Devendra Banhart: "i see so many little boys I want to marry"

the reason I call you all into the room, though, isn't to talk about Cripple Crow (there will be time enough), but because this one song, "Little Boys", has baffled me.

I've put it up on YSI here. It may need a reseed.
link

It starts as a country waltzy thing, Devendra's tremolo gone almost Elvis-esque. He sings of "[sharing] a sleeping-bag" and "never be[ing] satisfied". And then the second half gets much peppier, still very retro, as we go into a yay peppy sing-along with these lyrics such as the following:

i see so many little boys I want to marry
i see plenty little kids i have yet to have

even when the moon goes out
even when the sea dries out
i still see so many
little boys i want to marry
i see plenty little kids i have yet to have, now

even when the seas all freeze
and everything is [???]
even when the sun ceases to shine
i won't care
i'll still have on my mind
so many
little boys i want to marry
i've seen plenty
of little kids i've yet to have

and in the shower
i get my dreaming done
i hold my breath and i wait for the day to come
oh little billy, little timmy, little jimmy, you're the one
i may not look it but i swear my heart is young

for so many
little boys i want to marry
[etc]

What's the deal here?! Is this merely 'quirkiness'? Is it about gay marriage? Is he pushing against the fallacy of the "confessional" singer-songwriter? Is he (ha) singing about Michael Jackson?

There's nothing creepy about the song, other than the lyrics; there's no narrative context, no frame.

Am I missing something? Any ideas for how the song can be read, other than as a celebration of paedophilia? I'm just a little bamboozled.

The main poster did?

No. I mean, yes. Wait...what?

Is it possible that he's saying, "I see so many boys who I want get married?" As in, "I see so many boys I want to marry [off]."

Possible? If it is, the song would be more of a celebration of love/marriage rather than paedophilia.

I won't try to argue this is what he's saying. Only that it's a possibility.

and obv there's no connection between pedophilia and gay marriage, except in interpreting lyrics about "marrying boys"!

As for the implications: is it "shocking"? I guess the subject is somewhat so. Is it an especially interesting take on the subject? Not to me, if the criteria here is whether the song gives us "new insight" into what motivates pedophilia. But maybe that's not the place of a song anyway.

By the way, am I the only one who, prompted by the riff, wants to burst into "I Will Follow Him" during the second half of the song? Actually, maybe that's appropriate ("I LOVE HIM! I LOVE HIM! AND WHERE HE GOES I'LL FOLLOW!!")

Frankly, I'm more appalled by his version of Antony's "Fistful of love."

Baby Eater!!!

that said, i think there's a clear difference of degree between that Heaven 17 tune and a happy-go-round song whose centre is the chorus "i see plenty little kids i have yet to have!"

this song would be better if it was "i will follow him".

"Well, I'd rather see you dead, little girl,
Than to be with another man.
You better keep your head, little girl,
Or you won't know where I am.

You better run for your life if you can, little girl;
Hide your head in the sand, little girl;
Catch you with another man,
That's the end, little girl.

Well, you know that I'm a wicked guy
And I was born with a jealous mind
And I can't spend my whole life tryin'
Just to make you tow the line.

You better run for your life if you can, little girl;
Hide your head in the sand, little girl;
Catch you with another man,
That's the end, little girl.

Let this be a sermon,
I mean everything I've said.
Baby, I'm determined
That I'd rather see you dead.

You better run for your life if you can, little girl;
Hide your head in the sand, little girl;
Catch you with another man,
That's the end, little girl.

I'd rather see you dead, little girl,
Than to be with another man.
You better keep your head, little girl,
Or you won't know where I am.

You better run for your life if you can, little girl;
Hide your head in the sand, little girl;
Catch you with another man,
That's the end, little girl.

Na, na, na.
Na, na, na.
Na, na, na."

its like rockabilly....

hey dan, i'll get the link fixed tomorrow. sorry about that. still haven't got the box set but looking forward to it.

i love the devendra banhart album. its cool. its so messy i love that quality about it.

OK. What's black and comes in a little white can?

scott, I'm not totally comfortable with your comparison to "little girl." Is it really the same? Is "little boy" used as commonly when someone (male or female) is talking about a male love interest as "little girl" is (or maybe was?--I can't say I hear it very often)? Just because it's the flip side doesn't mean it's conotations are going to be symmetrical. I'm raising the question, though, I'm not saying I know how commonly it might be used. It does sound familiar the way "little girl" does.

"How is working with a full band different from recording solo?

Banhart: This isn't the stoned jam record I will someday make in Portland, or the space reggae vibe fest it coulda been. It was... well, "what do you hear on this one?" and so we found that sound. We had a lot of help finding musicians from Dan Bunny from the great The BunnyBrains."

http://www.billtmiller.com/bunnybrains/

Spoke too soon, this is growing on me.

plain swapping boy for girl and then not really changing things otherwise may be simple gender based word play. its interesting to wonder who'd be paying attention at all if he'd used the well worn "little girl" phrase.

Nancy Sinatra swaps in boy in her version of "Run for Your Life" and noone's after her for it. of course, in that case we have yr standard heterosexual heirarchy in place. That make's this whole discussion seem to be overly concerned with sex side of it. If joanna newsome, say wrote this would there be such a discussion.

given devendras perfomrmances as abra and obvious lack of concern for gender rules and his stated interest in writing songs that exist more like old standards or folk songs, i think too much reading into his motives here is easily too much

I asked your mother for you
She told me that you was too young
I wish to the Lord I’d never seen your face
or heard your lying tongue
Irene goodnight, Irene goodnight
Goodnight Irene, Goodnight Irene