Nothing but an Actor
The Skinner Brothers Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴

5 AM, get dressed for work
I wear a suit and tie but I am just a shop assistent
Boy, I'll stack your shelves and swip the floor
And when the weekend comes
Oh, I'll be singing, I'll be singing

[?] with a little bit of action
Movie star, oh, shit

And she says why, why, why did you lie about your age?
You told me that you were just an actor on the stage
You looked me in the eye, you said that you were front page
You talked all the big talk, yeah
But you're nothing but an actor, boy

Tuesday night, I might get a beer
I'll tell the locals about all the crazy things that I've been doing
But have you seen or have you heard?




There's a new girl in this town
And she is looking like

Overall Meaning

trouble, she's looking like trouble


The Skinner Brothers' song "Nothing but an Actor" speaks of a man who works as a shop assistant during the week, but fantasizes about being a movie star. He spends his weekends singing and daydreaming about being someone important. He soon meets a woman whom he lies to about his age by claiming to be a big-shot actor, and brags to her about being on the front page. Eventually, he gets caught in a lie and is exposed as nothing but an actor.


The lyrics of the song explain how the singer of the song is leading a mundane life but is lost in his imagination where he is an actor who is the talk of the town. The singer is unable to discern between fantasy and reality and ends up weaving a web of lies for himself. He is sorry for his actions but continues to live his life in the same way. It exposes how sometimes people can unknowingly live a life of deception and how it can catch up to them.




Writer(s): Zachary Charles Skinner

Contributed by Carson N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Song not found

More Versions