Nancy Boy
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"Nancy Boy" is a song by British
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
band
Placebo A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...
, released on 20 January 1997, as the fourth single from their debut self-titled album, released on
Hut Records VC Recordings trading as Hut Records was a British record label brand which was started in 1990 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Virgin Records. Despite being wholly owned by a major label, it was classed as an independent label for the purposes ...
. As with their first single " Come Home", the single edit is a re-recorded version, noticeably different from the album version. "Nancy Boy" contains themes of drugs, sex, gender confusion and bisexuality. "Nancy Boy" became their breakthrough single, peaking at number four in the UK Singles Chart a month after the single's release. While ''Placebo'' charted at number forty upon its release, after the release of "Nancy Boy" the album re-entered the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
at number five in February, staying on chart for thirteen weeks.


Background

Placebo were formed in 1994, when
Brian Molko Brian Molko (born 10 December 1972) is a British-American musician who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and lyricist of the band Placebo (band), Placebo. He is known for his nasal voice and high registered vocals, feminine/androgynous appearance ...
and Stefan Olsdal met each other at the South Kensington tube station. Molko, observing that Olsdal had a guitar strapped to his back, invited Olsdal to watch him perform at a local bar. On the strength of Molko's performance, Olsdal decided that they should start a band. The two formed Ashtray Heart, a lo-fi duo, playing mostly on children's toy instruments. They decided they needed a drummer, and suggested Steve Hewitt, but he was drumming for London band Breed. Robert Schultzberg then became their drummer. Schultzberg had known Olsdal from boarding school in Sigtuna, Sweden where they'd played together in a band. On 23 October 1995, they performed "Nancy Boy" on the TV program ''Unsigned in the City''. They released their debut single " Come Home" on Deceptive records in 1996, before being signed by
Hut Records VC Recordings trading as Hut Records was a British record label brand which was started in 1990 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Virgin Records. Despite being wholly owned by a major label, it was classed as an independent label for the purposes ...
. They then recorded their debut album, being released on 17 June 1996. After an argument in August 1996, right before doing their first TV show, Molko decided that it would be best for the band if Schultzberg left. But Schultzberg suggested playing together until they finished the promotion of their first album, ''Placebo'', and the band accepted. Eventually, Schultzberg left the band in September 1996. Before going on stage for their first show in the state of
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
, Olsdal informed Schultzberg that he would not perform on the tour in Germany that was following the US tour. Schultzberg played two more shows with the band in Paris after the US tour, the last of which was a performance at . Molko has said that he was "tired of being the focus of Robert's rages against the world." Hewitt joined Placebo as their full-time drummer the same year.


Lyrics

"Nancy Boy" revolves around the themes of
drugs A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...
, sex and
bisexuality Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, ...
. In 1997, Molko reportedly said, "Sonically, we tried to capture a kind of drug-induced sexual rush". The line "Eyeholes in a paper bag/greatest lay I ever had" is saying that the character in the song is ugly, but is trying to reach some sort of beauty, as Molko said "I guess it's saying you can be ugly and be an amazing lay; it doesn't really matter." The song also criticises people who think it is "fashionable to be gay"; Molko noted that "In the song, I'm questioning people's reasons for sleeping with people of the same sex. In the same way that
heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
is very hip today, being bisexual seems to be very chic."


Release

"Nancy Boy" was released in the UK on 20 January 1997 through
Hut Records VC Recordings trading as Hut Records was a British record label brand which was started in 1990 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Virgin Records. Despite being wholly owned by a major label, it was classed as an independent label for the purposes ...
and Elevator Music. The single became an unexpected success, going straight to number four in the UK Singles Chart upon its release. The band were booked to perform the track on
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
, performing on it on 31 January 1997. On 18 May 1997, the band performed "Nancy Boy" and " Teenage Angst" on
Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Marc Almond, Jayne County, To ...
. ''Placebo'' had originally charted at number forty in the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
upon release, but, with the success of "Nancy Boy", the album then re-entered the charts in February at number five, and went gold in May.


Music video

On 25 January, the video for "Nancy Boy" was released, directed by
Howard Greenhalgh Howard Douglas Greenhalgh (born 19 February 1963) is a British director of music videos and advertising. Biography Greenhalgh was born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire and studied at the Royal College of Art, setting up the firm Why No ...
The video features the band performing the track in a colourful room with flashing lights. Images of the band members are distorted. Drummer Steve Hewitt is portrayed throughout with a blurred face because he was still contractually obligated to another band on a different label. In parts of the video, Molko's and Olsdal's faces are merged. In other cutaway scenes, there are various strange objects. In a recurring part of the video, a man's head and shoulders are seen stuck to a table with spikes coming out of it. In other parts a man lies on a bed as a strange-looking woman uses a defibrillator on him. Other scenes in the video feature a fist with legs and a bathtub full of legs.


Live performances

The song was part of the band's repertoire prior to the release of their debut album and it was a regular until the '' Black Market Music'' tour. Due to the band's ambivalent relationship with the song, it's had a somewhat varied history since. The song returned to the setlist during festival performances in the latter legs of the '' Sleeping with Ghosts'' tour and was performed until the early legs of the '' Meds'' tour. After several performances during the band's stint on the 2007 Projekt Revolution tour, it was not performed again until 2010, when the song was used as the opener for the
EXIT festival Exit (stylized in all caps; ) is a summer music festival which is held at the Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad, Serbia. Founded in 2000, it has twice won the Best Major Festival award at the European Festivals Awards, for 2013 and 2017. EXIT has ...
in Serbia. After that it became a regular opener for the rest of the '' Battle for the Sun'' tour, in the later part of 2010. On the '' We Come In Pieces'' DVD, it was the opening track on the first disc of the DVD.


Track listings

UK CD1 and Australasian CD single # "Nancy Boy" (radio edit) # "Slackerbitch" # " Bigmouth Strikes Again" # "Hug Bubble" (remixed by Brad Wood) UK CD2 # "Nancy Boy" (sex mix) # "Eyesight to the Blind" # "Swallow" (mixed by Desiner and U-Sheen) # "Miss Moneypenny" UK 7-inch single :A. "Nancy Boy" (sex mix) :B. "Slackerbitch" Japanese mini-album # "Nancy Boy" (radio edit) # "Bruise Pristine" (radio edit) # "Bigmouth Strikes Again" # "Eyesight to the Blind" # "Miss Moneypenny" # "Swallow" (mixed by Desiner and U-Sheen) # "Hug Bubble" (remixed by Brad Wood)


Charts


Certifications


Release history


References

{{Authority control Placebo (band) songs 1996 songs 1997 singles Bisexuality-related songs Hut Records singles Music videos directed by Howard Greenhalgh Songs written by Brian Molko Songs written by Robert Schultzberg Songs written by Stefan Olsdal