Dead Boys

Album: Dead Boys EP (2018)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This guitar anthem finds Sam Fender singing about a social stigma among men in his hometown of Newcastle in which they're unwilling to discuss suicidal thoughts.

    We close our eyes
    Learn our pain
    Nobody ever could explain
    All the dead boys in our hometown


    "It's a song about male suicide, particularly in my hometown," Fender explained to NME. "I lost some friends very close to me because of that. This song came from that place."
  • The song was partly inspired by The Cure's 1979 track "Boys Don't Cry."

    "It's the same today," Fender told The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column. "As a boy you're not meant to show your emotions, but if you don't have a job or any prospects, you're going to be depressed and it will be much worse if you can't express that. I hate the term because it's become a buzzword, but it's toxic masculinity."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Guy Clark

Guy ClarkSongwriter Interviews

Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris and Lyle Lovett are just a few of the artists who have looked to Clark for insightful, intelligent songs.

Rupert Hine

Rupert HineSongwriter Interviews

Producer Rupert Hine talks about crafting hits for Tina Turner, Howard Jones and The Fixx.

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.

Jethro Tull

Jethro TullFact or Fiction

Stage urinals, flute devices, and the real Aqualung in this Fact or Fiction.

Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles

Timothy B. Schmit of the EaglesSongwriter Interviews

Did this Eagle come up with the term "Parrothead"? And what is it like playing "Hotel California" for the gazillionth time?

Stan Ridgway

Stan RidgwaySongwriter Interviews

Go beyond the Wall of Voodoo with this cinematic songwriter.