"Boys In The Better Land" Song Review

Song: Boys In The Better Land
Artist: Fontaines D.C.
From the album: Dogrel
Release year: 2019

Intro

Hello! Welcome back to another review. Today I am reviewing a song that is from my beautiful home country of Ireland. This song is "Boys In The Better Land" by Fontaines D.C. I was introduced to this song by one of my friends and I'm glad I was introduced to it because it is my favourite punk rock song (a controversial thing to say I know, but you know, it ain't a music review blog without 1 or 2 controversial opinions!)

A wee bit of history

Fontaines D.C. were formed in 2014 at BIMM University in Dublin. The band were comprised of Carlos O'Connell, Conor Curley, Conor Deegan, Grian Chatten and Tom Coll. They all met at a poetry club in the university and bonded over their love of poets Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. The group signed to English music journalist John Robb's record label, Louder Than War. The two released 7 singles, all of which featuring on their 2019 debut album "Dogrel". "Boys In The Better Land" is one of these songs, but I will be referring to the album version of the song rather than the single because the album version shows the full uncut song.

Composition

"Boys In The Better Land" is a song which calls back to the classic punk of the 70s. A catchy, headbanging guitar riff, fast paced drum rhythms and raw vocals which don't hide accent or intonation. To me, Grian Chatten sounds like an Irish Joe Strummer in this song. "Boys In The Better Land" starts with Conor Curley's guitar, with the riff being played serving as the backbone of the song. Conor Deegan's bass guitar then comes in with the addition Grian's tambourine adding to the texture. The song later explodes into full on punk, with Grian's vocals coming in. This song is very simple, yet there is a lot of charm with this simplicity. I see this song as an ode to the punk that laid the groundwork for the world of post-punk and dance-punk, and it's always great to see a band returning to the roots. As a drummer, I love the drum solo in the second chorus, where all the other instruments give way to Tom Coll's booming bass n' hi-hat rhythm. This chorus then gives way to an awesome guitar solo from Conor Curley. The speed of this solo is really what sells it for me, with it being played at an impressive 155bpm. This then gives way to the final choruses, which round off the song perfectly. The song is 5 minutes, which is quite long for a punk song, especially one inspired by the 70s, but I think those 5 minutes aren't wasted, and honestly, you get so lost in the song that it doesn't feel like 5 minutes!

Lyrics

Grian Chatten wrote the lyrics of the "Boys In The Better Lands". According to Grian, "Boys In The Better Land" was inspired by an interaction with a taxi driver in Dublin, who he called "an Anglophobic cabby". This is shown in the chorus of the song. In the chorus, Grian describes the cabbie as spitting "out "Brits Out!", only smokes Carroll's". Carroll's is a cigarette brand based and sold in Ireland and has a reputation of being smoked by Irish republicans, who would shout "Brits Out", a phrase used by the Irish during their independence efforts from the British in the 1920s, and would continue into Northern Ireland into the end of the 20th century. In "Boys In The Better Land", the "better land" is believed to refer to England and the UK, where many Irish people migrated to in order to find better prospects than in their homeland. And the cabbie is talking about how he doesn't like all these boys going to the "better land". In addition, despite being from Dublin, in the chorus, Grian says "get yourself a good car, get out of here", which is very ironic as they are very much a Dublin band, but they want to get out of it. This is especially interesting because as of now, Fontaines D.C. are based out of London. These lyrics are also very poetic, featuring rhyming couplets as well. One of the best examples is with the words "sister" and "blister" in the pre-chorus, which are sneaky little references to Oasis' song "She's Electric". Oasis have Irish roots, but are born and based out of Manchester, maybe trying to prove Grian's point.

Overall, I see the song as a song about heading to another country to expand your prospects as the country you live in may not be ideal. These lyrics though are heavily up to speculation and maybe it's better that way because it means the song can mean whatever it means to you, and lyrics that can do that are always well-written lyrics in my opinion.

Miscellaneous thoughts

"Boys In The Better Land" is a song that calls back to the punk of old, but still retains the charm that punk made by the Clash and the Ramones. The simplicity of the song makes it accessible for all sorts of listeners, punk fans or not, and a song like that is always high in my books. I've played this song for other people and they've all liked it. The song has also become a staple of going on holiday, I seem to always play it when on holiday for some reason, it just fits! Also, I am a sucker for a song where the singer doesn't try to conceal their accent. Like Syd Barrett or Liam Gallagher, Grian Chatten is not afraid to show his accent. His thick Dublin accent honestly compliments the raw sound of the song. It's the cherry on top of what in my opinion, is a masterpiece.

Final thoughts

Rating: S

"Boys In The Better Land" may be simplistic unlike the previous S ranking I've given to "Band On The Run", but it's a charming kind of simplistic that makes the song an engaging listen that I would recommend to anyone and everyone. Even if you're not into punk, it's still a great listen and a great tune to dance to if that's your thing!

You can listen to the song here:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abxGaMCDhmU

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/0iJX82OGewFWpyRtB8zzo4