that building from the pavement to the roof
And then all the way back down to earth
A lifetime lifting cinderblocks, stacking bricks and mixing mortar
Gave this man his crooked walk and kept his life in order
A lifetime lifting cinderblocks, stacking bricks and mixing mortar
Gave this man his crooked walk and made his lifetime shorter
"On the way up my skull was fractured and my collarbone was broken
The barrel i was working with broke both of my forearms and the bones in my wrists"
Don't believe a word of it, but the one thing that I'm sure about is this:
A lifetime lifting cinderblocks, stacking bricks and mixing mortar
Gave this man his crooked walk and kept his life in order
A lifetime lifting cinderblocks, stacking bricks and mixing mortar
Gave this man his crooked walk [x3]
And made his lifetime shorter
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones' song "The Bricklayer's Story" tells the story of a man who was a bricklayer by trade and takes pride in his hard work. The singer first met the man fifteen years ago when the man was already fifty years old. The bricklayer was a Scottish American and skilled with the trowel, claiming to be the urban legend on every job site. The man's lifetime of lifting cinderblocks, stacking bricks, and mixing mortar gave him a crooked walk, but also kept his life in order.
The song then tells the story of the bricklayer's death. The man always boasted that he was the one who rode the rope all six stories of the building: from the pavement to the roof, and then all the way back down to earth. The singer is skeptical of this claim but acknowledges that the man's lifetime of hard work ultimately shortened his life. The final verse describes the injuries the bricklayer claimed to have sustained on the job but suggests that these stories may have been exaggerated or untrue.
"The Bricklayer's Story" is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of blue-collar workers, particularly those who work in construction. Through the story of the bricklayer, the song acknowledges the physical toll that this work can take on a person and honors the pride that some workers take in their abilities.
Line by Line Meaning
Just a bricklayer by trade a harder worker you won't find
Although he's only a bricklayer, he's one of the hardest workers out there
He was like fifty when I met him maybe fifteen years ago
I met him when I was fifteen, and he was already around fifty years old
A scottish american and a master with the trowel
He's a Scottish-American and he's very skilled when it comes to using a trowel
He swears that he's the urban legend you hear about on every job and site
He claims to be the legendary worker that everyone talks about on every job and site
Here's about half an explanation and then not too much information
He's not really explaining much, just giving bits and pieces of his story
Until the day he died he bragged that he's the one that rode the rope
He kept boasting until he passed away that he's the one who went up and down a building using a rope
All six stories of that building from the pavement to the roof
He claims to have gone up and down a six-story building, from the pavement to the roof
And then all the way back down to earth
He rode the rope back down to the ground once he was finished with the job
"On the way up my skull was fractured and my collarbone was broken
He tells a story about how he got injured on the way up the building
The barrel i was working with broke both of my forearms and the bones in my wrists"
He says that the barrel he was working with caused him to break both of his forearms and his wrists
Don't believe a word of it, but the one thing that I'm sure about is this:
The listener is encouraged not to believe his story, but one thing is certain:
A lifetime lifting cinderblocks, stacking bricks and mixing mortar
His profession involves a lifetime of heavy lifting, stacking, and mixing
Gave this man his crooked walk and kept his life in order
His job led him to have a crooked walk, but it also kept his life in order
A lifetime lifting cinderblocks, stacking bricks and mixing mortar
His profession involves a lifetime of heavy lifting, stacking, and mixing
Gave this man his crooked walk and made his lifetime shorter
His job not only gave him a crooked walk but it also shortened his lifespan
A lifetime lifting cinderblocks, stacking bricks and mixing mortar
His profession involves a lifetime of heavy lifting, stacking, and mixing
Gave this man his crooked walk [x3]
His job caused him to walk with a crooked gait for his whole life
And made his lifetime shorter
His job also shortened his lifespan
Contributed by Keira O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Jairo A.H.
I just love how the MMB always manage to draw a picture of the story through their amazing lyrics. A band like no other, indeed
Sleepingdog74
I'm a Union Bricklayer!!!
This sums it up!!!
Love this song
Cave Johnson
I can't believe this doesn't have more likes, it's a great song.
The ProfessorZ
Still loving this music in 2019!👍
Admiral Ducats
Impossible to hate. Really has a way of picking you up when your feeling down, no matter what the reason.
TheGreat Fox
I loved playing this song when working at my previous job. Everyone else would always play this modern, untalented pop/rap garbage. Not me, you gotta teach kids these days what real music is.
This_is_not_jason
In a bricklayers pre -apprenticeship class right now! 3 more weeks to go! Union boy till I die!
Daniel Robertson
I'm a bricklayer by trade and I love this song
Mikey G
To all the masons here ! Cheers ! We built this world