"Boys Keep Swinging" is a song by English musician David Bowie, released on 27 April 1979 by RCA Records in the United Kingdom as the lead single from his 1979 album Lodger. It was written by Bowie and Brian Eno and recorded in Montreux and New York City in September 1978 and March 1979. The recording utilised techniques from Eno's Oblique Strategies cards, which resulted in the musicians swapping instruments. Adrian Belew contributed a guitar solo, which he played receiving little guidance and was composited from multiple takes. The song was also built on the same chord sequence as the album track "Fantastic Voyage". Musically, "Boys Keep Swinging" contains elements of glam rock, funk and new wave, while lyrically, the song deals with the concept of gender identity, featuring various gender-bending lyrics. Bowie himself stated that the song was full of irony.
Bowie filmed a promotional video for "Boys Keep Swinging" alongside an appearance on The Kenny Everett Video Show. Both were directed by David Mallet, marking the first in a series of collaborations with Bowie. The video features Bowie as himself and three backing dancers dressed in drag. The video helped the single reach number seven on the UK Singles Chart, his highest chart placement in two years. Bowie gave an acclaimed performance of the song on Saturday Night Live in December 1979 and later revived it for his 1995 Outside Tour. Although it received mixed reviews on release, with some finding a lack of payoff, commentators have reacted more positively to "Boys Keep Swinging" in later decades, with some naming it one of Bowie's best songs. It has appeared on several compilation albums and was covered by the Associates in late-1979, whose version earned them their first recording contract.
Recording
"Boys Keep Swinging" was written by David Bowie and Brian Eno during the sessions for Lodger (1979). Co-produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti, the backing tracks were recorded at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland in September 1978, while vocals and overdubs were completed at the Record Plant in New York City in March 1979. The sessions saw Bowie and Eno utilise techniques from Eno's Oblique Strategies cards. According to biographer Chris O'Leary, these cards were "part-fortune cookie, part-Monopoly 'Chance' cards", intended to spark creative ideas. Eno and Bowie used them previously to create some of the instrumentals for "Heroes" (1977).
After a few takes, Bowie was dissatisfied with the band's progress, finding it "sounds like professionals!" In order to sound like "young kids in the basement [who were] just discovering their instruments", Bowie had the musicians swap instruments, a trick previously utilised during the recording of Iggy Pop's Lust for Life in 1977. So, guitarist Carlos Alomar switched to drums, drummer Dennis Davis moved to bass guitar and bassist George Murray moved to keyboards. However, Murray's contribution was omitted from the final mix, as only Bowie and Eno are credited, while Davis's part was deemed unsuitable and re-recorded by Visconti, who played an "over-the-top" part in a style similar to The Man Who Sold the World (1970). Several commentators found the part reminiscent of the Beach Boys' "You're So Good to Me" (1965).
Future King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew contributed a solo towards the end of the song, which was composited from multiple takes. Before he played, Bowie told Belew that Alomar was playing drums but gave little guidance regarding the music. He later stated: "It was like a freight train coming through my mind. I just had to cling on." Speaking with biographer David Buckley, Belew stated that Bowie wrote the lyrics and recorded his vocals for the song in just seven days. He also recalled that after Bowie completed the vocals, "He played it to me and said, 'This is written after you, in the spirit of you.' I think he saw me as a naive person who just enjoyed life. I was thrilled with that."