Boys in the Better Land by Fontaines DC.
In this weeks edition of our Track of the Week you will find:
- About the Fontaines DC Band
- Why it’s our hottest record
- Boys in the Better Land Lyrics
- Boys in the Better Land Meaning
- Where to see the Fontaines DC Tour
- How to play Boys in the Better Land Chords
Enhance your experience and listen along to our Track of the Week Playlist whilst you read!
Let’s get started!
About the Band
Fontaines DC are a post-punk band from Dublin, Ireland and have been going since 2014. I’m going to describe them as a Marmite band. Everyone that I talk to about them either gets them, or don’t get them at all. But when people do get it, they love it.
This is shown by their high energy, and intense live gigs and how much the crowd get involved.
And just to prove the point hat when people get it they love it, their debut album Dogrel achieved an Album of the Year and was nominated for a Mercury prize.
In the midst of all of this success, they then went on to record (whilst touring their debut album) a second album, A Hero’s Death which was nominated for the Best Rock Album of the year at the 2021 Grammy awards.
So… it’s safe to say that these guys know how to make an awesome sound that people love.
Let’s meet the band:
Grian Chatten – Vocals
Carlos O’Connell & Conor Curley – Guitar
Conor Deegan III – Bass Guitar
Tom Coll - Drums
Why it’s our Hottest Record
This was a close one between two awesome tracks. Fontaines DC I Love You is their top track on Spotify and for good reason but… Boys in the Better Land has an awesomely punchy tone to it, and interesting story and some brilliant lyrics.
Me and my brother were listening to this song in the car, I can’t remember where we were going but when we both heard the lyrics:
“If you're a rockstar, pornstar, superstar, doesn't matter what you are
Get yourself a good car, get outta here”
We both had the exact same feeling of “phwar that’s a sick lyric”
The story of Boys in the Better land is about an Anglo-Phobic taxi driver in Dublin yet they balance this out with the use of cockney terms in the lyrics:
Saying "Sister, sister, how I missed ya, missed ya
Let's go wrist to wrist and take the skin off of the blister"
Blister, being skin & blister, Sister.
I could be reading into it but it’s almost a poetic representation of Grian, being half English & half Irish himself.
Just to top it all off, it’s a simple song to play on the guitar but it’s actually quite challenging because of the rhythm. The entire song is mostly the same three chords yet you’ve got to be able to play them really fast and consistently for the whole 5 minutes.
Boys in the Better Land Lyrics
[Instrumental Intro]
[Verse 1]
You're not alive until you start kicking
When the room is spinning and the words aren't sticking
And the radio is all about a runaway model with a face like sin and a heart like a James Joyce novel
[Pre-Chorus]
Saying "Sister, sister, how I missed ya, missed ya
Let's go wrist to wrist and take the skin off of the blister"
If you're a rockstar, pornstar, superstar, doesn't matter what you are
Get yourself a good car, get outta here
[Chorus]
Well
But the boys in the better land
You're always talking 'bout the boys in the better land
The boys in the better land
But the boys in the better land
You're always talking 'bout the boys in the better land
The boys in the better land
[Verse 2]
Driver's got names to fill two double barrels
He spits out "Brits out", only smokes Carrolls
And he's refreshing the world in mind, body and spirit
Mind body and spirit, you better hear it and fear it
Oh, that's the spirit
[Pre-Chorus]
Saying "Sister, sister, how I missed ya, missed ya
Let's go wrist to wrist and take the skin off of the blister"
If you're a rockstar, pornstar, superstar, doesn't matter what you are
Get yourself a good car, get outta here
[Chorus]
Yeah
But the boys in the better land
You're always talking 'bout the boys in the better land
The boys in the better land
But the boys in the better land
You're always talkin' about the boys in the better land
The boys in the better land
[Verse 3]
Driver's got names to fill two double barrels
He spits out "Brits out", only smokes Carrolls
And he's refreshing the world in mind, body and spirit
Mind body and spirit, you better hear it and fear it
Oh, that's the spirit
[Pre-Chorus]
Saying "Sister, sister, how I missed ya, missed ya
Let's go wrist to wrist and take the skin off of the blister"
If you're a rockstar, pornstar, superstar, doesn't matter what you are
Get yourself a good car, get outta here
[Chorus]
Yeah
But the boys in the better land
You're always talking 'bout the boys in the better land
The boys in the better land
But the boys in the better land
You're always talkin' about the boys in the better land
The boys in the better land
[Instrumental Outro]
Boys in the Better Land Meaning
We covered some of the meaning in the previous section but now that you have hopefully seen the lyrics we can dive a little deeper.
Also, I take it if you’re reading this then you’re enjoying it! Nice one.
As well as an Anglo-phobic cabby and a questionable thing to ask your sister to do, it’s a story about growing up in a place that you love and are inspired by yet feeling the urge to get away from.
When you grow up and you want to be successful or have a goal, you have to go outside of your comfort zone and get away from home and this song translates that feeling in a really relatable way.
It doesn’t matter what you are. Just get yourself a good car and get outta here.
I’m sure at some point in our lives we’ve all been tempted to drive off and forget everything for a while. Fontaines believe that this is necessary. It was probably necessary for them to get noticed. Which I’d say was probably true for them as they are now signed by Partisan Records who are not based in Ireland.
Judging from the bands lyrics in other songs and from what I can tell in this song it seems like Grian is sick of the nationalism in Dublin. In the verse where the cabby with a double-barrelled name smoking carrolls is spewing out his views and refreshing the world in mind, body & spirit it seems like someone is being forced to hear it.
“You better hear it and fear it” to me, sounds like one of those times you’re caught in a conversation with a strongly opiniated person that refuses to accept anyone else would have a different view.
So along with other Fontaines DC Best Songs I love the way the music, lyrics and tones contrast and contradict each other but in such a poetic way. I think this band has a lot more to look forward to.
If you want to buy Fontaines DC Merch, find out when they are touring then head over to the Fontaines DC Website
Thanks for reading, see you next week!
References & Credits:
Fontaines D.C. (fontainesdc.com)
Fontaines D.C. – Boys in the Better Land Lyrics | Genius Lyrics
Album Review: Fontaines D.C. drops ambitious new record A Hero’s Death – The Cosmic Clash
Fontaines D.C. at The Good Mixer, Camden - live review (louderthanwar.com)
Fontaines DC announce May 2021 UK tour • News • DIY Magazine
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