Queer As Art issue 2 April-May-June 2017 | Page 37

Boys (Beatles Cover)
(1963)
Let’s start off with a funny little
accident occurred by the famous
Fab Four. Back in 1963 when they
were Liverpool’s most popular
rock’n roll band, they finally
released their first album after 3
years of touring. This first album
(Please Please Me) is notorious
for having their first hits Love Me
Do and I saw her standing there
but many covers as well. One of
them include the Shirelles B-side
Boys, a straightforward upbeat love
song talking about girls being excited
for boys. The original song being
more of a Rhythm and Blues ballad,
the Beatles did a cover which sounds
closer to the rock’n roll sound of the
1950s. However, there is a partial
change in the lyrics. Even though the
verses are switched gender-wise («
My girl says when I kiss her lips/ Gets
A Thrill through her fingertips »), the
chorus remains the same and Ringo
Starr sings about boys being « a
bundle of joy ». Homosexual
undertones are obvious in this cover
but due to the fact that this song
wasn’t released as a single, no big
controversy happened (in fact, back
when they were playing at the
Cavern, it was one of the crowd’s
36
most requested songs). There were
rumours about John Lennon being in
a relationship with the Beatles’ first
manager Brian Epstein (who only
talked about his homosexuality
among personal friends) and the
former confirmed it as an « intense
platonic relationship » which occured
during a four-day holiday in Spain.
Nevertheless, Boys remains an
interesting case where a
heteromantic song can be something
different based on who sings it.
Fun Fact : Ian Sharp, a friend of John
Le n n o n , k n e w a b o u t E p s t e i n ’s
homosexuality and mocked it. He was
then asked to write an apology letter
within 48 hours and was blacklisted
from the Beatles’ social circle.