The first chorus is the way the singer saw life as a little boy, he was happy, playing outside, free.

« They » refers to his parents ,, who sent him to school, probably a boarding school ( a school where you sleep during the week and you coma back home at weekends ) The use of « but » shows the end of happy, innocent childhood.

The adjectives he uses are not supposed to be negatives. And , he uses them in a neative way, showing how school was a bad experience for him. Don’t forget the singer was born in 1950 , school was very different then ! )

Form him, it is the loss ( perte) of freedom, of innoncence. He has to behave like an adult, to be responsible and he doesn’t want to.

All the adjectives he used , is what an adult is supposed to be and this is somethng he refuses.

Concernant la vidéo dont je vous ai parlé , je la mets sur ecole directe , cahier de texte de mercredi prochain