Petites Boîtes Lyrics in English Graeme Allwright

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Below, I translated the lyrics of the song Petites Boîtes by Graeme Allwright from French to English.

Little boxes, very narrow

Little boxes made of ticky-tacky

Little boxes, little boxes

Little boxes all the same

There's red ones, violet ones

And green ones, so chic

They're all made of ticky-tacky

They're all, all the same

And those folks in their boxes

All go to university

We put them all in boxes

Little boxes all the same

There's doctors, dentists

Businessmen and lawyers

They're all, all made of ticky-tacky

They're all, all, all the same

And they knock back martinis

Play golf all afternoon

Then they make pretty kids

Who all, all go to school

Those kids go on vacation

Then head off to university

We put them all in boxes

And they come out all the same

The boys go into business

And become dads

They build brand-new boxes

Little boxes all the same

Then they settle all their affairs

And move on to cemeteries

In boxes made of ticky-tacky

That're all, all the same

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SONG MEANING

**Graeme Allwright’s “Petites Boîtes” paints a bright, almost child-like picture of colorful little houses lined up on a hillside, yet the song is a playful jab at modern conformity. Built from flimsy “ticky-tacky,” these red, violet, and green boxes look different at first glance, but their identical shape reveals how society molds people to fit the same narrow mold. From university to well-paid professions, from after-work martinis to leisurely golf, every life stage slots neatly into a ready-made compartment, just like the houses themselves.

Behind the sing-song chorus lies a sharper message: our routines can turn us into mass-produced products. The song traces a whole life cycle—school, career, family, even the final resting place—showing how each generation repeats the pattern without question. Allwright invites listeners to notice the sameness hiding under life’s bright paint, and to imagine breaking free of those little boxes before they become our own.

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Graeme Allwright Petites Boîtes Lyrics