# The Boys Are Back in Town
"The Boys Are Back in Town" is a 1976 song by the Irish hard rock band [Thin Lizzy](https://www.edgepedia.org/thin-lizzy), written by bassist and frontman [Phil Lynott](https://www.edgepedia.org/phil-lynott) and released as the first single from the band's sixth studio album, *[Jailbreak](https://www.edgepedia.org/jailbreak-album)*.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-boys-are-back-in-town-mt0058314886) • [2](https://cloud.rslawards.com/file/download/rockschool-classics-guitar-grade-four-sample.pdf) It became the band's breakthrough international hit, reaching number 1 in Ireland, number 8 in the United Kingdom, and number 12 in the United States, and it remains the band's best-known track.[3](https://www.thinlizzyguide.com/discography_info/releases/singles/boys_are_back.htm) • [1](https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-boys-are-back-in-town-mt0058314886)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist and writer | Thin Lizzy; composed and written by Phil Lynott, the band's lead vocalist and bassist[1](https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-boys-are-back-in-town-mt0058314886) |
| Album and single | First single from *Jailbreak*, Thin Lizzy's sixth studio album (1976)[2](https://cloud.rslawards.com/file/download/rockschool-classics-guitar-grade-four-sample.pdf) |
| Release | Single issued 17 April 1976; recorded January–February 1976 at Ramport Studios, Battersea[3](https://www.thinlizzyguide.com/discography_info/releases/singles/boys_are_back.htm) |
| Chart peaks | Ireland No.1; UK No.8; US Billboard Hot 100 No.12[3](https://www.thinlizzyguide.com/discography_info/releases/singles/boys_are_back.htm) • [4](https://hitslist.fyi/song/thin-lizzy-the-boys-are-back-in-town-ygg1bkdvznfs) |
| Producer | John Alcock, who also suggested the melodic twin-guitar lick[5](https://www.the-independent.com/independentpremium/the-boys-are-back-in-town-thin-lizzy-b2090407.html) |
| Working title | "G.I. Joe Is Back in Town", originally about a Vietnam soldier returning from war[1](https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-boys-are-back-in-town-mt0058314886) |
| Length | 4:26 on *Jailbreak*[6](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/song/117682-the-boys-are-back-in-town/) |
## Writing and origins
Phil Lynott conceived the song in the mid-1970s. Its first form was titled "G.I. Joe Is Back in Town", a name taken from the American comic-strip and action-figure character, and its early lyrics dealt with a Vietnam soldier coming home after the war, which had just ended.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-boys-are-back-in-town-mt0058314886) • [5](https://www.the-independent.com/independentpremium/the-boys-are-back-in-town-thin-lizzy-b2090407.html) The military framing did not sit right with the band, and after failing to make the Vietnam-soldier theme work, Lynott rewrote the lyrics about a gang of rowdy friends out on the town.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-boys-are-back-in-town-mt0058314886)
The finished lyric draws on Lynott's own memories. He recalled the Quality Street Gang, a 1960s Manchester organized-crime outfit, from the time his mother Phyllis ran a hotel in the city, and the song's scenes unfold at "Dino's bar and grill", where "the drink will flow and the blood will spill".[5](https://www.the-independent.com/independentpremium/the-boys-are-back-in-town-thin-lizzy-b2090407.html) Guitarist Scott Gorham later said the song was partly inspired by the band's first trip to Los Angeles.[7](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/im-auditioning-for-an-irish-rock-band-so-im-expecting-a-red-haired-white-guy-then-this-big-black-guy-with-a-massive-afro-and-an-irish-accent-says-hey-im-phil-i-thought-this-is-gonna-be-interesting-scott-gorhams-wild-ride-with-thin-lizzy)
The song nearly did not survive its own writing sessions. The band had demoed about fifteen tracks for *Jailbreak* and selected the ten they considered best, leaving "GI Joe" off the list; co-manager [Chris O'Donnell](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-odonnell) heard the rejected song and insisted it be included, after which the lyrics and music were reworked into "The Boys Are Back in Town".[8](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/thin-lizzy-the-boys-are-back-in-town)
## Recording and the twin-guitar sound
The band recorded the track in January and February 1976 at Ramport Studios in [Battersea](https://www.edgepedia.org/battersea), South London, with producer John Alcock.[3](https://www.thinlizzyguide.com/discography_info/releases/singles/boys_are_back.htm) • [9](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56b4TTT609c) Musically the band struggled to settle the arrangement, trying it "every which way, without success". Alcock then suggested a melodic twin-guitar lick loosely based on "Kitty's Back", a 1973 [Bruce Springsteen](https://www.edgepedia.org/bruce-springsteen) song with a bass line he admired; Lynott's bass rumbled underneath, guitarists [Scott Gorham](https://www.edgepedia.org/scott-gorham) and Brian Robertson added power chords, and the arrangement was complete.[5](https://www.the-independent.com/independentpremium/the-boys-are-back-in-town-thin-lizzy-b2090407.html)
Robertson, who with Gorham formed the band's twin-lead-guitar lineup from 1974, later stated that he wrote the guitar harmonies himself: "The Boys are Back in Town wouldn't have had those guitar harmonies and augmented chords".[10](https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/guitarists/brian-robertson-thin-lizzy) At the start of the writing sessions Lynott had already worked out the bassline and asked his guitarists to write their own parts, specifically a part joining the verse and chorus.[2](https://cloud.rslawards.com/file/download/rockschool-classics-guitar-grade-four-sample.pdf)
## Chart performance
When the single was issued on 17 April 1976, it topped the Irish chart, Lynott's home country, reached number 8 in the UK, and climbed to number 12 in the United States.[3](https://www.thinlizzyguide.com/discography_info/releases/singles/boys_are_back.htm) • [1](https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-boys-are-back-in-town-mt0058314886) On the UK Official Singles Chart it entered at number 48 on 29 May 1976, peaked at number 8 on 3 July 1976, and spent 10 weeks on the chart.[11](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/thin-lizzy-the-boys-are-back-in-town/) In the US it charted on the Billboard Hot 100 from 15 May to 4 September 1976, peaking at number 12 over 17 weeks.[4](https://hitslist.fyi/song/thin-lizzy-the-boys-are-back-in-town-ygg1bkdvznfs)
