# Why are the boys back in town, and where did they go in the first place? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [July 23, 2024, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696 "2024-07-23T16:26:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/1 "2024-07-23T16:26:32Z")
Inspired by [Brandy, you’re a fine girl. But when did you live?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235), but also by listening to a Thin Lizzy two-fer on the radio. First they played ‘Jailbreak’… _Tonight there’s gonna be a jailbreak_ _Somewhere in this town_ Uh, _ **somewhere** _ in this town? Maybe, I dunno, the town _ **jail** _, just to throw down a WAG? Anyway, afterward they played “The Boys Are Back in Town” _Guess who just got back today_ _Them wild-eyed boys that had been away_ I had always wondered about this-- a group of wild-eyed boys who were crazy, and liked getting into fights. Why did they leave town all at once as a group, and why are they all suddenly back in town? Then it hit me-- _TBABIT_ is a sequel to _Jailbreak_– the boys tried to pull off a bank robbery or some kind of heist in another town, got caught and went to jail. But now they’ve escaped and returned to their home town! Mystery solved 🕶 ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/2 "2024-07-23T16:31:47Z")
According to Duran Duran : The wild boys are calling On their way back from the fire In august moon’s surrender to A dust cloud on the rise ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/3 "2024-07-23T16:39:09Z")
I always thought The Boys were a bunch of assholes. And the singer isn’t much better, he thinks fightin’ and drinkin’ is just a good Friday night. “If that chick don’t want to know, forget her” Put me on that list. Wikipedia says The Boys were > **[Quality Street Gang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_Street_Gang)** > > The Quality Street Gang operated in Manchester, England, in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Although considered by some senior officers in the Greater Manchester Police to be the instigators of much of Manchester's major crime, some maintain that the gang was nothing more than a “social friendship between a group of men” > , most of whom came from Ancoats. > The group was reportedly named after a 1960s TV advertisement for Quality Street confectionery which showed an eclectic and smartly dressed grou... ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/4 "2024-07-23T17:50:33Z")
I figured it was about a traveling band, because so many songs from that time were about being in a R&R band. Writing about what you know was over done there for a while. eta: I never knew the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/5 "2024-07-23T18:03:00Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Uh, _ **somewhere** _ in this town? Maybe, I dunno, the town _ **jail** _, just to throw down a WAG? There are [five prisons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisons_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland) in Dublin, Ireland. Somewhere is a lot of places. @Just_Asking_Questions seems to have [nailed the meaning](https://www.songfacts.com/facts/thin-lizzy/the-boys-are-back-in-town), or what most people say is the meaning, which is sometimes right somewhere. > Folks in Manchester, England, will tell you “The Boys Are Back In Town” is about the Quality Street Gang, a criminal enterprise not unlike the Mafia. Phil Lynott spent much of his youth in Manchester, where his mom ran a club called the Showbiz. The QSG would often hang out there, always “dressed to kill” (they were so named because of their fashion sense). > > A key member of the gang was Jimmy “The Weed” Donnelly, the subject of a song on Thin Lizzy’s next album called “Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed.” > > The Dino’s Bar And Grill mentioned in the song is probably a real place, but which one is up for debate. Deno’s was a Manchester nightclub the Quality Street Gang would frequent; Dino’s Lodge was a Hollywood cabaret with a Dean Martin theme (Martin was a business partner). It shows up in the opening credits of the TV series _77 Sunset Strip_. > > Drink would flow at both establishments, but if you’re looking for a place where blood would spill, it was definitely Deno’s. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/6 "2024-07-24T17:40:13Z")
> [@solost](#): > > a group of wild-eyed boys who were crazy, and liked getting into fights. Why did they leave town all at once as a group, and why are they all suddenly back in town? Spacers, most likely. On leave and looking for frelks. [Brief Analysis of “Aye, and Gomorrah” | Queer Writing Practices](https://pallavishankar.wordpress.com/2014/02/15/brief-analysis-of-aye-and-gomorrah/) ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/7 "2024-07-24T17:49:29Z")
This’ll show you how different my youth was. Any time I hear song title The Boys Are Back in Town, I think of The Busboys first and Thin Lizzy second. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/8 "2024-07-24T18:04:05Z")
Hey now, I wonder if her boyfriend is one of the boys that is back? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/9 "2024-07-24T18:16:26Z")
Well, whoever _he_ is “love will be stronger, After the Boys of Summer are gone” Maybe the the Boys are back in town, _from_ the Beach. (Which brings us to the Beach boys, somehow) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/10 "2024-07-24T18:27:09Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Well, whoever _he_ is “love will be stronger, After the Boys of Summer are gone” Maybe you have something there! The Thin Lizzy song does say: _Won’t be long 'til the summer comes_ _Now that the boys are here again_ Perhaps Thin Lizzy and Don Henley were both singing of some sort of mythological harbingers of Summer, who appear to humans as youthful males. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/11 "2024-07-24T18:28:39Z")
I’ve always thought this is one of the greatest rock lines of all time. “Man, when I tell you she was cool, she was red hot. I mean, she was steamin’” ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/12 "2024-07-24T18:30:55Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I always thought The Boys were a bunch of assholes. And the singer isn’t much better, he thinks fightin’ and drinkin’ is just a good Friday night. Friday night? And here I was thinking that Saturday night’s alright for fighting. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/13 "2024-07-24T18:42:46Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I had always wondered about this-- a group of wild-eyed boys who were crazy, and liked getting into fights. Why did they leave town all at once as a group, and why are they all suddenly back in town? I figured it was a bunch of soccer hooligans who trashed an out-of-town venue, then returned to no one’s relief. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/14 "2024-07-24T19:24:48Z")
They refer to baseball players as “the boys of summer”, even though baseball runs from frigid April until freezing October, and cuts into football. So Henley’s song is about a guy who can’t get the girl because she has season tickets to the Dodgers. See? Not every rock song is about sex, drugs, girls and cars. There’s at least…uh…two, maybe three, about baseball. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/15 "2024-07-24T20:11:12Z")
Like _Paradise by the Dashboard Light_. That’s about baseball, right? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/16 "2024-07-24T20:15:07Z")
We could always go on a “Surfin’ Safari” When the season ends. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/17 "2024-07-24T21:26:40Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > When the season ends. It’s a endless summer. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/18 "2024-07-24T21:37:23Z")
Baseball used to start in May and finish in September, thanks to lots of doubleheaders. Sundays, mainly, to give workers a chance to see five hours of baseball. Before WWII few stadiums had lighting, so all games were day games. How could the working class get to them? Answer: they didn’t. Attendance was in the low thousands for most games, especially during the Depression. The season keeps being extended, more teams are added to the playoffs, and the season can start in March (opening day this year was March 28) and end in November. Because of money, money, money. Hey, maybe the boys are baseball players and they’ve been on a road trip. So two songs about baseball. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/19 "2024-07-24T22:04:41Z")
But…oh, oh those summer nights… ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2024, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-boys-back-in-town-and-where-did-they-go-in-the-first-place/1004696/20 "2024-07-24T22:11:10Z")
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