Malvina Reynolds – Little Boxes lyrics

Malvina Reynolds – Little Boxes lyrics

Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same,
There's a pink one and a green one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.

And the people in the houses
All went to the university
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same
And there's doctors and lawyers
And business executives
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.

And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry
And they all have pretty children
And the children go to school,
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university
Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same.

And the boys go into business
And marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same,
There's a pink one and a green one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.

Lyrics taken from /lyrics/m/malvina_reynolds/little_boxes.html

Songwriters: Malvina Reynolds

Corrected by mollymolly

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+ 6
Unregistered 2012-05-25 13:18:56

The song is a political satire about the development of suburbia and associated conformist middle-class attitudes. It refers to suburban tract housing as "little boxes" of different colors "all made out of ticky-tacky", and which "all look just the same. " "ticky-tacky" is a reference to the shoddy material used in the construction of housing of that time. (wiki).
Yes I agree, we are all made to conform and to be conditioned by what the government want us to learn/know and how to go about life, go to nschool/uni get a good job so you can be trapped in the rat race of life. Being sucked into the ads we see. You need this new car, new phone/clothes house etc. So then we work more to get these things. And that's just what they are, things. Most of which we don't really need. This song has recently spurre4d on our dream to go and move abroad and live self sufficiantly in a caravan, living off the land/off grid. Simple, no stress with work, getting our power from solar energy and collecting eggs etc, and not being swallowed up by the british propaganda. Go and do it people, don't let money run your life, its all a big con to keep the people dumbed down. And I can't wait! :-) x

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Unregistered 2012-04-29 13:04:21

Now that we have empty-nested, retired to a small village from the suburbs of a big city, and wound down from our busy commuterized careers, we sip our coffee each morning listening to national radio giving traffic reports for the major urban arteries that we used to be trapped in. It does the spirit good to reflect upon the self-inflicted treadmill we were on, and to start a busy day doing the active things that we always wanted to do while we still have our health. Good luck to all of you, and we hope you too can escape any ticky-tackiness in your lives.

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Unregistered 2012-04-12 00:06:52

I think the song is about the rules of society and how we are all forced to conform to these social boundaries. There is no such thing as freedom people may appear to look different but essentially everybody is just the same. The words 'ticky tacky' bring to mind the idea that they are flimsy at best. They also make the objects sound rather fake and manufactured. Just like people, how they are restricted and forced to lie everyday to fit on with what society tells us is acceptable.

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Unregistered 2012-04-04 08:13:57

Everyone stuck in the same basic routine its like we're all just put into very few categories (boxes) the categories are different (the colours) and depending on the category they all do things slightly differently but in the end they're still basically the same E. G. Everyone is shoved into school they have to write and do math and are all treated the same they have their own "options" to prepare them for jobs but even thes are similar and you have to do them then you go to university and study papers like everyone else and in the end you get a job like everyone else the jobs are different but basically the same and all along the way you're being stripped of your imagination as you have to be like everyone else.

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Unregistered 2012-03-17 00:57:50

Little boxes is definitely about the 'boxes' society labels appropriate for us and as we grow older we end up in one of the labeled 'boxes' and we lose the ability to be original and creative. We become made of ticky tacky and we will raise our children the same. Little boxes must be about the way we run things. We have been running things in our lives for ages and generations now. We are born and raised to go school and become something and we'll have children whom we'll raise to do the same. We are definitely confined within our own capacities as we don't try different things. Generally, little boxes is about the purpose society gave us all, the path it put in front of us. The 'boxes' it gave us and how we don't challenge those boxes, those stereotypes. We just try to fit in and by the process lose our uniqueness and come out looking just like everybody else. We become products of society, packaged and ready to deliver everything we've learned from it.

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Unregistered 2012-04-14 21:11:42

I agree that it is inspired by the stereotypes of people every day but also how when you look around and really think about, we all are generally following one repetitive routine.
Though some people make different choices and have different faiths or ideas, everyone (every healthy person that is) grows up, goes to school (whether that means a public school or home schooling), tries to get a job and (typically) has children (or even if they don't have children) and that next generation grows up doing the same thing.
Basically the colors of the boxes are about the different paths and decision but the song constantly repeats 'just the same'. The boxes (in my opinion) represent our lives.

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Unregistered 2022-10-31 09:39:54

The concept of being “boxed” needs no explanation. It will be a familiar entrapment known to everyone who lives by the rules of conformity. The “boxes” exist to keep you in your place and applies to 99% of the population wherever you live in the World. Then there are the 1% who “make” the boxes. Life is so different for them. You may aspire to their life but you will never achieve it. You ask “why not?” And it is because the boundary of your box will prevent you. A great reset is due.

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