Released: February 11, 1977

Songwriter: Andrew Gold

Producer: Peter Asher

[Verse 1]
He was born on a summer day, 1951
And with a slap of a hand, he had landed as an only son
His mother and father said, "What a lovely boy
We'll teach him what we learned, ah, yes, just what we learned
We'll dress him up warmly, and we'll send him to school
It'll teach him how to fight, to be nobody's fool"

[Chorus]
Oh, oh, what a lonely boy
Oh, what a lonely boy
Oh, what a lonely boy

[Verse 2]
In the summer of '53, his mother brought him a sister
And she told him, "We must attend to her needs
She's so much younger than you"
Well, he ran down the hall and he cried
Oh, how could his parents have lied?
When they said he was their only son
He thought he was their only one

[Chorus]
Oh, oh, what a lonely boy
Oh, what a lonely boy
Oh, what a lonely boy

[Bridge]
Goodbye Mama
Goodbye you
Goodbye Papa
I'm pushing on through

[Verse 3]
He left home on a winter day, 1969
And he hoped to find all the love he had lost in that earlier time
Well, his sister grew up, and she married a man
He gave her a son, ah, yes, a lovely son
They dressed him up warmly, they sent him to school
It taught him how to fight, to be nobody's fool

[Chorus]
Oh, oh, what a lonely boy
Oh, what a lonely boy
Oh, what a lonely boy

[Chorus]
Whoa-whoa-whoa, oh, what a lonely boy
Oh, what a lonely boy
Oh, what a lonely boy