The hit did not arrive immediately. The band's first single from *Jailbreak* only made chart inroads after the band had been nearly three months on the road in 1976, and the song's success considerably raised the band's public profile and income.[12](https://www.journalofmusic.com/focus/after-jailbreak) Gorham recalled that before the single, the album was selling no better than the band's previous two records, until radio play built a "domino effect" and the song "took off like a rocket".[7](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/im-auditioning-for-an-irish-rock-band-so-im-expecting-a-red-haired-white-guy-then-this-big-black-guy-with-a-massive-afro-and-an-irish-accent-says-hey-im-phil-i-thought-this-is-gonna-be-interesting-scott-gorhams-wild-ride-with-thin-lizzy) The band's US label, Mercury, had decided to release it as a single even though the band itself considered it a decent album track and no more.[8](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/thin-lizzy-the-boys-are-back-in-town)
## Legacy
The song became a permanent fixture on classic rock radio worldwide and is widely regarded as Thin Lizzy's signature tune.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-boys-are-back-in-town-mt0058314886) • [13](https://longkft.hu/audioblog/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Hi-Fi-News-UK-2016-02.pdf) Its afterlife has been broad: it is a staple at sporting events, has been used in television commercials, and appears in the children's film *Toy Story*.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-boys-are-back-in-town-mt0058314886) In 1999 the [Happy Mondays](https://www.edgepedia.org/happy-mondays) took a cover version into the UK Top 30.[5](https://www.the-independent.com/independentpremium/the-boys-are-back-in-town-thin-lizzy-b2090407.html) Critics have also read the song against its partying surface: a Pitchfork retrospective describes it as *Jailbreak* "at its most tender", with minor-key chords and regret complicating the good cheer of Lynott's vocal.[14](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/thin-lizzy-jailbreak/)
The title has entered everyday language as a stock phrase for advertisers and headline writers, a reach the song achieved within a few years of release.[5](https://www.the-independent.com/independentpremium/the-boys-are-back-in-town-thin-lizzy-b2090407.html) Lynott died in 1986, but the song remains the band's most-played track on classic rock radio and a defining item of Irish rock.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-boys-are-back-in-town-mt0058314886)
## Other works with the same title
The title has been used by unrelated works. *The Boys Are Back* (2009) is a Scott Hicks drama starring [Clive Owen](https://www.edgepedia.org/clive-owen) as a widowed father raising his sons in Australia, adapted from Simon Carr's memoir; it received a 73% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metascore of 57.[15](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1208165-boys_are_back) • [16](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-boys-are-back/critic-reviews/) *The Boys Are Back in Town* is also a 2004 horror novel by Christopher Golden about a reporter whose high-school memories begin to change.[17](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780553382075)
## References
1. [The Boys Are Back in Town – Thin Lizzy, song review by Greg Prato, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-boys-are-back-in-town-mt0058314886)
2. [Song Title: The Boys Are Back in Town, Rockschool Classics Guitar Grade 4 sample](https://cloud.rslawards.com/file/download/rockschool-classics-guitar-grade-four-sample.pdf)
3. [Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back in Town 7" single, The Thin Lizzy Guide (Peter Nielsen)](https://www.thinlizzyguide.com/discography_info/releases/singles/boys_are_back.htm)
4. [The Boys Are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy: chart and list history, hitslist](https://hitslist.fyi/song/thin-lizzy-the-boys-are-back-in-town-ygg1bkdvznfs)
5. [Story of the song: The Boys Are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy, Robert Webb, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/independentpremium/the-boys-are-back-in-town-thin-lizzy-b2090407.html)
6. [The Boys Are Back in Town – Thin Lizzy, Album of the Year](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/song/117682-the-boys-are-back-in-town/)
7. [Scott Gorham on his Thin Lizzy audition and The Boys Are Back in Town, Guitar World](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/im-auditioning-for-an-irish-rock-band-so-im-expecting-a-red-haired-white-guy-then-this-big-black-guy-with-a-massive-afro-and-an-irish-accent-says-hey-im-phil-i-thought-this-is-gonna-be-interesting-scott-gorhams-wild-ride-with-thin-lizzy)
8. ["To us, this was a decent album track, no more": the story of The Boys Are Back in Town, Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/thin-lizzy-the-boys-are-back-in-town)
9. [The Boys Are Back In Town (official audio), Thin Lizzy Official, YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56b4TTT609c)
10. [Brian Robertson knows what Thin Lizzy lost when he left, Guitar World](https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/guitarists/brian-robertson-thin-lizzy)
11. [The Boys Are Back in Town – Thin Lizzy, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/thin-lizzy-the-boys-are-back-in-town/)
12. [After the Jailbreak, The Journal of Music in Ireland](https://www.journalofmusic.com/focus/after-jailbreak)
13. [Hi-Fi News, February 2016](https://longkft.hu/audioblog/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Hi-Fi-News-UK-2016-02.pdf)
14. [Thin Lizzy: Jailbreak Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/thin-lizzy-jailbreak/)
15. [The Boys Are Back (2009), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1208165-boys_are_back)
16. [The Boys Are Back critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-boys-are-back/critic-reviews/)
17. [The Boys Are Back in Town by Christopher Golden, review, Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780553382075)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Pop, rock, and metal songs › Alternative rock songs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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